"New Zealand’s incredible ability to save their worst for Australia" - that absolutely nails it. That, and the way Australian players in a slump seem to recover just in time to thrash the Black Caps (the former probably a factor in the latter). Fully expect Steve Smith to return to his twerking best during this Test series even though the last couple of years suggested his incredible hand:eye coordination was finally on the way out.
Time after time the stars seem to be aligning, only for the house of cards to come crashing down.
Did anyone ready the Stuff article in the weekend about Gary Stead not belonging in a Hardware Store?
I almost chocked on my Hot X Bun reading that...
"One of Stead’s greatest traits is his man management skills and level head.
He is the perfect modern day coach for the Black Caps’ Millennials and has built something special Kiwi sports fans should be proud of."
I'm not proud, Gary.
You know what one of his greatest traits should be? Selecting a team that can bat, bowl and field at the highest level. Man management, and level head...yeah that's going to win matches.
Even the West Indies won a Test and 1 x T20 in Australia. We can't even compete at home.
Please tell me we're eyeing up Baz as Stead's replacement after 2025?? He would be shocked at our level of fielding. Something he excelled at when he was a player. When was the last time a player hit the stumps for a runout? Didn't sky it over the keepers head or triple bounce it to someone.
What is Chapman even doing in this team? Apart from a stellar series in Pakistan last year (??), what's he there for?
Can we all please agree that the fawning of Trent Boult back in the team is over. He's getting his coin from various T20 leagues. Just let him be. His 0/73 @ 12 an over is the worst of the bolwers.
Please just stick to the younger, hungry guys coming through Domestic competition.
Captain Santner inserting himself at No.3 in the batting...no words.
The only player I have any kudos for is Lockie Ferguson.
What a pleasure to see him finally reach his potential of pace AND control. He had the former at the beginning of his career but lacked the latter. Then lost the pace after an injury spell. But has managed to bring it all back in one nice package.
Please, please tell me he's up for selection for the Test's?
Anyway, thank you Dylan for the Newsletters. Given the lack of panel shows on cricket and glowing reviews in other media, it's good to have a voice that isn't shy on criticising this team, which seems to get away scott free over the Summer, as opposed to our Winter games.
Yeah Ryan, that article made me feel uncomfortable too. There's a weird tension between Stead's selection consistency and man-management helping the players to feel secure and perform (which I see as mostly a positive), and the concerning lack of succession planning in some areas... plus the odd treatment of selected players like Taylor and Guptill who were fading, but were also arguably jettisoned before there was a clear and capable replacement. Overall, I struggle with Stead's lack of innovation, especially in T20 where we seem to stick to the same formula no matter what (fixed batting order, five bowlers only), and I think he gets too much credit for largely inheriting a golden generation of cricketers.
Your on the money Ryan with your comments especially with the nz media who are cheerleaders not all ..but on tv yes .. Dylan is one of the few who like coney can say positive and neagative comments with insight knowledge of the game . Moral of the story Dylan did not play for the black caps yet he one of the best cricket analysts going around .
Agree on Boult. It's time to move on. Hell of a career but it just doesn't feel like he's part of our side anymore. I found myself completely disinterested that he was playing - knowing he's not available for any other format, and only rare T20I series' (leading into World tournaments).
Captain Santner putting himself up at number 3 reminded me of Lee Germon putting himself up at 3 numerous times during his terrible reign as captain when he was a terrible batter.
2. Chapman is lucky to be there. As is Sodhi. The latter is not getting any better in the fielding department.
3. You didn’t mention how woefully ineffective Boult was.
4. Our fielding used to be world class. Why has it been so poor lately?
5. Will the experience Clarkson gained be helpful for his development or not?
6. I had the pleasure of meeting Paul McKinley two weeks ago when I visited Glenfield College to deliver for some PLD to his staff. Seemed like a great guy. RIP.
re: #6. He was a really good guy. He brought my wife onto his senior leadership team at GC so I'm not impartial, but he was just a bloke who loved engaging with anybody who had time for a yarn.
It was dire. I didn’t mind the loss on Wednesday night - it was very close (obviously) - and T20s are like that, we didn’t disgrace ourselves. The last two were awful in the fielding and batting departments, and some bowling. Questions i was texting my brother during the games, in no particular order - when did we get so bad at fielding, especially catching? Why couldn’t Phillips move his feet when batting on Sunday? Why was Boult so expensive and why did he look so out of sorts, given this is all he’s been playing? Why was Ferguson rested when he was the best by far on Friday night? Why pick Clarkson and then give him nothing to do?
