Ben on...the summer schedule

With the election date having been announced, we now know all we need to know about the summer's entertainment.

It's a good summer too, with trips to Bangladesh and Australia, then a visit by the West Indies (who we have seen quite a bit of recently, which I heartily approve of), followed by a return to Australia (seriously, the tour is interrupted by a whole other tour) and then the Indians visit (who we see too rarely sadly).

I have compiled the 08/09 cricket fixtures into one big table that also shows the days between fixtures. I always seem to find it difficult to find a comprehensive list of matches, so I've done one for myself. I'll put a link in the sidebar so we can come back and check it any time we want. (And please do come back and check it. It took frickin' ages to do all the CSS, so I would like to think my table will be appreciated.)

October 2008
Tue 7	To be confirmed	To be confirmed
Thu 9	1st ODI v Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium
Sat 11	2nd ODI v Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium
Tue 14	3rd ODI v Bangladesh	Chittagong Divisional Stadium
Fri 17	1st Test v Bangladesh	Chittagong Divisional Stadium
Sat 18	1st Test v Bangladesh
Sun 19	1st Test v Bangladesh
Mon 20	1st Test v Bangladesh
Tue 21	1st Test v Bangladesh
Sat 25	2nd Test v Bangladesh	Shere Bangla National Stadium
Sun 26	2nd Test v Bangladesh
Mon 27	2nd Test v Bangladesh
Tue 28	2nd Test v Bangladesh
Wed 29	2nd Test v Bangladesh
November 2008
Thu 13	v New South Wales	SCG
Fri 14	v New South Wales
Sat 15	v New South Wales
Sun 16	v New South Wales
Thu 20	1st Test v Australia	The 'Gabba
Fri 21	1st Test v Australia
Sat 22	1st Test v Australia
Sun 23	1st Test v Australia
Mon 24	1st Test v Australia
Fri 28	2nd Test v Australia	Adelaide Oval
Sat 29	2nd Test v Australia
Sun 30	2nd Test v Australia
December 2008
Mon 1	2nd Test v Australia
Tue 2	2nd Test v Australia
Fri 5	Auckland v West Indies	Eden Park Outer Oval
Sat 6	Auckland v West Indies
Sun 7	Auckland v West Indies
Thu 11	1st Test v West Indies	University Oval
Fri 12	1st Test v West Indies
Sat 13	1st Test v West Indies
Sun 14	1st Test v West Indies
Mon 15	1st Test v West Indies
Fri 19	2nd Test v West Indies	McLean Park
Sat 20	2nd Test v West Indies
Sun 21	2nd Test v West Indies
Mon 22	2nd Test v West Indies
Tue 23	2nd Test v West Indies
Fri 26	1st Twenty20 v West Indies	Eden Park
Sun 28	2nd Twenty20 v West Indies	Seddon Park
Wed 31	1st ODI v West Indies	Queenstown Events Centre
January 2009
Sat 3	2nd ODI v West Indies	AMI Stadium
Wed 7	3rd ODI v West Indies	Westpac Stadium
Sat 10	4th ODI v West Indies	Eden Park
Tue 13	5th ODI v West Indies	McLean Park
February 2009
Sun 1	1st ODI v Australia	WACA
Fri 6	2nd ODI v Australia	MCG
Sun 8	3rd ODI v Australia	SCG
Tue 10	4th ODI v Australia	Adelaide Oval
Fri 13	5th ODI v Australia	The 'Gabba
Sun 15	Twenty20 v Australia	SCG
March 2009
Fri 6	Twenty20 v India	Westpac Stadium
Sun 8	1st ODI v India	McLean Park
Wed 11	2nd ODI v India	Seddon Park
Sat 14	3rd ODI v India	Eden Park
Tue 17	4th ODI v India	Westpac Stadium
Fri 20	5th ODI v India	AMI Stadium
Sun 22	NZ XI v India	Bert Sutcliffe Oval
Mon 23	NZ XI v India
Tue 24	NZ XI v India
Thu 26	1st Test v India	Seddon Park
Fri 27	1st Test v India
Sat 28	1st Test v India
Sun 29	1st Test v India
Mon 30	1st Test v India
April 2009
Fri 3	2nd Test v India	Basin Reserve
Sat 4	2nd Test v India
Sun 5	2nd Test v India
Mon 6	2nd Test v India
Tue 7	2nd Test v India

Ben on...vote for cricket

It's been deathly slow here at Mike on Cricket, but then it has been deathly slow for New Zealand cricket recently. There hasn't been much going on, so I've been spending my time reading political blogs instead of trying to keep up with the world of cricket.

As you must know, the general election has to be held by 15 November. So the election campaign could be an interesting distraction until the summer really gets started with the first test against Australia on 20 November. I can't help but see cricket everywhere however, so all the politics I have been reading has been making me wonder what effect the result of the general election will have on NZ cricket.

I have checked the websites of the major parties, but no one has any policies for reversing the decline of the NZ cricket team. In fact, no one seems to have a cricket policy at all. National is promising more sports equipment for schools but less funding for sports programmes. Labour claims to have increased funding of sport and recreation during their term by a factor of 67.

Perhaps history is a better predictor of which party will do well for cricket.

History of NZ cricket in terms of the government

1930–35

NZ started playing test cricket in 1930, during the government of the United Party, which would merge with the Reform Party to form the National Party. This government was followed by the Liberal–Reform coalition. All of which means that the first six years or so of NZ cricket was played under the predecessors of the National Party.

In this period, NZ played 11 matches and lost 4.

To follow the trends, I am going to refer to the graphs of the Test Cricket Rating Service. I believe they use a rating system derived from that used for chess. Whatever. I am just using it because it has historical graphs. The beginning of the graph is going to be iffy statistically, and it rather generously shows NZ occupying a lowish mid-table position for this period.

1935–49

The Liberal–Reform coalition was followed by 14 years of Labour government, which established the welfare state in NZ and an interventionist economic system, which were to characterise New Zealand for several decades.

World War II severely curtailed test cricket during this period. NZ played 9 tests and lost 2. It was however a pretty good period for NZ cricket. Burt Sutcliffe and JR Reid were playing. We were outclassed by England and Australia (our only opponents in this period), but if we could have played more cricket of longer duration (we only played three-day tests) there is every possibility our first test win could have occurred in this period.

The graph shows us pretty much holding steady, which is probably fair.

1949–72

Early on in this period, the graph shows a downturn in NZ's cricket fortunes, that turns into a collapse. This period was the long dark night of NZ's cricket history. Our record of an occasional loss amongst numerous draws turned into a bucketload of losses (40) interspersed with draws (35) with an average of about 1 win every 3 years.

This was the long period of the first two National governments. The first ran till '57, the second from '60 to '72. The Second Labour Government filled the gap, just long enough to raise taxes on luxuries and secure NZ's first test victory. Despite the tragic cricket, this was a fairly positive time for New Zealand, with agricultural exports to Britain keeping us relatively prosperous and our alliance with USA giving us greater prominence worldwide then we perhaps deserved, though at the cost of having to join the US in the Vietnam war.

