Worth a try, the review did look VERY close to the edge, thought perhaps a slight deflection. Also wasnt sure about the line live but on replay was near plum.

Dochart: I’m really surprised that Santner wasn’t selected for these 2 test matches. Sommerville didn’t even get a wicket in any of these 2 matches. It would have been nice to had another allrounder in the team.

Mitchell did alright in the position he was in. He is definitely a better batter than a bowler. It would have been nice to see Philips bat.

I think Taylor time in test matches is over but he may be alright depending on if Williamson is going to get surgery on his elbow. Nicholls following Taylor real soon.

For the home test series back in NZ they must play Young and Conway in the side. Both have done quite well so far. You cannot leave these 2 out of the side if that means getting rid of Taylor or Nicholls.

Its hard to see but there are many positives.

Taylor will likely come on at home as will Nicholls. I dont see Taylor being dropped ahead of Nicholls, I think he will choose retirement in about 18 months. Conway does push Nicholls down the order if Young remains, which IMO he should. What it does do is leave no place for GP unless they swap GP for Nicholls or Rachin, given Santner is still in the team as the spin all rounder. Interesting times. Not a bad thing when you have guys fighting for 1 spot when those 2 players average low to mid 40s haha. 

As hard as a loss is, soooo many positives out of this tour after a tour of Eng, a WTC, a t20 WC, t20 series and now 2 tests, players tired, but they still performed well with 2 key players down, 3 if you count Boult.

KJ proved he can bowl in Ind. Hind sight second test Wagner should have replaced KJ perhaps and GP replace Somers (only GP ahead of Santner to give GP real world test experience away from home). But hind sight is always easy to talk about, which is what the Ind commentators are now doing. That would have given 3 spinners and 3 seamers (with Mitchell and GP sharing the 5th bowler role but strengthening the batting). Ajaz showed the worth of a full time spinner and he should be around for the next Ind tour (2026?). Rachin when he slows it down to 83kph and below, he has such good technique and he looks as good as Ajaz below 83kph, and hes still soooo young, if him and GP can get some coaching, I see Ajaz, Rachin, GP and Santner being a big part of our next tour. Would be nice to have a leg break, but Sodhi just isnt making in roads outside white ball. Not too many leg breaks with stamina for 5 day cricket, Mulli and Warne only wrist spinners in recent memory to have great success, perhaps its the fatigue it places on your wrist and forearm, not sure never been one. So plenty of positives. 

Latham is copping a bit of cricism for lack of direction of Somers and Rachin, but I personally think he rectified that late in the innings yesterday, given both of them overs. Rachin once he slows it down below 83kph shows the signs of being another Ajaz, but has much more potential with the bat. I think him an GP will become the next breed of spin twins for NZ. Latham will be 3 losses, 2 wins, 1 draw from memory. But given the team he was dealt, in Ind, cant really be too critical IMO, he played it pretty text book outside the overs in the other 2 spinners which as I said, once it was a done deal he changed (which imo is a smart thing, if you know your seamers are tight and your wicket taker is still moving, why replace them when the other 2 spinners didnt look good first innings or their first spells 2nd innings)

The only selection I saw as a a bad one was Somerville. I guess the thinking was 38yo with a lot of experience, lets see what his FC 40 avg looks like in Ind. But imo they should be investing more time in the young guys while they are on tour. Also with both Conway and Williamson out, GP would have strengthened a really really suspect batting lineup. OR as Ind commentary are saying why did NZ leave their #1 left arm seamer out (Wagner). For me though, GP made more sense with his spin which is FC avg 40, and high 30s Fc batting when we were down Conway and Willaimson. Possibly could have played Wagner over Tim or KJ, but again, would have expected KJ to be mean machine on the bounce, so replacing Tim after a 5fa in the first test, nah...... Again, all hind sight stuff, although Somerville wasnt hind sight, that was a strange selection and agree with the commentary around it.

Blundell is possibly the only other area of critique, but imo its a learning curve. NZ have Conway, Latham, Phillips, Seifert. Seifert FC is well below Blundell, the rest are all around 40 and up, but who of those would be a better pick. If Young stays at opener, which IMO he definitely should even with Conway, and they keep Taylor and Nicholls which imo they will, Conway is the only choice given Phillips has now turned to spin bowling. Blundell is there to stay I think, so whilst he didnt have a great 2nd test, its a learning experience. Again, a blimmin good position to be in when you have so many good first class options. And more to come.

Good to see Mitchell get a 50 in demanding conditions and Nicholls show he can score runs away, although his avg for the series is pretty bad, but whose isnt haha. 

All just good signs for when Conway and Williamson are back and our next sub Cont tour imo. Adversity is a magnifying glass and I think this test was the ultimate magnifier of where NZ is at missing 2 batsmen and possibly Boult on tour of Ind. A loss always sucks, but we our record over last 7 years of forcing positive win results is still dramatically good and we have signs of a solid team for he next tour which willl likely be more well planned out without covid having as much of an impact hopefully.

Well that was an anti climatic finish haha. Well played Ind. Ashwin particularly for me, classy classy bowler. For NZ, really only Ajaz performance to cheer for. Next time, bigger, better, stronger. 2 batsmen down and possibly the wrong bowler selection, not exscuses, but things that next time hopefully fall into place. KJ is pretty consistent now on most surfaces and Rachin looks to have the potential to be an equal all rounder as KJ. So, 2 fairly young men to form the backbone of the NZ bowling future post Southee/Boult/Wagner era. Ajaz clearly being a spinner will be around for a while yet as will Santner. Add GP into the mix and its a solid future for further tours abroad. Definitely think a specialist spinner is the way to go on turning wickets like Sydney on day 4/5 etc instead of the all rounder in Santner/Rachin, GP is a bit different as I think he will come on better in FC as a batsman who can bowl a bit. Options is the word. 