I know the test team is a completely different beast but my vague feelings of trepidation have hardened into absolute fear as to what it will be like about 3pm Friday. We have always had a psychological block against the Australians and it doesn’t look any different now, Stead or no Stead.
In more positive news, I am hoping that Melie Kerr gets back from the WPL in time for the series against the English women, but still wins another title.
I was heartened to see Ferguson back to his best (I thought he'd lost it after his performances over the last 18 months), and I thought Sears shows more and more potential. I agree that Phillips batted worse than his figures suggested. Oh for Mitchell to move up and down the pitch to try and put the bowler off his length!
It sure was a depressing weekend to be a Black Caps fan. Sigh. I always make the mistake of having high hopes for series against Australia, and they're almost invariably blown to smithereens (albeit not Steve Smith-ereens on this occasion).
On a brighter note, the WPL is off to a heck of a start - obviously there's only so many hours in the day, and especially when cricket and rugby seasons overlap, but those first three games are a worthwhile use of any free time you might happen to have. The first two were among the more exciting franchise T20 contests I've seen in recent times (with extra points for atmosphere courtesy of a very vocal Bengaluru crowd for game two). Game three was certainly less of a nail-biter, but a world-class performance from Amelia Kerr nevertheless made it good viewing from a NZ perspective.
Five teams feels too small though, so I hope it expands in the near future - and I definitely hope more young NZ talent manages to find its way into the squads. If not, I fear our White Ferns will be very quickly left even further behind.
I read the scorecards and saw Melie Kerr was back doing her thing. I imagine it is inevitable that the WPL will expand and it’s hard to see a negative from that (yet).
Sants ducking a bouncer (test match style ) after promoting himself in game 2 gave me horrible PTSD of the final ball of our innings in the 2019 World Cup final. Archer bounced sants who took self preservation for a dot ball. Boy how that came back to bite us! A keen lower order cleaner upper but hardly a pinch hitter
Comments on the cricket were spot on. I thought our game 1 batting was OK, but the difference between NZ and AU in the field was stark. AU were just a class above and NZ were... awful
Here my takeaway from the 20 20 series with Australia .. to beat Australia nz needs to be at full strength no matter what the concept is .. catches win matches ..think we dropped 9 chances ..Australia dropped one.
We cant afford to have players like ish in the 20 20 when playing the big guns, you need 11 top fielders, and you cant have a bowler who bowls too many pies.
We got our tactics wrong in the second game, when chasing 175 .. the key was not to lose no wickets during the power play ..we lost 4 ..game over.
In the first game nz blew it …we should have had more bowling changes, we didn’t use Phillips, or Clarkson or rachin which is just crazy.
Great to see Lochie back to his best, which highlights that he was not 100 percent at the World Cup,
Stead is a good coach, but he is limited, some of his selections and methods need to be address, good example is Henry .. he been struggling for runs for 3 years, especially overseas, he has only one century, and struggles with spin, especially leg spin. Yet he went away to Bangladesh after the World Cup which was crazy.
The series show we need more games playing against Australia, just look at the crowds, brings out the best in kiwis,
David waner is one of the biggest hypocrites going around in cricket, so I suggest he lets his bat doing the talking, maybe he suffers from selective memory .
Finally I give my 10 cents worth who is the nz greatest cricketer. I know Dylan pick Kane ..but for me sir Richard hadlee is still number one, the reason is simple hadlee record over Australia is second to one compare to Kane record, nz beat Australia back to back in a test series which will never be beaten, Hadlee could win us games with ball and bat, his record playing against Australia is insane, just ask greg Matthew’s. But it’s still comparing apples with lemons, how do you compare one of the greatest all rounders in the 80s to one of the time great modern batters, remember hadlee had the West Indies in the 80s, prob the greatest fast bowlers to ever play the game, there was only Sri Lanka who were weak in that decade.
"New Zealand’s incredible ability to save their worst for Australia" - that absolutely nails it. That, and the way Australian players in a slump seem to recover just in time to thrash the Black Caps (the former probably a factor in the latter). Fully expect Steve Smith to return to his twerking best during this Test series even though the last couple of years suggested his incredible hand:eye coordination was finally on the way out.