1972–1984

Our cricket fortunes showed a bit of a turn around at the end of the last period, to allow the Third Labour Government, '72–'75, to enjoy a small plateau, that included our first ever win over Australia. Shortly after Labour was replaced by the Third National Government, our results dipped for a few years before rising steadily if unspectacularly.

1984–90

The Fourth Labour Government was perhaps the most controversial government in our history. Our economy and international alliances were upended and several progressive social policies were enacted. NZ was reinvented and, in some ways, reinvigorated. It was also an exciting time for us in cricket. The rise that began under Muldoon accelerated and we somehow lost our habit of losing. By the time the government was re-elected in '87, the graph shows we were the third ranked test nation, ranked above Australia.

1990–99

It couldn't last however. In 1990, National were elected. They cut spending, cut welfare and cut wages. The nation went into a funk and the cricket team went with it. We returned to our losing ways and our ranking slid away.

1999–2008

The end to the '90s doldrums came in 1999 with a sudden claw back in our rating, shortly after the election that would lead to the Fifth Labour Government. After this recovery, our rating continued to rise, taking us close to the heights enjoyed under the Fourth Labour Government. Similarly, the country has gradually clawed its way back from the despair of Ruthenasia to real prosperity.

The Test Cricket Rating Service hasn't been updated since July 2006, so the last couple of years of the Fifth Labour Government haven't been captured. However, it is clear that NZ's position has weakened recently. In the ICC ranking system (which can't be compared with the Test Cricket Rating Service unfortunately) we have fallen from 97 points to 83 points. Interestingly however, that hasn't changed our position in the ranking; we were 7th on 97 and are 7th on 83. Another interesting point is that while our rating rose during the '00s, so did that of most of the other countries, so we didn't actually increase our ranking above 7th for anything but a short period.

Conclusion

So, so what? Well I can't tell you who to vote for, but I can give you a couple of perspectives.

From a historical perspective it is clear. The two periods of plenty have come during Labour governments, while the two periods of famine have come during National governments. You would have to expect from this trend that a National government would turn the recent drop in performance into a longer drought. Could re-electing Labour prevent a collapse?

Ignoring the lessons of history, you might interpret the recent downturn as a symptom of a tired, overdone government bereft of ideas and vision. And perhaps the '00s renaissance was illusory anyway, just a consequence of a general cricket-wide trend upwards. So could electing National dodge the impending collapse?

So there you go. Make sure you vote, vote wisely, and vote for cricket.

Jesus played cricket?

So claims the Professor who currently holds the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the Humanities. He points to a passage in the Armenian Gospel of the Infancy, translated into Armenian in the 6th century from a much older lost Syriac original which states:

He (Jesus) would take the boys to the seashore and, carrying the playing ball and the club, he would go over the waves of the sea as though he was playing on a frozen surface, hitting the playing ball. And watching him, the boys would scream and say: 'Watch the child Jesus, what he does over the waves of the sea!' Many would gather there and, watching him, would be amazed.

Ben on...Balls international

Another Cricinfo Daily has arrived with no mention of anything to do with New Zealand cricket. The long cold winter continues.

Perhaps I should do what Uncle JRod has done and head to the northern hemisphere. It seems fortunes are easily made there – JRod had been in England less than a day and already he has a job, as a blogger for The Wisden Cricketer!

Who knew that The Wisden Cricketer had a blog? I guess I had better add it to the blogroll. It's pretty dry stuff though. "Should Steve Harmison have an England future?" "Collingwood or Gallian? You decide..." JRod is like a dingo yapping amongst a pride of dozing lions. His Wisden posts are thoroughly watered-down compared to Cricket with Balls, but still have much more bite and are far more entertaining than the regular posters. "Why English Administrcrats should apologise to me," he brazenly blogs in only his second post.

He's already started offending the Brits. He called Michael Vaughn a kitten and got this response:

Vaughan was a very hard man on the field....I’ll judge Vaughan in that light and I’ll judge those taking cheap shots at him in that light too.

In fact, he's managed to offend me somewhat. JRod dropped a couple of his regular shticks into his first post, Natalie Portman and the insignificance of New Zealand. Out of context, the reference to Natalie Portman makes him seem just a little desperate (rather than like a stalker, as he does in Cricket with Balls). As for the belittling of NZ cricket, on Cricket with Balls the occasional jab in the ribs of NZ cricket fans and a laugh at our expense are one of the highlights of the blog. However, his jibe on Wisden was...well jeez JRod, it was mean!

Cricket is facing a major road-block if one of the major cricket nations, not one of the minnows like New Zealand, cannot be toured by people with a pale complexion.

Ben on...the contenders

John Bracewell wants out. So who wants to be the next Black Caps' coach? Word is that everyone's favourite prospect, John Wright, might not be keen. These guys have shown some interest: Dipak Patel (Central Districts coach), Andy Moles (Northern Districts) and Anthony Stuart (Wellington), Greg Shippard (Victoria and Vettori's Delhi Daredevils).

How about you?

I'll tell you one thing, if you want a coach who is going to let you know what he is thinking, hire a blogger:

Sportsfreak
Uncle J Rod - with Mike on Cricket to be embedded journalist(s)!
Sport Review - with Mike on Cricket to commentate!
Miriam
Miss Field
Smitty

Ben on...Dhoni the rockstar

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is so important and so in danger of his fans' adulation, he needs bodyguards. But the sometime captain of the Indian ODI team won't take any old bodyguard. When he is out and about in Ranchi, he is accompanied by a group of female bodyguards.

That's cool. Rockstar cool. Bond-villain cool.

I'm picturing him protected by burly valkyries, forming a menacing phalanx around him. When it's his turn at the wicket, one of them buckles on his helmet while another hands him his bat.



The truth, as always, is rather more mundane:

Asif the arse

Most of you have probably heard that Mohammed Asif - who had already escaped bans despite testing positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2006 and after being found with opium in Dubai - also tested positive for drugs during the IPL. However, unlike in 2008 and earlier this year the PCB is not going to defend their man. In fact, they have already suspended him and said that he is going to have to fight the charges alone.

Pakistani cricket writer Kamran Abbasi can speak with much more authority than me on the subject of Pakistani cricketers and drugs, so go and read what he has to say. When you finish his blog, you might notice this response in the comments:

One day after PCB decided that it won't allow its players to take part in the next IPL season if it coincides with Australia's rescheduled visit to the country next year, IPL released Asif's positive results. Not to mention that he was previously found guilty in India. And, also at Dubai Airport where 95% of the working staff is Indian!

Is it just coincidence? Every time when issue like this comes, India is involved in it. What if the Indian mixed something in his food there, and he even did not know it?

We have seen the involvement of Indian secret service agents in much complicated cases to damage the cause and respect of Pakistan. It must be the simplest one for them.

It would be better for Pakistani players traveling to India in future, get tested at home first before departure, to compare the results and to make sure that indeed they are dirty or is it someone else?

If only that were true. Conspiracies are so much more interesting than the mundane truth that a stupid young man thought he could get away with taking drugs.

