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OPINION: It was not long ago New Zealand was top of the world test rankings and winner of the inaugural World Test Championship.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
So what’s gone wrong and how can they turn things around?
It’s certainly not a lack of talent in the team, with players like Tom Blundell, Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway having emerged in recent years.
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The team’s game plan has become predictable and while we were once overlooked as a threat, recent successes now have placed a target on our backs.
The team’s conservative approach with the bat allows opposition bowlers to set plans and work our batsmen out.
In bowling department, we seemed to abandon attempts to develop spinners, often playing the once fabled four prong seam attack.
The Neil Wagner special, which was essentially a short ball barrage, has faded in effectiveness and there seems to be a lack of any other ideas.
What the New Zealand team needs is a fresh injection of youth and confidence.
Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Charles Hendry says Tom Blundell is key to the Black Caps success.
The batting line-up
Tom Latham’s talent for occupying the crease and playing spin would be better placed further down the order and in his place the hard hitting Finn Allen would do a job to unsettle opposition bowlers. Allen would also create a left-hand, right-hand combination at the top, with the classy Devon Conway.
At three, the youthful Rachin Ravindra, who recently scored a double hundred on county debut. He offers another bowling option and can slot in, giving Kane Williamson protection from the new ball, and some time to rest his feet at four.
Latham gets a chance in what is probably his preferred position at five, at six, Daryl Mitchell, and at seven, Tom Blundell.
The bowlers
England showed a weakness to a leg spin/googly bowler in Pakistan.
Black Caps leg spinner Ish Sodhi, who had some success in Pakistan, also is the obvious choice as spinner, providing variety, x factor. Also, he’s handy with the bat at eight.
At nine Matt Henry and 10 Tim Southee, both providing consistency and reliability with the new ball.
Number 11, and a wild horse injecting some genuine pace and youth to the bowling stock is Ben Sears.
New Zealand needs to set better fields to match England’s approach. This means more boundary riders, not allowing England to pile on runs with easy boundaries.
New Zealand still needs to keep fielders in catching positions, which leads to what’s known in cricket circles, as an in-out field.
Now, if implemented correctly, this could force England’s batsmen to push at balls as opposed to really swinging hard, meaning edges go to hand and not over the slips.
Tom Blundell should captain the side. He’s shown he’s the one who often stands tall in a crisis, and being the keeper, he’s best positioned to set field and implement plans.
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