Unrelated, but I thought the BYC crew (Paul and yourself) were very restrained in not passing comment (or asking for an elaboration) when Wagner said Kuggeleijn was the worst person he has roomed with… 👀
Leaving Will Young out of the England series seems unthinkable. So does playing only 3 seamers, particularly with Southee in current form, Sears a. o. untried. Maybe ask Latham to keep and drop Blundell? I went to Melbourne to watch Blundell score the only NZ century, as an opener! But form is as elusive as a selector's conscience.
Agree re Young. Many times before we’ve played an inexperienced or unproven 4th seamer just because that’s what we do, think Scott Kugs. No obvious selections due to injuries so I’d go with Dylan’s XI. If you really must play 4 quicks could leave out GP and leave the tweaking to Rachin.
I think one of Blundell or Conway should give way to Young, his form is just so palpable. However many byes Blundell let through, his catch off Ashwin's glove was sensational - to stay that low was remarkable - but overall, he can't bat in the top 6 or 7, and there are too many keeping mistakes, dropping Pant in first innings of first test, just one of several.
Conway is a conundrum. The timing and placement is world class, the footwork club standard, especially reaching forward with bat a mile away from the pad. He has been worked out, ie bowl good length and wide. Way too many inside edges. If he doesn't remodel his technique, his future has no future. With Blundell its more shot selection than technique I think. I used to look forward to him coming to the crease, all textbook, upright and straight. He's got the class but has he lost the mental part? But Young must stay, otherwise the selectors may not. Hay for Blundell maybe but it doesn't fix the batting 7-into-6 issue. They might yet drop Phillips if spin not required.
That excerpt from Jimmy’s autobiography reminded me of a number of scenes in Hard Knocks over the years which can seem abit contrived on occasion but mostly insightful. For me, most memorably, albeit fictionally, in Moneyball with Brad Pitt delivering a similar message in about 3 seconds of screen time!
Nice work Dylan, I can see some xmas book reading coming. Cheers Phil. PS. Unfortunately I do think that in all likelihood Sexton is a c... but I'm not sure Reiko is best placed to make judgements - would be better placed learning how to catch and pass - I can't think of any All Black centre in history with worse hands
Unrelated, but I thought the BYC crew (Paul and yourself) were very restrained in not passing comment (or asking for an elaboration) when Wagner said Kuggeleijn was the worst person he has roomed with… 👀
Happy with that XI DC. If three RA seamers can’t get the job done, are we sure four can? What are W Alexander Young’s offbreaks like? 😜
Leaving Will Young out of the England series seems unthinkable. So does playing only 3 seamers, particularly with Southee in current form, Sears a. o. untried. Maybe ask Latham to keep and drop Blundell? I went to Melbourne to watch Blundell score the only NZ century, as an opener! But form is as elusive as a selector's conscience.
Agree re Young. Many times before we’ve played an inexperienced or unproven 4th seamer just because that’s what we do, think Scott Kugs. No obvious selections due to injuries so I’d go with Dylan’s XI. If you really must play 4 quicks could leave out GP and leave the tweaking to Rachin.
I think one of Blundell or Conway should give way to Young, his form is just so palpable. However many byes Blundell let through, his catch off Ashwin's glove was sensational - to stay that low was remarkable - but overall, he can't bat in the top 6 or 7, and there are too many keeping mistakes, dropping Pant in first innings of first test, just one of several.
Conway is a conundrum. The timing and placement is world class, the footwork club standard, especially reaching forward with bat a mile away from the pad. He has been worked out, ie bowl good length and wide. Way too many inside edges. If he doesn't remodel his technique, his future has no future. With Blundell its more shot selection than technique I think. I used to look forward to him coming to the crease, all textbook, upright and straight. He's got the class but has he lost the mental part? But Young must stay, otherwise the selectors may not. Hay for Blundell maybe but it doesn't fix the batting 7-into-6 issue. They might yet drop Phillips if spin not required.
That excerpt from Jimmy’s autobiography reminded me of a number of scenes in Hard Knocks over the years which can seem abit contrived on occasion but mostly insightful. For me, most memorably, albeit fictionally, in Moneyball with Brad Pitt delivering a similar message in about 3 seconds of screen time!
Nice work Dylan, I can see some xmas book reading coming. Cheers Phil. PS. Unfortunately I do think that in all likelihood Sexton is a c... but I'm not sure Reiko is best placed to make judgements - would be better placed learning how to catch and pass - I can't think of any All Black centre in history with worse hands