Good fodder Dylan, I’m pleased to see the NZ MSM has finally come to life on this issue, up until then it was only yourself Andrew Fernando, Ian Smith and yourself showing any interest in it!
I do have a different perspective on things though….I think your suggestion that Southee’s form dip is captaincy related and in the head could be right but plays into a line of thinking I’m uncomfortable with (more on that in a moment). I think you’ve whisked past the role an ageing body might be playing. 35 going on 36 is old for a fast bowler. We could focus on the likes of Steyn, Anderson, Broad etc playing until older age but those guys were both quicker and better than Southee, so declined from a higher base. Most international fast bowlers are well done by 35. And seriously those head demons must be real bad to be operating to nearly 3x his career bowling average. I look at his bowling and I see he’s lost a vital 5-10kmh and has lost that vital late swing and kiss off the wicket. There are physical signs that must be considered as contributing to the poor results.
I agree that questions must be asked about the suitability of Latham as a long term test captain for reasons you point out. I’m very uncomfortable with the role and haste our failed captain has played in anointing him as successor. Surely it’s not for him to say. Just as it wasn’t for him to say that he’d “always put the team first”. I think it’s a fools errand for Latham, they’ll get flogged in India, no doubt.
Moving back to Southee I’m really uncomfortable about how it’s been managed and messaged by NZC. Here’s my take….Southee wanted to shore up his position as a *player* so he *resigned* to make it easy for NZC but it came with the proviso that he remains a first choice player and got a good rap. Both Stead and Weenink emphasised that he will remain a key player and member of the leadership group. How can this be so? He averages 78 with the ball!! If he didn’t have NZC wrapped around his little finger he’d have been told to go back to domestic cricket and prove himself, like Martin Guptill was. If I was Matt Henry or Ben Sears I’d be ropeable.
We’d all love to think that he has another couple of years of good bowling ahead of him, but for the same reason you say Latham isn’t the captain of a reshaped team I don’t believe Southee is part of the bowling attack. Persevering with him is head in the sand stuff. A huge gamble that comes at the cost of stullifying the renewal of our pace attack, led by a red hot Matt Henry.
Totally agree re Southee's position. His statement smells of a cosy, comfortable deal for him to remain in the game as in, "Ok Tim. You resign as Captain and we'll see you right old mate." Hope I'm wrong.
Seems like a fair take on the Black Caps captaincy situation, especially the part about needing a dynamic captain to work with a new bowling attack. I haven't listened to the BYC podcast yet, so maybe you guys mention it there but any thoughts on who you'd like to see given the opportunity (poisoned chalice)? Daryl Mitchell?
Despite not seeing more betting ads in my feed, I assume they’re on a bit of a PR push, as two of my favourite podcasts, Between Two Beers and The Dom Harvey Podcast, recently became supported by TAB sponsorship, both within about a month of each other. The B2B guys addressed the decision early on in a shorter episode and Dom had the boss of Entain on for some soft-hitting questions recently. I’m not a fan of having betting everywhere, but it certainly is. A good teachable moment when watching sport with my kids, but I can only imagine how entrenched betting is going to be in years to come. The leagues themselves are certainly waking up to how lucrative it can be for them.
I have been seeing a lot of adverts for Betcha, they seem to be a new player in the sport betting market. I'm sure all the additional TAB advertising I have been seeing is to stomp out any gain they might be making.
Towards the end of last year I felt that TAB also was doing a lot of advertising about their new app.
It also doesn't feel like too long ago ever other advert I saw was Brendon McCullum advertising that betting company he signed with.
Maybe the algorithm doesn't have much sports related stuff to peddle at the moment that isn't betting.
Good fodder Dylan, I’m pleased to see the NZ MSM has finally come to life on this issue, up until then it was only yourself Andrew Fernando, Ian Smith and yourself showing any interest in it!
I do have a different perspective on things though….I think your suggestion that Southee’s form dip is captaincy related and in the head could be right but plays into a line of thinking I’m uncomfortable with (more on that in a moment). I think you’ve whisked past the role an ageing body might be playing. 35 going on 36 is old for a fast bowler. We could focus on the likes of Steyn, Anderson, Broad etc playing until older age but those guys were both quicker and better than Southee, so declined from a higher base. Most international fast bowlers are well done by 35. And seriously those head demons must be real bad to be operating to nearly 3x his career bowling average. I look at his bowling and I see he’s lost a vital 5-10kmh and has lost that vital late swing and kiss off the wicket. There are physical signs that must be considered as contributing to the poor results.
I agree that questions must be asked about the suitability of Latham as a long term test captain for reasons you point out. I’m very uncomfortable with the role and haste our failed captain has played in anointing him as successor. Surely it’s not for him to say. Just as it wasn’t for him to say that he’d “always put the team first”. I think it’s a fools errand for Latham, they’ll get flogged in India, no doubt.
Moving back to Southee I’m really uncomfortable about how it’s been managed and messaged by NZC. Here’s my take….Southee wanted to shore up his position as a *player* so he *resigned* to make it easy for NZC but it came with the proviso that he remains a first choice player and got a good rap. Both Stead and Weenink emphasised that he will remain a key player and member of the leadership group. How can this be so? He averages 78 with the ball!! If he didn’t have NZC wrapped around his little finger he’d have been told to go back to domestic cricket and prove himself, like Martin Guptill was. If I was Matt Henry or Ben Sears I’d be ropeable.
We’d all love to think that he has another couple of years of good bowling ahead of him, but for the same reason you say Latham isn’t the captain of a reshaped team I don’t believe Southee is part of the bowling attack. Persevering with him is head in the sand stuff. A huge gamble that comes at the cost of stullifying the renewal of our pace attack, led by a red hot Matt Henry.
Totally agree re Southee's position. His statement smells of a cosy, comfortable deal for him to remain in the game as in, "Ok Tim. You resign as Captain and we'll see you right old mate." Hope I'm wrong.
Seems like a fair take on the Black Caps captaincy situation, especially the part about needing a dynamic captain to work with a new bowling attack. I haven't listened to the BYC podcast yet, so maybe you guys mention it there but any thoughts on who you'd like to see given the opportunity (poisoned chalice)? Daryl Mitchell?
Despite not seeing more betting ads in my feed, I assume they’re on a bit of a PR push, as two of my favourite podcasts, Between Two Beers and The Dom Harvey Podcast, recently became supported by TAB sponsorship, both within about a month of each other. The B2B guys addressed the decision early on in a shorter episode and Dom had the boss of Entain on for some soft-hitting questions recently. I’m not a fan of having betting everywhere, but it certainly is. A good teachable moment when watching sport with my kids, but I can only imagine how entrenched betting is going to be in years to come. The leagues themselves are certainly waking up to how lucrative it can be for them.
I have been seeing a lot of adverts for Betcha, they seem to be a new player in the sport betting market. I'm sure all the additional TAB advertising I have been seeing is to stomp out any gain they might be making.
Towards the end of last year I felt that TAB also was doing a lot of advertising about their new app.
It also doesn't feel like too long ago ever other advert I saw was Brendon McCullum advertising that betting company he signed with.
Maybe the algorithm doesn't have much sports related stuff to peddle at the moment that isn't betting.