Time after time the stars seem to be aligning, only for the house of cards to come crashing down.
Succinctly summarising the obvious is an art, Dylan. Just wish yo had to exercise your talent on something else.
Today has been shocking but at the same time completely unsurprising
I subscribed for a month just so I could comment.
Did anyone ready the Stuff article in the weekend about Gary Stead not belonging in a Hardware Store?
I almost chocked on my Hot X Bun reading that...
"One of Stead’s greatest traits is his man management skills and level head.
He is the perfect modern day coach for the Black Caps’ Millennials and has built something special Kiwi sports fans should be proud of."
I'm not proud, Gary.
You know what one of his greatest traits should be? Selecting a team that can bat, bowl and field at the highest level. Man management, and level head...yeah that's going to win matches.
Even the West Indies won a Test and 1 x T20 in Australia. We can't even compete at home.
Please tell me we're eyeing up Baz as Stead's replacement after 2025?? He would be shocked at our level of fielding. Something he excelled at when he was a player. When was the last time a player hit the stumps for a runout? Didn't sky it over the keepers head or triple bounce it to someone.
What is Chapman even doing in this team? Apart from a stellar series in Pakistan last year (??), what's he there for?
Can we all please agree that the fawning of Trent Boult back in the team is over. He's getting his coin from various T20 leagues. Just let him be. His 0/73 @ 12 an over is the worst of the bolwers.
Please just stick to the younger, hungry guys coming through Domestic competition.
Captain Santner inserting himself at No.3 in the batting...no words.
The only player I have any kudos for is Lockie Ferguson.
What a pleasure to see him finally reach his potential of pace AND control. He had the former at the beginning of his career but lacked the latter. Then lost the pace after an injury spell. But has managed to bring it all back in one nice package.
Please, please tell me he's up for selection for the Test's?
Anyway, thank you Dylan for the Newsletters. Given the lack of panel shows on cricket and glowing reviews in other media, it's good to have a voice that isn't shy on criticising this team, which seems to get away scott free over the Summer, as opposed to our Winter games.
Welcome to the comments Ryan!
Yeah Ryan, that article made me feel uncomfortable too. There's a weird tension between Stead's selection consistency and man-management helping the players to feel secure and perform (which I see as mostly a positive), and the concerning lack of succession planning in some areas... plus the odd treatment of selected players like Taylor and Guptill who were fading, but were also arguably jettisoned before there was a clear and capable replacement. Overall, I struggle with Stead's lack of innovation, especially in T20 where we seem to stick to the same formula no matter what (fixed batting order, five bowlers only), and I think he gets too much credit for largely inheriting a golden generation of cricketers.
Oh, and when innovation occurs, it involves putting a bowler up to number three to chew up the powerplay.
Your on the money Ryan with your comments especially with the nz media who are cheerleaders not all ..but on tv yes .. Dylan is one of the few who like coney can say positive and neagative comments with insight knowledge of the game . Moral of the story Dylan did not play for the black caps yet he one of the best cricket analysts going around .
Agree on Boult. It's time to move on. Hell of a career but it just doesn't feel like he's part of our side anymore. I found myself completely disinterested that he was playing - knowing he's not available for any other format, and only rare T20I series' (leading into World tournaments).
Mercenary.
Captain Santner putting himself up at number 3 reminded me of Lee Germon putting himself up at 3 numerous times during his terrible reign as captain when he was a terrible batter.
A good summation of the cricket. My two cents:
1. Seifert is not international standard.
2. Chapman is lucky to be there. As is Sodhi. The latter is not getting any better in the fielding department.
3. You didn’t mention how woefully ineffective Boult was.
4. Our fielding used to be world class. Why has it been so poor lately?
5. Will the experience Clarkson gained be helpful for his development or not?
6. I had the pleasure of meeting Paul McKinley two weeks ago when I visited Glenfield College to deliver for some PLD to his staff. Seemed like a great guy. RIP.
re: #6. He was a really good guy. He brought my wife onto his senior leadership team at GC so I'm not impartial, but he was just a bloke who loved engaging with anybody who had time for a yarn.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350186913/gary-stead-proves-he-doesnt-belong-hardware-store
Brendon Egan thinks the coach is going OK. Blunders, they've been rare!!
Stead reminds me of a baseball quote - born on third, thinks he hit a triple.