Conspiracy theorists on the other side might soon be formulating their own theories. A drugs expert (see the side bar) has said that by naming Asif the IPL has breached WADA disclosure guidelines and that this breach of protocol could help Asif win an appeal against any sanction imposed.

Ben on...all-conquering

After whipping the English 3-1 and demolishing the Irish, the Black Caps will tonight complete a clean sweep of the British Isles by battering the Scottish.

Five stats from the Irish demolition (courtesy Cricinfo)

• New Zealand's 290-run triumph eclipsed the previous record for the largest win (by runs) by 33 runs.
• James Marshall and Brendon McCullum became the first opening pair to pile up 150-plus scores in the same innings. It was also the first ODI hundred for both Marshall and McCullum.
• New Zealand's total of 402 for 2 is their best in ODIs, and the sixth ODI total over 400.
• The 266-run stand between Marshall and McCullum is by far New Zealand's highest partnership, and the second-best opening stand in ODIs.
• The 18 sixes hit by New Zealand equals the record for most sixes by a team in an ODI. McCullum was just two hits short of the record for most sixes in an innings by a batsman.

Ben on...first cab off the rank

Kevin Pietersen, England captain. Am I alone in being surprised by this appointment? I would have rated it as likely as, say, Parore being made captain in his day. But there has been no outcry from the English. "A new era" they're calling it. Pietersen claims to be humbled by the appointment, which is certainly something new in the new era. However, he also believes he's going to be so good at it he won't even have to try.

Ben on...more links

Just in time for the last match in the England series, I am adding BBC's Test Match Special to our links. It isn't really that special, but it is a decent professional perspective.

Cricket Mystery I am adding because it is a New Zealand site. It is pretty ugly and the posts are quite stuffy (not helped by the fact that I can hear John Morrison mumbling through his moustache when I read them). Mike on Cricket can hardly point the finger with regard to site design and hackwork, but at least we don't have a business strategist on our team. Anyway, it does look like it is getting better with time and they are posting with good regularity.

Pro-fern-ity is another NZ cricket blog from the LJ fraternity. There must be more of us out there, floating isolated and lost in the blogosphere. Where are you NZ cricket bloggers? Come home.

Ben on...controversy aside

Too much focus on the controversy here. Let's not forget it was a fantastic game of cricket, won by one run by the last batsman after the last ball. There are two classic final overs to an ODI: the no. 6 trying to clear the field in chase of double figures and the death bowler trying to prevent the no. 11 scratching a couple runs.

Relive the last over.

Ben on...the spirit level of cricket

The Collingwood Incident has kicked up some stink. It wouldn't be a decent controversy in New Zealand however without a bit of self-flagellation. According to some, Vettori is the villain for his potty mouth and petulance. And pretty much everyone has been quick to recall the run out of Murali, over which some believe we have surrendered the moral high ground on questionable run outs.

These two controversial run outs hardly bear comparison; they lie on opposite sides of the 'being a dick line'.

I would have been very happy if Murali had been called back and my respect for Fleming would have risen greatly. But really, Murali only had himself to blame. In every other similar circumstance, the batsman waits with the toe of their bat on the line, standing as far back down the pitch as they can to show their impatience, while the ball is returned to the keeper. Everyone understands that the ball is still alive.

The fundamental mechanic of running between wickets is that it is up to the batsman's judgement and his legs to get him to safety and the fielders' fielding skills to get him out. In Murali's case, his judgement failed him in a peculiar way.

In Elliot's case, the fundamental mechanic broke down. Having to deal with being bowled over is not supposed to be part of running between wickets. Obviously it was no one's fault, but to take advantage of a situation where the game has broken down is clearly at odds with the spirit of the game.

Ben on...dueling apologies

Trust New Zealand to respond to an apology by saying sorry:

"I think we're a little bit contrite ourselves. I think there was a little raw emotion there at the end that we're a bit disappointed in so I apologise to Paul and his team."

Talk about raw emotion! It doesn't come much rawer than a good "fuck you". It's good he apologised, but I actually really enjoyed seeing the boys letting their feelings show. There was a fair bit of anger on the balcony, but plenty of elation too. It's not far from "fuck you" to "fuck yeah!"

Ah, controversy!

Please feel free to abuse Paul Collingwood in the comments section.

In the immediate aftermath of The Oval match it seems that Collingwood is being a good deal of leeway by New Zealanders for the fact that he has apologised for running Grant Elliott out while the batsman lay dazed on the ground. But, how much of our generosity is the result of post-victory euphoria? If we had lost, you can bet your bottom dollar that right now I would be busy converting office stationary into an effigy of Collingwood and constructing a bonfire on Willis Street (probably outside the gym next door, just to piss off all the smokers who stand outside it - honestly, where are their health priorities?). And I imagine that I would not be the only one bristling with righteous indignation.

At the time Collingwood decided to uphold the run-out appeal, Ian Smith compared the event to the infamous under-arm moment. But he was premature. If we had lost the match I am sure he would have been right and Collingwood would have been reviled as Greg Chappell still is today. But we won. And that means Collingwood's moment of madness will hardly be remembered in six month's time, let alone 25 years. And for this reason, the England captain should be extremely grateful that his team choked, wobbled, shot themselves in the foot and lost the match.

Ben on...topsy-turvy

Strange things happen on the other side of the world – everything is opposite. I went to bed last night, praying for rain, with the All Blacks outscoring the Black Caps and woke up to find that our tormentors of the last two months have been humbled.

I am going to have to read the commentaries to find out how this could happen. A quick look at the scorecard hints it wasn't so bizzaro however: Elliot 56 & 2-9, Mills 47 & 2-42 and Southee 4-38. Looks like a top-shelf performance from a top ODI side.

Ben on...new rules after we need them

Paul Collingwood seems to be the only person happy with the outcome of the last ODI. In contrast, Suave is livid.

The ICC has acted in admirable haste in amending the laws to include fiddly details about reducing the between-innings interval:

Where the innings of the side batting first is delayed or interrupted, the umpires will reduce the length of the interval.

In the event of time being lost (playing time lost less any extra time provided) up to and including 60 minutes in aggregate, the length of the interval shall be reduced from 45 to 30 minutes. In the event of more than 60 minutes being lost in aggregate, the duration of the interval shall be agreed mutually by the umpires and both captains subject to no interval being of more than 30 minutes' duration or less than 10 minutes' duration. In the event of disagreement, the length of the interval shall be determined by the ICC match referee.

That will no doubt help the next time a similar situation arises. No help when a completely different problem arises however.

Wouldn't a better all-round solution be to simply allow some flexibility in the rules or allow for the application of common sense?

Ben on...tour high point

Could this near possible victory be the high point of this dismal tour of England? It's the closest we've gotten to a win so far, so shouldn't that be some sort of distinction when looking back on this game? Not according to the Guardian over-by-over commentary:

"I think generally we should all forget that this match ever happened. Let us never speak of this nonsense again."

Sportsfreak didn't even get to start their OBO commentary, so over there the game was forgotten before it even began.

