Richard Boock has revealed that Lou Vincent is likely to open the innings against Australia tomorrow, thankfully squishing rumours that Dan Vettori was going to take on the job. But with Vincent and Astle at the top of the order and players like Styris and McMillan to follow the batting order still has a brittle look. There are no grinders and grafters in there who would be willing to hold back on the silly strokes if the scoreboard reads 80/5.
Perhaps I am being too negative? Reading Richard Boock this morning has certainly put me in a negative state of mind. He is in the midst of an unprecedented bout of gloom-mongering, which is exceptional even by his gloomy standards. Lou Vincent is such a chipper and upbeat young fellow that Boock must have felt that a double dose of doom-tempting was warranted to counteract it. Because not only does Boock say that it would be a "mindboggling assignment" for New Zealand to win the Chappell-Hadlee trophy after a road strewn with "tales of the hapless and the hopeless", but he also takes the time to pen another piece - "the pessimist's guide to beating the Aussies."
Sigh. I am not sure how much more of Boock and his wet blanket of doom I can take. Can someone please get Terry Maddaford to take him aside and give him a talking to? Because Maddaford knows how to present bad news. His recent piece of the dearth of opening batsmen looks at the problem and then at the steps being taken to rectify it. This is a much better method of dealing with an issue than just smothering the topic with a soggy blanket of cloying and inescapable depression.
Friday, 2 December 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment