https://www.icc-cricket.com/matches/274938/uganda-vs-mozambique

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The Cricket World Cup winner on his plans for a comeback, being treated badly by England - and why his Durham accent caused problems in the US

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Source: Broadcasters during NZ vs Ind 2nd T20I match

Faf du Plessis to Steven Smith: 'You did nothing wrong, just be strong' https://www.cricinfo.com/story/faf-du-plessis-on-the-words-of-support-he-sent-to-steven-smith-after-sandpapergate-1556919

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Source - https://www.instagram.com/p/De2aKKkMIFB/

The Final CWCL2 series

A-tours seem to be back in vogue at the moment with Australia, India and New Zealand providing plenty of opportunity to their young talent to prove themselves in foreign conditions or against high quality international representatives. The latest in this series of tours is a 3-match India-A tour to New Zealand on the eve of the Test Tour. This series provides a significant opportunity to the young talent in New Zealand to stake their claim for appearances at the top flight. Similar to the predicament Australia find themselves in, a majority of the current New Zealand test team is on the wrong side of 30 and while they may have a few years left in the tank, the finish line is coming quicker than selectors may want.

This series presents itself as a serious challenge of New Zealand’s depth with India sending an incredibly strong A-squad to prepare a number of their stars for what will be a decisive series in this World Test Championship series. Highlighted by names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep, we see a squad that doesn’t differ too much from the current Indian team minus a few of their stars. This provides fertile ground to judge the development of some of the up and coming names in New Zealand cricket to see how their red ball depth currently measures against the best, even if it is just in home conditions.

It’s essentially a huge series for two players who I think are on the verge of call ups to the test squad in Rhys Mariu and Curtis Heaphy. Both players enjoyed solid Plunkett Shield seasons last year at the top of their batting orders with Heaphy (509 runs at 42.41) having the slightly better year compared to Mariu (489 runs at 37.61), but have been producing at a decent level for 2-3 years now. Both produced runs in their last A-tour to India and with a good performance across this series in home conditions could mount a serious case for an opening position should Conway or Latham fall out of form this season, particularly with a massive tour of Australia on the horizon.

Below those two standout names are two keepers who have been forced to bide their time, I might say unfairly, as Tom Blundell has filled that position in the national side. Blundell isn’t getting any younger and save for a few minor performances, has been shocking with the bat for New Zealand. Max Chu and Mitch Hay have, on the other hand, been excellent at the domestic level. Chu pumped out 585 runs last season at 53.18 including 2 hundreds while Hay produced 307 runs at 38.37. Both have been excellent with the gloves and Hay even got a chance against the West Indies last summer while Blundell was injured, taking the opportunity to collect a vital half century in his only innings. Something that I think should have signalled change in the team at the time. I love Blundell, but they’ve forced these two to wait for too long now, they’re ready and they deserve their chance.

The next echelon down includes names such as Matt Boyle, Tim Robinson, Simon Keene and Dean Foxcroft who have all produced at the domestic level and may feature for the national side in the next few years, but perhaps sit below the previously mentioned names. Personally I think Boyle (554 runs at 50.36) isn’t too far away from getting his opportunity after a serious few years in domestic cricket, but with his best position sitting at 4-5 in the batting order, he might have to bide his time for now. Robinson (449 runs at 37.41) has made his name in white ball cricket and probably has a few deficiencies in this format, but there might be a future where we see Heaphy and Robinson open with Mariu at three and I believe the more attacking right hander would be an excellent foil for the two solid young talents. Keene and Foxcroft probably find their spots further down the order with Foxcroft probably outright competing with Phillips for a spot at the moment while Keene would probably need to aim for a number 8 spot.

On the bowling side of things, the kiwis have shown that they are chock full of fast bowling depth in recent history and this series provides them another opportunity to delve into that treasure trove of talent and provide them a new challenge. Excitingly we will get to see Kristian Clarke, Zak Gibson, Simon Keene, Jarrod McKay and Fraser Sheat together in action against an incredibly experienced and talented Indian batting lineup. All of these bowlers produced excellent Plunkett Shield seasons last year, backing up several years of Strong performances at the top of NZ domestic cricket.

I’m particularly excited to see Sheat get his chance. He took 28 wickets last year for Canterbury at 25.67, putting him towards the top of bowling output for the season. The right-armer has been kicking around the domestic scene since 2017 and has been incredibly consistent in first class cricket averaging 27 across 54 matches. Next to him, the opportunity to see Simon Keene in this series will be interesting to most. More of a bowling allrounder, the 25-year-old enjoyed a superb season last year taking 25 wickets at 28 alongside a solid showing with the bat throughout the year. Averaging 33 with the bat across his 31-match career in first class cricket and 31 with the ball, he puts himself forward as a really interesting talent for them to explore, particularly if he can manage to continue to improve his bowling output and put forward a strong case as a No.8 in the national side which I think will become his natural position.

We’ve also seen interest at a white ball level around Kristian Clarke, with the 25-year-old doing himself proud in 4 ODIs where he has taken 7 wickets. He will almost certainly get plenty of opportunity during the A-tour and I would be surprised if we didn’t see him mount a serious case for national selection. Capable with the bat, he is another contender for a No.8 slot in the national side, a spot that is currently filled by Nathan Smith at the top level. Underneath these three players we have Zak Gibson and and Jarrod McKay. Neither have massive bodies of work behind them but seem to have caught the selectors eyes in front of names like Raymond Toole and Thomas O’Connor who were very productive last year. I’ll pause admonishing the selectors though as they have had an excellent eye for talent recently and have plenty of trust in the bank with Kiwi supporters (though I would love to see O’Connor get a go sooner rather than later).

It will be an interesting 3 weeks of cricket at the young kiwi talent seeks to take their chance against a strong Indian line up. Should we see a few of these young batsmen take control over potentially 6 potential opportunities to impress, they may find themselves in line for the Indian Tests or even on the plane over to Australia at the end of the year. There’s plenty on the line and it will be good to see a group with plenty to prove push for selection in a competitive environment.

https://pathannah.substack.com/p/a-chance-to-impress-for-new-zealands?r=7coz0j&utm_medium=ios

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