Ben on...an old revolution

Keven Pietersen's newly legitimised switched-grip reverse sweep has been hailed as revolutionary. I don't recall it ever being called this when Craig McMillan pioneered it and I don't think his left-is-the-new-right reverse seeping ever got the MCC in a twist. But then I don't think he ever used it to the same effect as Pietersen, but then again he never faced Scott Styris.

Ben on...polarising Vettori

He has his fans (357) and he has his non-fans (13); Danny is a polarising guy. To some he's the thinking woman's crumpet. While to someone else, he has one of cricket's XI most punchable faces.

Ben on...rating the test series

Cricinfo has rated the New Zealand and England players on their performance. The eleven English average a mediocre 6.5, while the thirteen New Zealanders rate a poor 5. But what do numbers really mean? Suave (who seems very angry these days) has expressed his ratings in words, six per player.

Ben on...we're useless, especially Mike

Remember that tipping challenge Mike and I signed up for? The post-test series update has been posted at Sportsfreak. It's a close contest, with six tippers within 2 points of the top spot. Mike and I on the other hand are both within the 2-point margin of bottom place.

Our scores have also been helped by the several bonus points we've earned. Mike got a good one last week, getting a consolation point for picking that a guy who didn't even play would get man of the match. For my part, I got a sympathy point for picking Redmond to top the New Zealand test run scoring, much to Sportsfreak's amusement; he got 54, a good 189 off Taylor's top place. In my defence though I will note that Redmond is far and away the biggest scorer on tour with 545 runs and two centuries. Which just makes things that much funnier really.

The competition is going to continue through the ODI series though and we all know NZers are better at one-dayers.

Ben on...copping it

The Black Caps were always going to cop it after their defeats in this test series, but Jonathan Millmow has sent down a beamer that catches Vettori right in the faceguard.

Our biggest problem in this tour was our lack of depth. We can't fault the lesser lights for doing no better than we expected, the likes of How, Flynn and O'Brien. We were always going to need decent performances from our stars, Vettori, Oram, McCullum, Taylor and Mills. While they did perform passably well in England, they each played worse in some way than they did in the home series – or in other words, before their IPL sabbatical.

We can only speculate as to what effect missing the start of the tour to play twenty20 might have had on these players, but it is hard to imagine that it was anything other than detrimental to their test form, particularly to Vettori's captaincy.

It certainly looks bad for New Zealand to lose like we did in the last two tests. I myself would find the loss easier to swallow if there wasn't this doubt over our preparedness. With the heat being turned on Vettori, I wonder if he would still claim that he's not worried about how it looks.

Vettori main culprit in gutless showing

The fall-out from our inept performance in the third test continues, with Jonathan Millmow giving the team a real blast in the Dominion-Post. Jonathan may be harsh, but it is hard to disagree with anything he says.

Meanwhile John Bracewell does his best to make Dan Vettori feel valued by revealing that he wishes Stephen Fleming had stayed on as test captain.

The third test

Don't worry guys. Don't get upset at the result in the third test. John Bracewell says "If we're patient enough and we're persistent enough eventually we'll end up with an era of very good cricketers,".

"We can't afford to (panic), our cupboard isn't that full anyway. We've picked the right guys, it's just keep exposing them (to test cricket)."

Phew! So that's alright then.

Of course you could argue that John Bracewell has been whistling the same frickin' tune for four years. And you could also argue that the reason the frickin' cupboard is bare is that most of our decent players have quit rather than play under him.

You could also argue that Bracewell's last sentence doesn't make any sense. But that would just be picky.

If you can be bothered reading them, Dan Vettori offers some more excuses here.

Personally I am sick of excuses. So reading Scyld Berry in the Telegraph was kinda liberating. He just tells it as it is. We can't bat, and we don't have a decent bowler.

Looking at the third test through the retrospectoscope, you do have to ask one question though. Why on earth did we go into a test on a wicket famed for swing with four into-the-wicket bowlers and a spinner? Inserting England and letting them score 364 was criminal. Of course being knocked over for 123 and 232 was criminal too, but then we didn't leave our best batsmen for the conditions on the bench. Tim Southee would have been as much of a threat on that wicket as any of the English bowlers, but instead we picked four seamers. Madness.

Still, if there is one positive from this test match it is that the loss was not the result of a single bad session. It was the result of a whole bunch of bad sessions. And Bracewell has been calling for consistency, so we must see this a step in the right direction.

Good news for Lou

Lou Vincent has just signed a deal with Lancashire. Of course he should be playing for New Zealand, but I am just glad that he is playing at all.

Asif arrested

The soap opera which is Pakistani cricket continues. Drug cheat/fast bowler Mohammad Asif has just been arrested in Dubai. According to the Pakistan Board of Control he is being detained on "suspicion of possessing drugs". Early reports quoted PCB officials as saying that Asif was found with opium. As you can imagine heroin possession is not treated very lightly in Dubai.

Because this is a cricketer from Pakistan we are talking about, the drama does not stop there. Asif now appears to be simultaneously claiming that the drugs were planted by airport officials, and that they are an innocent medicine for sore elbows that he has been carrying around in his wallet for months.

Taylor gets the knives out

Ross Taylor's latest tour diary is damning of his team-mates for their role in the loss at Old Trafford. The most vitriolic attack comes against Jamie How, Iain O'Brien and Michael Mason. They are outed as bogans. Not that Taylor lets himself off the hook entirely. He, Dan Vettori, Jake Oram and Jeetan Patel are all revealed as being R&B fans. Terrible.

Oh and he also criticises the bowlers for not matching Monty Panesar's efforts on the field. But, you know, we knew THAT already.

The Guardian on Jerry

Jeremy Coney is the new Richie Benaud? According to Rob Bagchi of the Guardian he is:

Coming across as cricket's answer to the poet and critic Tom Paulin, each word is measured for effect and the effort of thoughtfulness is etched across his face as he weighs each comment. He never preaches, though, just talks with the ease of an accomplished raconteur in a charming and shrewd, if slightly kooky fashion. If you still miss the master, catch Coney while you can.

I know some people find his kookiness irritating, but I count myself as a fan. His autobiography was the first cricket book I read that contained any real insights into the game and he can be a marvellously inventive, thoughtful and clever speaker when he feels like it.

If anyone has an MP3 of him and John Parker discussing Parker's only test wicket (during a lull in play at the Basin test between England and New Zealand in 1988)please, for the love of god, post it here so the rest of us can relive one of cricket broadcasting's true golden moments.

Vettori comes under more pressure

Chris Rattue, in this morning's Herald, has sifted through the ashes of the second test and found Vettori's captaincy wanting:

The honeymoon period for Vettori's captaincy is over and this horrible failure must be judged against the harsh standards of international sport. After squandering a surprise series advantage at home to England this year, this sideways drift has reached the point where the leeway is over.

If Vettori cannot inspire and demand more than this, then the captaincy issue is not at rest. There must be serious questions over a side that can so blatantly betray one of the finest centuries ever scored by a New Zealand batsman, a rare gem that has already faded because of what followed.

