Thanks one and all for the comments. I can get a bit slack replying, but I almost always read and use them for fodder either in the Bounce or BYC.
With Jamieson out, you’d think WOR is now a shoo-in for Australia. There might be some reluctance to push him too far, too fast but he just looks the part. If KJ was fit, I’d doubt Wagner would be in the mix, but I can see him in a 13-man mix now, although bowling coach Kyle Mills said something interesting before the start of day two. He mentioned that Wagner and he had talked and that the bowler had indicated that at this point in his career, he was no longer interested in carrying drinks. Unless they pick him specifically to rough up Smith and Labuschagne, which he might not be capable of doing anyway these days, he might miss the squad altogether.
As for Conway, there are shades of late-test-career-Jeet Raval right now. You can almost see the confidence sapping from him with each failure. The difference is Conway has a significantly higher base to work from than Raval had. I think they stick with Conway at the top but like most of you I’m torn on that. It almost feels cruel unless they can turn him around in the nets in a week.
I had an interesting message yesterday from a guy I know who has worked in first-class cricket for years. He said he’d play Young against Australia but he’d play him instead of Rachin. Again, it’s not going to happen, but his reasoning was that RR is hyper-talented but just too loose outside off at this stage of his career to take on an Australian red-ball attack.
I’ve just revisited my old stomping grounds in Oz and been reminded in no uncertain terms the deity and quality of the player pool over there. There are club teams over there that would probably exploit DC’s technical probs. I put his chances of success against Oz at <5% and I reckon it’s far better we take the positive option and out a team with confidence & form on its side. Loose outside off is indeed the risk with RR, but same time with the ball coming on he just might flash his way to success. Oz would fear him more.
Great read Dylan, an incredibly erudite synopsis of the key points of the test I reckon. Hard to argue with any of it.
Conway is in truly dreadful form. As you point out long half volleys are not litmus test. After one of those someone in the commentary said “that is Conway at his best” and I rolled my eyes. That front foot plant and falling head is terminal and Oz will exploit it like a killer whale circling an iceberg full of penguins.
I was really impressed by O’Rourke, he was quicker and more incisive than I expected and tbh our attack needs it - Southee and Wagner are down on pace and on current form unlikely to trouble Oz. That altercation between them was fascinating, what’s going on? My pick is that Wagner knows the flame is dying and was frustrated watching others do all the bowling.
I think the bold selection for Oz is to drop Conway; open with Ravindra; bring Mitchell up to 4; put Young in at 5; and bring Phillips up to 6. With O’Rourke’s performance I think the top 4 seamers pick themselves (no Wagner) with Santner rounding out the 12. However, I suspect they’ll go conservative on the top 6 though and either keep Conway or put Young in to open as a straight swap.
Yep, a good summary of the test, Dylan, from someone who was half-watching it while working. The only other question in my mind is why is Phillips batting at 7 when Blundell is so horribly out of form? Phillips is first and foremost a batsman, and so should be treated like one and made to properly earn his keep in the top six. It would be a good reward for Young to keep his spot after that innings, with Ravindra moved up to open in place of Conway, but I can't see it happening.
Agree with the Ravindra opening call Gareth. If you put yourself in the Aussie’s shoes we look way more threatening with that make up - someone who will take them on up front, rather than the walking wicket that is Conway right now. It would be merciless.
This would be really brave but you call Conway out for now. I really see the Australian quicks taking him 4 times for less than 20. Send Ravindra up to open. Keep Young and have the keeper bat at 7. Extra spin options with Ravindra and Phillips plus 4 quicks.
What do the we do about our current opening situation given Latham has a relatively poor record against Australia? Do we enter the series backing Conway to find form (knowing that Latham is unlikely to score a truckload of runs)? Or do we attempt to rectify this situation in advance?
My gut feeling is that we'll rely heavily on the batters 3 through 7 to score the bulk of our runs. I do hope our openers prove me wrong. Also, very happy to see Young lead us home to victory on Friday with Williamson.
Great to have you back Dylan, hope the move south went smoothly.
I'm intrigued with all our knashing of teeth about our batters when it seem Aus are concerned about their batters https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-numbers-that-lay-bare-labuschagne-s-form-slump-20240215-p5f55z.html. Agree Conway is in a serious slump, is there any plunket shield we can send him too? Really enjoyed the cricket community on SEN too even if a little too blokey at times. Great knowledge in the commentary box adding to the match.
Great to see Aimee Fisher get another spot in the kayaking, imagine a NZ gold/silver at the Olympics.
I agree with most that Conway has sadly (and somewhat confusingly) become a walking wicket but I am concerned about the idea of promoting Ravindra to open. I know he succeeded in the world cup but test cricket against this experienced Aussie attack is a different cup of tea, and I have this bad feeling that were he to open it could turn out similar to will Young's ill-fated stint at the top of the order and potentially stunt his growth... I probably shouldn't worry too much though as we're all used to Stead's somewhat cautious decision-making so I expect the top 4 to remain unchanged. Love the work as always Dylan.
Commented on an older article but will repost here for relevance.
What now for the Aussies Dylan? Surely there's no way we can go into this series with Conway so out of sorts. Ravindra to open? Or a bolter out of the blue?
One more question, any concern about Ravindra bowling too many overs, sapping his energy, needed for a long spell in the middle with the bat? It's the one thing leading me to wanting to see them pick Santner along with 3 quicks.
Think this was more a response to them reading the conditions wrong in Hamilton rather than viewing RR as a genuine allrounder at this point. Certainly don't think it was in anybody's plan, or best interests, to have him bowling 35 overs per test.
Thanks one and all for the comments. I can get a bit slack replying, but I almost always read and use them for fodder either in the Bounce or BYC.
