Named in batting order:
1) Lou Vincent
2) Nathan Astle
3) Stephen Fleming
4) Scott Styris
5) Hamish Marshall
6) Craig McMillan
7) Chris Cairns
8) Adam Parore
9) Andre Adams
10) Shane Bond
11) Daryl Tuffey
Sure, you might argue that there is no spinner in that squad and Vettori should be a shoe-in; or that McCullum deserves to be there ahead of Parore - but other than that I think this is a side which would kick most of the current band to the kerb. As an added bonus, all of my selections are currently playing. Admittedly frenetic running around in India is not the ideal preparation for test cricket in England, but at least their fitness levels will be good.
On a slightly serious note though, here is a question for you; has a side ever suffered a greater exodus of talent than the recent New Zealand team? The only side I can think of which might come even close is Zimbabwe, which in its darkest moment lost players like Heath Streak, Andy Flower, Taitenda Taibu and Henry Olonga. And Zimbabwe at least has Robert Mugabe and Peter Chingoka to blame.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
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3 comments:
Check it out everyone. Mike's picking Styris for his team.
As far as exodus goes, what about Australia 1978?
What I think will be interesting to see in the fullness of time is the level of feeling within the team to Bracewell. No doubt the biographies in a couple of years will start spilling the beans. If you look at that list of names, they clearly haven't retired from playing cricket - they've retired from playing cricket for New Zealand.
There was an interesting point in the Cricinfo summary of yesterday's interview with Stephen Fleming where he darkly said he didn't agree with who they were lining up to be number 3. I hope that doesn't mean that the complete idiot named Jesse Ryder will be named his successor. Sure the idiot's got talent. But he's an idiot. Better talented cricketers have been treated far worse in recent years.
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