Vettori and the 4th innings blues

Conventional wisdom tells us that spin bowlers should struggle in the first innings of a test match, and improve as the wicket wears and crumbles. Monty Panesar showed us how this works in the Old Trafford test - with 1-101 in the first innings, and 6-37 in the third.

But one exception to this rule seems to be Dan Vettori. I can't count the number of times where he has performed well in the early stages of a match, and then gone missing once the wicket starts to take a bit of spin.

An analysis of his career seems to bear this out. Look at these figures:

Innings --- Wickets --- Average
1st --- 61 --- 41.40
2nd --- 90 --- 29.67
3rd --- 77 --- 32.58
4th --- 28 --- 38.14

The 1st innings figures are probably a reflection of New Zealand conditions. If the wicket is a green-top, then Dan probably won't get a bowl at all. If it is dead flat, then he (and all the other bowlers) get pasted.

But there is clearly a trend from innings 2 to innings 4. The longer the match goes on, the less effective he becomes.

Martin Crowe tells us what he really thinks about Geoff Howarth

...

Oh, it was definitely the culture in the team when I came in that I wasn't made very welcome. Only John Wright actually welcomed me into the team. The captain [Geoff Howarth] called me a show pony the whole time and treated me like shit. That didn't help. Greg Chappell and Rod Marsh were nicer to me than my own team-mates.

...

Howarth as coach was a joke, and I played under Lee Germon, which was ridiculous.

From here.

The morning after

Should I be writing this now? I am tired, I am grumpy and I managed to get only a couple of hours of sleep last night. It wasn’t that I spent the whole night watching cricket – I turned off when it was clear England were going to stroll to victory – it was that I spent the whole night lying awake seething.

I think I am going to have to restrain myself from ranting though. After all, this blog is going to become as predictable as the New Zealand cricket team if I have a rant after every single bloody victory-turned-into-defeat-by-a-second-innings-collapse.

Uh-oh. I almost couldn’t restrain myself there. I had to interrupt this post to fetch myself a nice cup of tea. Just typing the words “second-innings-collapse” made my blood boil.

Uh-oh. I did it again. Mmmmm, tea. Nice, soothing tea.

Positives. Yeah, positives. Let’s look at some positives. Forcing myself to look for a silver lining always helps me get over a loss. Jamie How is starting to look the goods now isn’t he? And Ross Taylor is proving himself to be a world-class batsman. And I bet Iain O’Brien’s first innings spell really surprised a few people.

I’ve always had a high opinion of O’Brien. I remember watching him bowl for Wellington years ago and being surprised at how quick he was. Mark Gillespie was bowling with the wind at one end and looked sharp, but O’Brien looked even sharper and more dangerous bowling into the breeze.

Another reason I have a fondness for O’Brien comes thanks to a bunch of annoying school kids who once perched themselves next to me during a State Shield match. The tykes had a not very endearing dimness to them, which was highlighted by the constant high-pitched abuse they piled on Iain. Maybe they don’t teach school kids about apostrophes anymore, because those idiots were pronouncing his name “Ob-re-on” – which meant O’Brien didn’t actually notice that their abuse was directed at him. I still find that funny. The abuse becoming increasingly shrill as O’Brien obliviously wandered back and forth in front of the embankment.

I think I might have told that story before.

What else can I talk about to distract myself from the nature of our loss? I could complain about the lack of variety in our defeats I guess. Wouldn’t it be really nice if just – for once – New Zealand failed in the first innings and then went gloriously to defeat with a battling second innings performance? I know the end result would be the same – but I think I would respect the team a lot more. And, you know, variety is the spice of life - for both cricket and blogging.

Ben on..hit wicket (tooth)

End of 1st day, 2nd test: NZ 404/4, Taylor 67*, Oram 22*; Flynn retired hurt 4:



Not wishing to be macabre by posting this video, but that visual of the tooth is something else. I really hope Flynn is doing okay and that he'll be back with a vengeance.

Netherland

I like books. And I occasionally get a hankering to read what I call in my mind "a great American novel". I am not sure what I even mean by that, and I am usually disappointed with whatever pretender I happen to pick up ("Cold Mountain", I am looking at you). I am starting to get that old hankering again, and am very tempted to pick up the latest attempt by a novelist to capture the American condition in print. Mainly because the vehicle that author has chosen as base his novel on is - weirdly enough - cricket.

"Netherland" by Joseph O'Neill isn't just attracting great reviews, it is also selling like hotcakes (as of this second it is the 10th biggest seller at Amazon). And the New York Times has even run an article about the real-life Staten Island Cricket Club, where the protagonist of "Netherland" plies his trade.

Billy Bowden pops up in the oddest places

I was flicking through a medical journal this morning and came across an almost full-page photo of Billy Bowden signalling a wide. The photo was part of an ad for a cream that treats arthritis by "depleting substance P from the whole c-fibre neurone both peripherally and centrally".

I'm not sure how I feel about cricket umpires having a media profile, but I guess a) Billy has a good reason to be involved in advertising an arthritis treatment, b) an ad in a medical journal hardly counts as having a media profile and c) it is certainly no worse than Stephen Fleming promoting deoderant and air conditioning.

Ben on...Carry On at Lord's

You have to love the English and their love of double entendres. The cricket at the Lord's test has already faded from memory, but the match will still be remembered with a chortle because of this 30-second snatch of commentary by Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

Some of the New Zealand commentators had a go at their own suggestive commentary, but not with the same panache. Ian Smith's quip about Oram's level of arousal has attracted comments, whereas Jeremy Coney's exposition about Jesse Ryder practising pulling in the shower has rightly been ignored (and, in a completely different vein, I bet he's hoping his shocker on Ross Taylor will be too).

Ben on...updated honours board

Go Big Jake!

Year	Batsman	Country	Runs
2008	J.D.P. Oram	New Zealand	101
2004	M.H. Richardson	New Zealand	101
1999	M.J. Horne	New Zealand	100
1994	M.D. Crowe	New Zealand	142
1990	T.J. Franklin	New Zealand	101
1986	M.D. Crowe	New Zealand	106
1978	G.P. Howarth	New Zealand	123
1973	B.E. Congdon	New Zealand	175
	M.G. Burgess	New Zealand	105
	V. Pollard	New Zealand	105*
1949	M.P. Donnelly	New Zealand	206
1931	C.S. Dempster	New Zealand	120
	M.L. Page	New Zealand	104

Ben on...Vaughn and Vettori on the honours board

Despite the fact that the current test is heading for a likely rain-affected, dilatory draw, two players have earned honours: Vaughn's 106 and Vettori's 5-69 are the latest additions to the England batting and visitors bowling Lord's honours boards.

It is great to see Vettori's name being immortalised, even if it is in a meaningless (probably) test.

