All-rounders

In today's Herald, Richard Boock talks with John Bracewell. Although Boock jibes at Bracewell with a sneer about "yelling don't panic in the best tradition of Dad's Army's Corporal Jones", Bracewell is actually refreshingly honest in admitting that his top-order failed in situations that should actually have suited them.

Boock and Bracewell go on to discuss the role of all-rounders in New Zealand cricket. Usually when you talk about New Zealand all-rounders you are talking about bits and pieces players - bowlers who aren't quite up to international class but can also swing the bat a bit, and batsmen who struggle in the top order but can also throw down a few dobbers. I find the whole subject a bit depressing because this is the type of player who only ever fits into a team that can't do better. You can also find them in sides like Kenya and Bagladesh (is there a better example of the type than Khaled Mahmud?). Boock's contention is that the lack of these players is why New Zealand failed in South Africa - my response to that is to say that we should stop trying to turn players like Franklin, Mills and Adams into all-rounders and should concentrate on making them the best bowlers they can possibly be. If Bracewell is as confident in his top-order coming right as he says, then he should be comfortable with the New Zealand side having a long tail.

As an aside, does anyone else find Boock's Dad's Army jibe oddly amusing? Richard Boock is such a grumpy old fuddy-duddy that it seems entirely appropriate for him to use TV shows from the 1970s as a cultural touchstone. When I read that line I instantly had an image in my head of Boock composing a letter to TVNZ complaining about the poor standard of modern comedy and couldn't help but laugh out loud.