With Jamieson out, you’d think WOR is now a shoo-in for Australia. There might be some reluctance to push him too far, too fast but he just looks the part. If KJ was fit, I’d doubt Wagner would be in the mix, but I can see him in a 13-man mix now, although bowling coach Kyle Mills said something interesting before the start of day two. He mentioned that Wagner and he had talked and that the bowler had indicated that at this point in his career, he was no longer interested in carrying drinks. Unless they pick him specifically to rough up Smith and Labuschagne, which he might not be capable of doing anyway these days, he might miss the squad altogether.
As for Conway, there are shades of late-test-career-Jeet Raval right now. You can almost see the confidence sapping from him with each failure. The difference is Conway has a significantly higher base to work from than Raval had. I think they stick with Conway at the top but like most of you I’m torn on that. It almost feels cruel unless they can turn him around in the nets in a week.
I had an interesting message yesterday from a guy I know who has worked in first-class cricket for years. He said he’d play Young against Australia but he’d play him instead of Rachin. Again, it’s not going to happen, but his reasoning was that RR is hyper-talented but just too loose outside off at this stage of his career to take on an Australian red-ball attack.
A bit of food for thought.
Love it Dylan, this is the rub.
I’ve just revisited my old stomping grounds in Oz and been reminded in no uncertain terms the deity and quality of the player pool over there. There are club teams over there that would probably exploit DC’s technical probs. I put his chances of success against Oz at <5% and I reckon it’s far better we take the positive option and out a team with confidence & form on its side. Loose outside off is indeed the risk with RR, but same time with the ball coming on he just might flash his way to success. Oz would fear him more.
Great read Dylan, an incredibly erudite synopsis of the key points of the test I reckon. Hard to argue with any of it.
Conway is in truly dreadful form. As you point out long half volleys are not litmus test. After one of those someone in the commentary said “that is Conway at his best” and I rolled my eyes. That front foot plant and falling head is terminal and Oz will exploit it like a killer whale circling an iceberg full of penguins.
I was really impressed by O’Rourke, he was quicker and more incisive than I expected and tbh our attack needs it - Southee and Wagner are down on pace and on current form unlikely to trouble Oz. That altercation between them was fascinating, what’s going on? My pick is that Wagner knows the flame is dying and was frustrated watching others do all the bowling.
I think the bold selection for Oz is to drop Conway; open with Ravindra; bring Mitchell up to 4; put Young in at 5; and bring Phillips up to 6. With O’Rourke’s performance I think the top 4 seamers pick themselves (no Wagner) with Santner rounding out the 12. However, I suspect they’ll go conservative on the top 6 though and either keep Conway or put Young in to open as a straight swap.
Yep, a good summary of the test, Dylan, from someone who was half-watching it while working. The only other question in my mind is why is Phillips batting at 7 when Blundell is so horribly out of form? Phillips is first and foremost a batsman, and so should be treated like one and made to properly earn his keep in the top six. It would be a good reward for Young to keep his spot after that innings, with Ravindra moved up to open in place of Conway, but I can't see it happening.
Agree with the Ravindra opening call Gareth. If you put yourself in the Aussie’s shoes we look way more threatening with that make up - someone who will take them on up front, rather than the walking wicket that is Conway right now. It would be merciless.
This would be really brave but you call Conway out for now. I really see the Australian quicks taking him 4 times for less than 20. Send Ravindra up to open. Keep Young and have the keeper bat at 7. Extra spin options with Ravindra and Phillips plus 4 quicks.
What do the we do about our current opening situation given Latham has a relatively poor record against Australia? Do we enter the series backing Conway to find form (knowing that Latham is unlikely to score a truckload of runs)? Or do we attempt to rectify this situation in advance?
My gut feeling is that we'll rely heavily on the batters 3 through 7 to score the bulk of our runs. I do hope our openers prove me wrong. Also, very happy to see Young lead us home to victory on Friday with Williamson.
Great to have you back Dylan, hope the move south went smoothly.
I'm intrigued with all our knashing of teeth about our batters when it seem Aus are concerned about their batters https://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/the-numbers-that-lay-bare-labuschagne-s-form-slump-20240215-p5f55z.html. Agree Conway is in a serious slump, is there any plunket shield we can send him too? Really enjoyed the cricket community on SEN too even if a little too blokey at times. Great knowledge in the commentary box adding to the match.
Great to see Aimee Fisher get another spot in the kayaking, imagine a NZ gold/silver at the Olympics.
I agree with most that Conway has sadly (and somewhat confusingly) become a walking wicket but I am concerned about the idea of promoting Ravindra to open. I know he succeeded in the world cup but test cricket against this experienced Aussie attack is a different cup of tea, and I have this bad feeling that were he to open it could turn out similar to will Young's ill-fated stint at the top of the order and potentially stunt his growth... I probably shouldn't worry too much though as we're all used to Stead's somewhat cautious decision-making so I expect the top 4 to remain unchanged. Love the work as always Dylan.
Commented on an older article but will repost here for relevance.
What now for the Aussies Dylan? Surely there's no way we can go into this series with Conway so out of sorts. Ravindra to open? Or a bolter out of the blue?
(Perhaps one for the lads on BYC too?)
Hate to be that guy, but there's an errant "could of" running loose early in this article. An otherwise excellent write up
One more question, any concern about Ravindra bowling too many overs, sapping his energy, needed for a long spell in the middle with the bat? It's the one thing leading me to wanting to see them pick Santner along with 3 quicks.
Think this was more a response to them reading the conditions wrong in Hamilton rather than viewing RR as a genuine allrounder at this point. Certainly don't think it was in anybody's plan, or best interests, to have him bowling 35 overs per test.