Here's the list of honoured New Zealand bowlers:

Year	Bowler	Country	Figures
2008	D.L. Vettori	New Zealand	5-69
1999	C.L. Cairns	New Zealand	6-77
1994	D.J. Nash	New Zealand	6-76
	D.J. Nash	New Zealand	5-93
	D.J. Nash	New Zealand	11-169
1986	R.J. Hadlee	New Zealand	6-80
1983	R.J. Hadlee	New Zealand	5-93
1978	R.J. Hadlee	New Zealand	5-84

And here are the batsmen:

Year	Batsman	Country	Runs
2004	M.H. Richardson	New Zealand	101
1999	M.J. Horne	New Zealand	100
1994	M.D. Crowe	New Zealand	142
1990	T.J. Franklin	New Zealand	101
1986	M.D. Crowe	New Zealand	106
1978	G.P. Howarth	New Zealand	123
1973	B.E. Congdon	New Zealand	175
	M.G. Burgess	New Zealand	105
	V. Pollard	New Zealand	105*
1949	M.P. Donnelly	New Zealand	206
1931	C.S. Dempster	New Zealand	120
	M.L. Page	New Zealand	104

Little joys

It’s the little things that make following cricket at Lord’s such a joy. Little things like hearing David Gower lament that the English bowlers could not roll a batting line-up as weak as New Zealand’s in conditions perfectly suited to their bowling. Little things like waking up to hear that England have been bowled out for 319, when the last thing you can recall before going to sleep was Strauss and Cook marching on while Nasser Hussain warbled on about batting conditions being so good that Michael Vaughan should look for a lead of at least 200 and to still be batting by the close of play. Little things like having pessimistic expectations and a few English egos punctured.

Let’s just hope that these little things and my joy can last for at least one more day.

Ben on...cricket royalty

I think it may be time to add King Cricket to the blogroll. He's the one on the right (courtesy of AYaLAC's Valentine special):



They love their King Cricket up in the northern hemisphere. It's even been featured in Wisden Cricketer. It's a good blog. I've just been too much of a republican to add it here. Actually, the main reason I haven't added it to the blogroll is because of my raging parochialism – it seemed to me that the king just didn't mention our little dominion often enough, even though we've been playing each other for the last four months. I may have been too quick to judgement however; a look at his "New Zealand" tag reveals the occasional hat tip to a New Zealand player (which is of course more than I've ever written about an opposing team). In fact one of his more recent posts was about Brendon McCullum.

The post that prompted me to pay more attention to the blog though was about replacing Shane Bond with some recently discovered alternatives. I'm pinching the picture of Ryan Shanebondom:

Ben on...new depths plumbed in journalism

I recommend that you do not read this article. It is wrong in so many ways and insulting to New Zealand on so many levels. Just don't read it. Read this instead – Prince Brendan McCullum one of the 5 most important cricketers.

Ben on...claws out in the comments

We don't get many comments at Mike on Cricket. If I make a poor post, there will most likely be no response (though I might possibly get JRod or Sportsfreak pop in to make a pithy comment, saving me some embarrassment). I should count my blessings. Check out the harsh comments in this blog. And here are some of the deleted comments:

3. At 8:01 pm on 14 May 2008, Rvvm wrote:

No offence, but I have no idea who you are.

Any chance you could get a journalist who has played the game at this level or at least has some knowledge of the game to write the next blog?

Cheers.

5. At 06:54 am on 15 May 2008, bonedoc70 wrote:

I agree with much of the above. Sorry to be negative but you appear to be describing the routine happenings of a build up to a game of cricket! It is the most banal piece of writing I have read in a world (wide web) that is overflowing with the trite and cliched.

"The groundsmen have been working on the pitch and the wicket since 9am and were still going around with a lawnmower at 4pm."

SHOCK! HORROR! READ ALL ABOUT IT.......LORDS GROUNDSTAFF DO THEIR JOB!

Did you speak to the groundstaff? What is the wicket going to play like?

"...........the caterers bring in all the beer, champagne and pies they will need while sponsors tents have also gone up."

HOLD THE BACK PAGE.......PEOPLE WON'T STARVE AT LORDS

Furthermore your piece is one large contradiction. Initially you state that England vs NZ is not "box office stuff" then go on to say "the excitement is building......bring it on" and there are "legends to be made". The next line I was expecting was "he was a slow left armer from the wrong side of the tracks who broke all the rules......this time its personal"

Hmmmm.....do you actually like cricket? Do you know anything about it? I am sorry to be negative but there was nothing of interest in your piece and it also sadly betrayed a lack of passion and understanding of the game.

6. At on 15 May 2008, edbaron wrote:

Is this the worst BBC sport blog ever written. Comments about the grass being cut and pie tents going up suggest this person won a Blue Peter prize to write about this blog. What does she know about cricket? Less than G Boycott's cat I would venture. If the BBC has stopped showing the cricket on TV at least have journos who know something about the game passing comment on it!

Mike Atherton on Dan Vettori

Ouch! As you might guess from the title of his column, "Daniel Vettori has failed to lead by example for New Zealand", Mike Atherton is not best pleased with Dan.

Ben on...anticipation

While the English press and the English players are boring us with their boring stories about how boring the England tour is going to be, a couple of Englishers are giving more nuanced opinions.

The Atheist proves that he alone in England has a memory by noting that it wasn't that long ago that there was little separating England and New Zealand. Recalling the last time the two teams met in a tour, too long ago for most to remember:

And what happened? We won some games here. They one some games there. It was like watching two lobotomised quadriplegics trying to play “flip the coin.” Of course, there could only be one winner in such a contest: the coin.

Miriam has made a delightfully optimistic and up-beat post about her joyous anticipation of the start of the cricket season (helped no doubt by the presence of a certain librarian). The first test will apparently be like "the first time you sleep with someone after you've both been anticipating it for months."

Speaking of Miriam and the Atheist: There is a lot to be said for anonymity in the blogosphere. We will all have seen the Atheist in his appearances in his series of blu tack re-enactments of matches. Knowing what he looks like doesn't impact on his posts. If anything, it gives them character. However, in an indescribable post, he has, in a way, given faces to several of his blogging friends. Apparently the zany pairing of JRod and Miriam over at Cricket with Balls are the cricket blogging equivalent of Peter Andre and Jordan:


The analogy is strangely appropriate, but I suspect that the image of Pete and Jordan will change my reading of the posts at Cricket with Balls.

New Zealand 'B' vs England, first test preview

Cricinfo is all over the first test. From stats, to the weather (wet) to interviews and tour diaries. It is not often that a New Zealand 'B' tour gets this much fanfare. I can't wait to see what sort of coverage Shane Bond and the rest of the 'A' team get when they arrive.

Sigh.

As my excessively heavy use of the 'B' team literary device and my tips over at Sportsfreak indicate, I am not particularly optimistic about our success on this tour. Even worse, even at this stage I am not particularly enthusiastic about it either. The two-faced treatment of Shane Bond; the defections of Lou Vincent, Hamish Marshall et al; the shabby treatment of Stephen Fleming - all these things have taken a toll on my love for the game. I know I will still be staying up to watch the first session on Sky. And I know my heart will still beat at a million miles an hour in the build-up to the toss. But right now any excitement lingers a long way behind some real bitterness.

