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[Hammer Cricket]

SA getting pretty good at retiring international cricket captains....who is next...

[ProCricketer1982]

SA getting pretty good at retiring international cricket captains....who is next...

??

[Hammer Cricket]

??

not sure if this link from a facebook pic will show or not....
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/226087_10152084794655584_1566442004_n.jpg

[Hammer Cricket]

yip, looks like it works..

[charlie15]

??

I think he's implying about Graeme Smith's record of retiring international captains, in particular English ones; Hussian, Vaughn, Strauss... Quite possibly if NZ are embarrassed any further there might be wholesale changes after this series.

[ProCricketer1982]

I think he's implying about Graeme Smith's record of retiring international captains, in particular English ones; Hussian, Vaughn, Strauss... Quite possibly if NZ are embarrassed any further there might be wholesale changes after this series.

McCullum is a reluctant capt anyway (I think) so doubt he'd be too fussed. Shouldn't have got rid of Taylor.

[Hammer Cricket]

McCullum is a reluctant capt anyway (I think) so doubt he'd be too fussed. Shouldn't have got rid of Taylor.

i dont know what the situation is in NZ with their cricket....whether its funding, talent or what....but they do need to look at where cricket is headed in their country....but lets not forget they beat the aussies a few months ago in aus..

there is some fight left there for sure but something needs to change...

[charlie15]

I think he's reluctance is more to do with how the got the captaincy more than anything else.  They're certainly missing Ross Taylor as well, but this is again down to their new coach, although he says he will be back for the series against England.

I agree with Jason that they need to look at where cricket is headed, but they're always going to be fighting against rugby union, and right now the All Blacks are on the crest of a wave so I would imagine it must be very hard for them to get the funding and support staff they need to be successful (I could be seriously wrong here).  If I'm honest I don't see NZ being a force in cricket again, almost like the Windies, countries like South Africa, Australia, India (possibly) and England have the set up, players with talent and knowledge in place in order to be successful for a long time to come.

[cricketbadger]

saw that Taylor tweeted he was hoping to be back for the England series
as an England fan i hope he and Ryder both make a return to give us more of a game
Flynn doesnt look up to much, Guptill and McCullum cant seem to turn ODI and T20 form into decent test match form
and they are lacking depth with their bowling options, Southee had hit some form, and Martin is steady and experienced, lacking real world class spinner without Vettori

[potzy248]

I think he's reluctance is more to do with how the got the captaincy more than anything else.  They're certainly missing Ross Taylor as well, but this is again down to their new coach, although he says he will be back for the series against England.

I agree with Jason that they need to look at where cricket is headed, but they're always going to be fighting against rugby union, and right now the All Blacks are on the crest of a wave so I would imagine it must be very hard for them to get the funding and support staff they need to be successful (I could be seriously wrong here).  If I'm honest I don't see NZ being a force in cricket again, almost like the Windies, countries like South Africa, Australia, India (possibly) and England have the set up, players with talent and knowledge in place in order to be successful for a long time to come.

I dont agree that we will never be a force again. Yes we are seriously struggling at the moment, not unlike England a decade ago and now look at them. Yes we struggle to match the funding and depth of other countries but I definitely think we are capable of being higher than the WI and Sri Lanka in test matches. And we will always have one offs where we can beat a top four country.
We will always be a giant killer in ODI and T20. I always believe we have a chance of winning the World Cup.

At the moment we are getting a lesson on how to play test cricket. We don't have a chance of bowling out SA or England twice. We have a very fragile batting line up and no spinner. Very sad.

[alba caerulea]

NZ will be back. They are missing their best 3 players remember. They need a coach who can pull them all in the same direction and remind them that they are representing their nation. Lock Jeetan Patel in a room with Richie McCaw for an hour and see if he still wants to back away to leg whilst batting

Don't know much about the finances of NZ cricket but they have historically always had a gritty squad - Styris, McMillan, Richardson etc with a few special flair players thrown into the mix - Cairns, Bond, Astle

They still have the flair if they can get Ryder and Taylor back in the side, what they need to show then is grit and team spirit

Stephen Fleming should be involved with the team, if anyone can get the best out of them he can

[Alvaro]

Stephen Fleming is involved in the team - he manages certain 'big' players but not others, who may or may not have had a raw deal...

[charlie15]

McCullum looks shellshocked!

[Gerry SA]

For the series against England, if everyone is fit and available then the Kiwis should select the following side:

1.Watling
2. McCullum
3. Brownlie
4. Taylor
5. Ryder
6. Williamson
7. Ronchi
8. Vettori
9. Southee
10. Bracewell
11. Boult

Watling showed against the Proteas that he has very good temperament and has a good technique. He's wasted at 6/7 trying to save the innings when all hell has broken out around him.

McCullum's record is opener is better than anywhere else in the batting order. It's a choice between McCullum and Guptill for me, and sadly Guptill isn't Test class.

Brownlie, Taylor and Ryder are the Kiwis 3 best FC batsmen so they lock out 3,4&5.

Williamson is a good young player, at present he shouldn't bat higher than 6. The other alternative I was inclined to pick was Mathew Sinclair. Whilst he's 37 and had numerous chances at Test level, he'd still scoring plenty at FC level. Williamson gets the nod as he can bowl a few overs of off breaks.

Ronchi is a fantastic gloveman. His batting is explosive and can change a Match within 15-20 overs. It needs to be noted that when he played for Western Australia he averaged 32 in FC with 5 hundreds. In NZ FC he's already blasted 4 hundreds and averages 75.

Vettori isn't the bowler he once was, but his batting gets him in alone. His bowling keeps an end quite to rotate the 3 quicks.

The Southee, Bracewell and Boult trifecta works well and they complement each other.

[Gerry SA]

Stephen Fleming is involved in the team - he manages certain 'big' players but not others, who may or may not have had a raw deal...

Fleming rejected the NZ job. He said he's doesn't want to be away from his young family for extended periods of time.

Coaching the Chennai IPL side for 6 weeks gets him more money than coaching NZ would in 3-5 years.