It was dire. I didn’t mind the loss on Wednesday night - it was very close (obviously) - and T20s are like that, we didn’t disgrace ourselves. The last two were awful in the fielding and batting departments, and some bowling. Questions i was texting my brother during the games, in no particular order - when did we get so bad at fielding, especially catching? Why couldn’t Phillips move his feet when batting on Sunday? Why was Boult so expensive and why did he look so out of sorts, given this is all he’s been playing? Why was Ferguson rested when he was the best by far on Friday night? Why pick Clarkson and then give him nothing to do?
I know the test team is a completely different beast but my vague feelings of trepidation have hardened into absolute fear as to what it will be like about 3pm Friday. We have always had a psychological block against the Australians and it doesn’t look any different now, Stead or no Stead.
In more positive news, I am hoping that Melie Kerr gets back from the WPL in time for the series against the English women, but still wins another title.
I was heartened to see Ferguson back to his best (I thought he'd lost it after his performances over the last 18 months), and I thought Sears shows more and more potential. I agree that Phillips batted worse than his figures suggested. Oh for Mitchell to move up and down the pitch to try and put the bowler off his length!
It sure was a depressing weekend to be a Black Caps fan. Sigh. I always make the mistake of having high hopes for series against Australia, and they're almost invariably blown to smithereens (albeit not Steve Smith-ereens on this occasion).
On a brighter note, the WPL is off to a heck of a start - obviously there's only so many hours in the day, and especially when cricket and rugby seasons overlap, but those first three games are a worthwhile use of any free time you might happen to have. The first two were among the more exciting franchise T20 contests I've seen in recent times (with extra points for atmosphere courtesy of a very vocal Bengaluru crowd for game two). Game three was certainly less of a nail-biter, but a world-class performance from Amelia Kerr nevertheless made it good viewing from a NZ perspective.
Five teams feels too small though, so I hope it expands in the near future - and I definitely hope more young NZ talent manages to find its way into the squads. If not, I fear our White Ferns will be very quickly left even further behind.
I read the scorecards and saw Melie Kerr was back doing her thing. I imagine it is inevitable that the WPL will expand and it’s hard to see a negative from that (yet).
Sants ducking a bouncer (test match style ) after promoting himself in game 2 gave me horrible PTSD of the final ball of our innings in the 2019 World Cup final. Archer bounced sants who took self preservation for a dot ball. Boy how that came back to bite us! A keen lower order cleaner upper but hardly a pinch hitter
Comments on the cricket were spot on. I thought our game 1 batting was OK, but the difference between NZ and AU in the field was stark. AU were just a class above and NZ were... awful
Here my takeaway from the 20 20 series with Australia .. to beat Australia nz needs to be at full strength no matter what the concept is .. catches win matches ..think we dropped 9 chances ..Australia dropped one.
We cant afford to have players like ish in the 20 20 when playing the big guns, you need 11 top fielders, and you cant have a bowler who bowls too many pies.
We got our tactics wrong in the second game, when chasing 175 .. the key was not to lose no wickets during the power play ..we lost 4 ..game over.
In the first game nz blew it …we should have had more bowling changes, we didn’t use Phillips, or Clarkson or rachin which is just crazy.
Great to see Lochie back to his best, which highlights that he was not 100 percent at the World Cup,
Stead is a good coach, but he is limited, some of his selections and methods need to be address, good example is Henry .. he been struggling for runs for 3 years, especially overseas, he has only one century, and struggles with spin, especially leg spin. Yet he went away to Bangladesh after the World Cup which was crazy.
The series show we need more games playing against Australia, just look at the crowds, brings out the best in kiwis,
David waner is one of the biggest hypocrites going around in cricket, so I suggest he lets his bat doing the talking, maybe he suffers from selective memory .
Finally I give my 10 cents worth who is the nz greatest cricketer. I know Dylan pick Kane ..but for me sir Richard hadlee is still number one, the reason is simple hadlee record over Australia is second to one compare to Kane record, nz beat Australia back to back in a test series which will never be beaten, Hadlee could win us games with ball and bat, his record playing against Australia is insane, just ask greg Matthew’s. But it’s still comparing apples with lemons, how do you compare one of the greatest all rounders in the 80s to one of the time great modern batters, remember hadlee had the West Indies in the 80s, prob the greatest fast bowlers to ever play the game, there was only Sri Lanka who were weak in that decade.