Luckily none of that bitterness extends to any of the team. And once the real cricket starts, all the administrative blundering is just going to become a bad memory. So, as of tonight, my posturing and complaining about this being a New Zealand 'B' side is going to stop. The players with ferns over their breasts are my team, and I am going to damn well support them.

So out with the bitching, and in with the cheering. Go kiwi! Smash 'em McCullum! Show us yer cover-drive Ross! Rip out their stumps Tim! Go lads, GO!

Ben on...tips

Speaking of fantasy cricket, Mike and I have been drafted into the Sportsfreak tipping premier league, which has had its first round of tips for the NZ–Eng test series as a whole. (Look out soon for the first-test tips.)

We're running at a combined score of 0 at the moment, which isn't actually that bad considering the series hasn't started. We would be doing much worse except that Mike got a bonus point for doing some research, counteracting the penalty I got for my own, rather underhand, research (bloody Flintoff factor again).

As a matter of interest, here are the series outcome predictions (for NZ): 0-2, 0-3, 0-2, 0-3, 0-3, 1-1, 1-1, 1-1, 0-2, 2-1!!!, 1-1, 0-2, for an average of 0.5-1.83.

Ben on...the Flintoff factor

So Andrew Flintoff won't be playing for at least the first two tests. This will disappoint some commentators, but not others.

I gotta say, I'm not convinced by Flintoff. I know he carried England to Ashes victory and spent a couple of years at the top of rankings. But I picked him in a round of some fantasy cricket thing once and he got no wickets, so I ended up getting 0 points in that round and never recovered.

Ben on...Black Caps' performance rated

If the Black Caps was your (male) lover:

New Zealand: Underrated, with a quiet librarian-esque charm, underneath which lay a second layer of librarian-esque charm, but underneath THAT lay some extremely good all-round skills. Didn't talk the talk as much as I would have liked, though, and had a tendency to collapse at the same point too early in every innings. Rarely good for more than one-dayers / day-nighters.

or (female):

New Zealand – a shy bookkeeper I’ve seen a few times. Not the most attractive girl I’ve ever been with, but more than makes up for it with her performances on the pitch. Plays above herself almost every time she takes the field. Wildly inventive and proves yet again looks can be deceiving. Not a world cup winner, but you know you’ll get a few good wins out of her.

Ben on...the English view

I'm really liking the new Guardian website. It's got some proper articles at last and they're easy to find. Here's a profile of Ross Taylor. And here's one of Jacob Oram from the Times. Nice to see these papers think the New Zealand players are interesting enough to profile. Not like the bloody Independent.

Ben on...the boys are back

The Black Caps are playing Essex at the moment. We managed to score a healthy total in our first dig, with Essex starting their innings as I write.

Our line up looks much better now that the IPL contractors are back in the team. There might be a couple of changes for the first test (Martin in, Flynn out?), but we are fielding a near to full strength side.

The IPL guys seem to be finding their feet in the longer form of the game as well, all of them keeping their scoring rates in check – McCullum in particular scoring at a very responsible 33.33 runs per 100 balls. Unfortunately, they seem to be forgetting how to hang on to their wickets; the five IPL players scored only 64 between them, in a total of 355.

Ben on...ICL wrap-up

Chris Harris won the ICL 20s Grand Championship with the Hyderabad Heroes. He was also the only New Zealander that turned in anything like an outstanding performance, with his bowling at least.

I've tabulated everyone's stats. I don't really know which stat is the most important in 20-20, but I have chosen to sort everything by average, simply because I like the fact that this puts Shane Bond at the top of the batting chart and the bottom of the bowling chart.

Batsman              I   Runs  Avg   SR    6s
Bond (Delhi)         5    31  31    114.81 0
McMillan (Kolkata)   9   198  24.75 133.78 8
Astle (Mumbai)       7   148  24.66 102.06 5
Cairns (Chandigarh)  5   119  23.8  143.37 8
Adams (Kolkata)      5    77  19.25 126.22 4
Vincent (Chandigarh) 7   108  15.42  99.08 3
Harris (Hyderabad)   7    74  14.8  127.58 4
Tuffey (Chandigarh)  4    17   8.5  113.33 0
Parore (Chennai)     4     6   2     60    0

Bowler   I Wk  Avg  Ecn  SR
Harris   9  9 19.88 6.62 18
Cairns   2  3 20.33 8.71 14
Tuffey   7 10 24.5  8.16 18
Vincent  4  2 24.5  8.16 18
Adams    8  9 24.66 7.08 20.8
McMillan 6  3 31.33 8.54 22
Astle    5  2 33.5  8.04 25
Bond     7  2 86.5  6.25 83

There isn't much that can be taken from these stats. Bond had a shocker, as did Parore (3 catches, 2 stumpings). Cairns remains good value. All in all, certainly no one lit up the competition like McCullum and Taylor have been doing over in the IPL. (Is it too much to hope that the ICL will realise that Bond's how-many-$100,000 for 2 wickets is too dear and decide to release him to return to New Zealand cricket and the brighter lights of the IPL?)

We had a few kiwis selected for the World XI team for the ICL 20s World Series, Cairns (c), Harris, Tuffey and Vincent (wk), who lost the final to the India XI. No one covering themselves with any glory.

Batsman I   Runs  Avg   SR    6s
Vincent 7   108  15.42  99.08 3
Cairns  3    28  9.33   77.77 1
Harris  -     -   -      -    -
Tuffey  -     -   -      -    -

Bowler   I Wk Avg Ecn   SR
Harris   1  -  0   6.33  -
Cairns   1  1 12  12     6
Tuffey   4  4 29   8.28 21
Vincent  -  -  -   -     -

Ben on...Bond on Bond

Anyone interested in what Shane Bond's up to might find this interview interesting (from the revamped Guardian online; hope they still have live commentary).

He seems to have moved on and is having a good time playing ICL T20, counting his earnings and talking cricket with cricketers. Good for him.

He's still carrying a chip on his shoulders however. A couple in fact. He's blaming NZC for him not being in the IPL. And everyone who said "It's a shame you can't play anymore but thanks for your contributions and good luck," (which really seems to be the prevailing attitude, even amongst those of us who also said "Oh, he doesn't want to play anymore so bugger off!") will be a bit disappointed to hear him say:

...no one even said: 'It's a shame you can't play anymore but thanks for your contributions and good luck.' It was just a case of, 'Oh, he doesn't want to play anymore so bugger off!' That irritates me most.

Also, here's a nice little report about the other ICL superstar Chris Cairns and his efforts to cause embarrassment to ex-coach.

Ben on...allegiances

The latest scandal to come out of the ICC, the suspension of Malcolm Speed, is the last straw for me. It's not that I like Speed or that sacking your CEO is so beyond the pale. What makes his sacking so appalling is that the reason behind it is that Speed wanted to do the right thing about the fact that members of Zimbabwe Cricket were embezzling ICC money. So, put very roughly, Speed was sacked because the ICC wants to continue to allow Zimbabwe Cricket to steal their money. That's an unacceptable level of flagrant corruption in my opinion.

