TheSheik
15 Jun 2004, 22:23
Against England, the Kiwis once again showed why they are always going to struggle in the big league, they just don't have the depth or quality of players that the other teams in the world do.
Their bowling attack is just not aggressive enough and could be considered as pedestrian at best, they have struggled to be anything near menacing since Richard Hadlee retired. Chris Cairns has now retired (although I always reckon he was a one-day player only), Chris Martin looked like a grade player even before he pulled a hamstring, Shane Bond & Daniel Vettori weren't playing due to injuries, Kyle Mills & Jacob Oram were pretty loose and not penetrating enough plus Scott Styris is a part-timer at best. There is very little variety once Vettori is not playing, basically all right arm medium pace seamers who all look the same.
The only bright light was James Franklin, a lanky left armer who should become a permanent fixture in the NZ team. His action was uncannily like a mirror image of our own Geoff Lawson.
The batting line-up has a few quality names in the order but once they go, it's all downhill from there. Stephen Fleming is the cream of the crop and is now forced to open the innings, Mark Richardson got the yips with his spinners and transformed himself into a solid opener as well. Craig McMillan is a quality player but lets himself down by getting out too often with a rash shot (not unlike Michael Slater), Scott Styris is a solid middle order player and that seems to be about it. Wicketkeeper Brendan McCallum is okay I suppose but Nathan Astle is a little too inconsistent for me.
Franklin looked like a very good prospect with the bat as well and was certainly no tail end bunny, he should make plenty of runs batting at seven.
Overall, they were too brittle once the 2-3 aces had fallen & a couple of the tailenders made Glenn McGrath look like a number three.
It's sad to see the Kiwis like this as they are always very competitive and just seem to be beaten by the opposition having that extra 2-3 players in the middle who a do just that little bit more when needed.
Their bowling attack is just not aggressive enough and could be considered as pedestrian at best, they have struggled to be anything near menacing since Richard Hadlee retired. Chris Cairns has now retired (although I always reckon he was a one-day player only), Chris Martin looked like a grade player even before he pulled a hamstring, Shane Bond & Daniel Vettori weren't playing due to injuries, Kyle Mills & Jacob Oram were pretty loose and not penetrating enough plus Scott Styris is a part-timer at best. There is very little variety once Vettori is not playing, basically all right arm medium pace seamers who all look the same.
The only bright light was James Franklin, a lanky left armer who should become a permanent fixture in the NZ team. His action was uncannily like a mirror image of our own Geoff Lawson.
The batting line-up has a few quality names in the order but once they go, it's all downhill from there. Stephen Fleming is the cream of the crop and is now forced to open the innings, Mark Richardson got the yips with his spinners and transformed himself into a solid opener as well. Craig McMillan is a quality player but lets himself down by getting out too often with a rash shot (not unlike Michael Slater), Scott Styris is a solid middle order player and that seems to be about it. Wicketkeeper Brendan McCallum is okay I suppose but Nathan Astle is a little too inconsistent for me.
Franklin looked like a very good prospect with the bat as well and was certainly no tail end bunny, he should make plenty of runs batting at seven.
Overall, they were too brittle once the 2-3 aces had fallen & a couple of the tailenders made Glenn McGrath look like a number three.
It's sad to see the Kiwis like this as they are always very competitive and just seem to be beaten by the opposition having that extra 2-3 players in the middle who a do just that little bit more when needed.