As I have no respect left for the ICC, I cannot consider it to represent the game that I love. Luckily however, with the game now being fragmented, there are other options. I am now going to consider any ICC sanctioned cricket to be on a par with the ICL, the Stanford West Indies extravaganza and the L&P Back Yard Cricket Tourney. I'm still going to follow and support the Black Caps, but while NZC is affiliated to the ICC, I cannot consider any Black Caps games to be official.

Karl on ... why NZCricket should ignore the BCCI who never give them anything anyway

Last week, Hampshire vs. Sussex, match drawn, Sussex bat once and Shane Bond takes 7 for 66 off 19.1 overs for Hampshire.

Ben on...babies in beige

For those of you growing the next generation of fans, you should know that Peapods nappies come in regulation beige.

Ben on...IPL as good as over

Indian Premier League - 1st match
Bangalore Royal Challengers v Kolkata Knight Riders

                    R   B  4  6  SR
BB McCullum not out 158 73 10 13 216.43

Nothing that follows in this tournament can hold any interest after this innings. Well, maybe a double hundred.

Ben on...too hot, too cool

Excited about the start of the IPL later today? Hanging out for more T20 after the following the extensive coverage of the ICL? Better hurry up and choose a team to support.

No? Having trouble plugging into the hype? Then check out the Kolkata Knight Riders' team anthem or maybe some of their wacky promotional clips for some stimulation.

Ben on...contracted players announced; ins and outs

Karl will be livid, but Ryder has won an NZC contract while Bell and Sinclair have been dropped from the list. This is no surprise after they failed to get selected for the tour to England; everyone on the contract list is in the touring party except James Franklin, who would be touring if he wasn't injured. This needn't be the case, as you could imagine a situation where a player not actually picked to play, for bad form say, is given a contract recognising that they are considered long term prospects. I'm sure this was why Sinclair was contracted for so many years but rarely picked. In fact, I think it is remarkable that NZC considers players such as Aaron Redmond worthy of contracts even though they are completely untested at test level. Says volumes about our depth at the moment.

Anyway. There is much to say about each of the contracted players, but Sportsfreak shows that it is possible to say a lot with very few words.

Ben on...revisit the test series, now with ultraviolence

The Atheist has compiled his viddy-blogs of the recent test series:

here

Relive them quickly before the lawyers track them down again.

Ben on...The Phoenix Foundation

I'm loving The Phoenix Foundation's third album Happy Ending at the moment. Bright Grey is one of their best songs ever. Bleaching Sun is awesome too:

Ben on...clashing clashes

Great. The IPL will clash with a New Zealand series again next year. The schedule has been announced and will run from 10 April to 29 May. However, we have an international series scheduled for February to April.

It is no surprise that the BCCI is willing to schedule the IPL to clash with New Zealand fixtures. The big surprise though is that the other team in that series, who will also have to deal with the clash, is India.

Good news for Jesse

He has at least one big fan, "Spin" author Lawrence Booth - who includes his presence as one of his sources of optimism for the new English season:

If Jesse Ryder really is ready to resume his opening partnership with Brendon McCullum in time for the ODIs in England in June, then a few bowlers might look back fondly to the glory days when Matthew Bell and Jamie How patted back half-volleys and edged repeatedly to slip. Ryder could yet turn into a superstar, and no England bowler's education will be complete without a mauling at his hands. It will also edge the one-day series closer to the box office.

Ben on...squad for England tour

The touring squad has been announced.

From the four youngsters I named in my previous post, Flynn and Hopkins have been added. Flynn at the expense of Sinclair. Bell also misses out, his place is taken by James Marshall (who hasn't impressed with his earlier test appearances but has had a strong State Championship season). The bolter, who didn't appear in my list but was spotted by Paul Holden (prescience or inside tip?), is Aaron Redmond. Fulton and O'Brien are back for the tests and Ryder is back for the ODIs. Elliott has been given another go in the warm-ups while Oram is away and Gillespie and Mason have been given the warm-ups to play for a place in the test team.

Ben on...generation next month

So we're off to England in a months time for the away leg of the six-match series. Unlike other six-match series we've played in, we have a short break in proceedings during which we can take stock and re-jig our team.

The three tests showed that we have some glaring holes, namely an opener to partner How and a middle order batsman. So who might we see in the touring squad?

Several pundits have tried to pick possible fillers for the gaps in the batting line up 1 2 3 4. I thought I might take a look at some of the suggestions.

Greg Hay
Hay's name seems to be everyone's lips at the moment and he is clearly in the minds of the selectors. If you haven't heard of him, don't worry – I don't follow domestic cricket either. Also, he has only been playing for a couple of years. Hay plays for Central Districts and has scored over a thousand runs over two seasons at an average of just under 50 (State Championship). Most significantly, he has kept his average up over both seasons. In fact, this season was better than the last. He has also improved his conversion rate. Even if he doesn't get selected, he is clearly a batsman to pay attention to.

Daniel Flynn
We've actually seen a bit of Daniel Flynn before. He played in the Christchurch T20 and ODI, scoring 1 run from 5 balls over both matches. It would be unfair to judge him on those performances however. He has had an excellent season for Northern Districts, scoring 663 State Championship runs at over 60, including 3 centuries (none of them very big however). Quite a bit has been expected of Flynn. He burst onto the scene at the under-19 level. He has taken a few years to really show his promise, but he is clearly a player for the future.

Gareth Hopkins
Gareth Hopkins has become a bit of a feature in the New Zealand squad as a backup wicket-keeper. We are very likely to see him tour England again, though I doubt he will get any tests. Being backup for a player that hardly misses a match means a lot of waiting around. There is however always the possibility that he could play the ODIs, either as a middle-order batsman or as keeper-batsman with McCullum playing as a specialist batsman. He is certainly good enough with the bat, at domestic level at least.

Tim McIntosh
There has been quite a bit of excitement about Tim McIntosh after his big double century against Canterbury. However, given that that one innings makes up nearly half of his total State Championship runs for the season, you have to wonder how much people are being charmed by a single innings. Especially considering he followed it with scores of 2 and 9 in his next two innings. Or perhaps it just shows how desperate we are for openers. In McIntosh's favour, he is left handed and he does score big centuries – he has scored two centuries in the last two seasons and they have both been doubles.

Martin Guptill
I know nothing about Guptill nor why he is being discussed. He has a poor first-class average and a good list-A average. He does open, so I guess he is just another example of our desperation.

Fleming speaks

The tears have barely dried from his farewell, but Stephen Fleming is already starting to disassociate himself from the cricket establishment. TVNZ is reporting comments he made that some of the New Zealand coaching staff (but not John Bracewell) need to go, and that our team is in for a hard couple of years (as if we didn't know that already).

Shoaib banned

Wasn't Shoaib Akhtar banned already? Well, just to make sure he really doesn't come back the Pakistan Board of Control has slapped a five year ban for talking out of line on top of his two year ban for taking performance enhancing drugs. Osman Samiuddin, in his typically colourful and informative style, outlines the details of Shoaib's latest soap opera for Cricinfo here.