Who can forget beating Eng in Eng for the 4th series in a row, beating Ind in a WC final, beating Eng in a T20wc final to make the final and to only fall slightly short, has been a memorable away season imo and this test series loss takes no shine off that, its Ind in Ind. Well done NZ. 

Wow Starc gets a wicket first rock with a ball that should have swung but didnt and Burns would normally clip it down leg and missed, very early wicket loss for Eng on a green humid Brissy wicket. Very weird, out first ball from somebody usually very good with a rubbish ball. I think he was playing for the swing and it just didnt.

NZ need an extreme pace bowler to come through at Test level. I dont think it will be Milne or Lockie. But Starc shows what share pace can do. With Wags being the number 1 long spell bowler in the world, NZ can afford a short sharp burst of overs from somebody like Lockie 150kph. Perhaps Ben Sears may come on with age.....

Hoping the SA tour of NZ goes ahead, I think we have a really good chance to clean sweep it and get some points on the board for the WTC and grasp back our last tour there some what, which was a thorn in our side. 

When is Aus scheduled to Tour NZ in a test series next? Feels like its us touring there or not at all. Although as this article points out it gives us more chance of making the WTC final again. But will need to beat both SA at home and Eng away (which will be 5 test series in a row if NZ pull that off, NZ dominating Eng last 5 years).

Cricket: Blackcaps avoid Australia in defence of World Test Championship | Newshub

Edit: Now Hazlewood into it, sharp bounce similar to what KJ gets, but really Malan should have left that. 

Looking at that Draw, I think Pak in UAE and Eng in Eng will be the 2 hardest series, but looking at Eng performing today, they have definitely dropped at the Test level. I thought NZ was off to a bad start, Eng could get rolled for sub 100 here.

Given we lost 1 Test in IND, if we can win all other tests that have an available result (ie not washed out), I think NZ have a good chance of making the next WTC final given the tests that count to our points tally. I think it will end up tight again between Ind, NZ and Aus. They seem to be the 3 teams noticeably better all round than the other top 5 teams. Pak can with Babar can be very hard to beat and unpredictable. But its there for the taking. just need Aus to lose a few.

He will be fizzing having watched the one man bowling show in the last Ind test on a pitch that could not have suited him any more perfectly. 

A clean sweep hopefully this summer for NZ, SA may offer some opposition but I expect our world class 4 swing bowlers to topple the top order and this time have the bowlers with the ability to extract wickets from nothing pitches. 

Either way, I hope they slay it after what must have been a hard thrashing and selection controversies. 

Wagner FIZZING to play after sidelined since June !!!

Wow Bennett getting some insanely good swing and pace, taking Guptill early. I think hes an under appreciated frontline bowler.

Worker now needs to deliver, arguably 2nd best T20 batsman last SS year, with the most boundaries and 3rd most runs. Hes been around a few provinces now.

Chapman avg 32 at sr 150, you can see why he appears in the blackcaps white ball teams at times.

There we go, Worker over the boundary with ease. 

Auckland really just missing Munro now, probably ruing letting Finn Allen move to Welli after being blocked by Guppy and Munro for a few years, now delivering with consistant starts.

I think there is more T20 talent in NZ than was represented in the 16 man T20 WC squad. Hopefully next time we play some of the promising talent not the old guard test players. I think/hope the selectors learnt a lot from losing Conway with a WC final. missing that strike batsman like a Conway, Allen, Worker, Munro (oops) etc.

TeaLeaf:

Wow Bennett getting some insanely good swing and pace, taking Guptill early. I think hes an under appreciated frontline bowler.

Worker now needs to deliver, arguably 2nd best T20 batsman last SS year, with the most boundaries and 3rd most runs. Hes been around a few provinces now.

Chapman avg 32 at sr 150, you can see why he appears in the blackcaps white ball teams at times.

There we go, Worker over the boundary with ease. 

Auckland really just missing Munro now, probably ruing letting Finn Allen move to Welli after being blocked by Guppy and Munro for a few years, now delivering with consistant starts.

I think there is more T20 talent in NZ than was represented in the 16 man T20 WC squad. Hopefully next time we play some of the promising talent not the old guard test players. I think/hope the selectors learnt a lot from losing Conway with a WC final. missing that strike batsman like a Conway, Allen, Worker, Munro (oops) etc.

Dochart:

With the next T20 WC in Australia, if Munro does well in the BBL, NZ must select him. He has played BBL for the last 2 seasons and has done well so far in Aus conditions which will benefit NZ.

Its bloody minded by NZC, they will not play him, just select him.

Id throw a few other players in there and personally Id not have mitchell in my team and possibly now Williamson either (although the 2nd half of his WC innings is how he should be playing every mtch from now on hopefully).

For me you have to have your 6 best high Avg high SR players in your domestic competition. And the same for bowling.

Which would mean the likes of Finn Allen, Worker, Chapman etc.

If they saying you will not be played for the Blackcaps if you do not play in the NZ domestic comp, then the Blackcaps team should be playing the best domestic comp players, form for me over captain preference.

I agree re Latham. 

Dang Ben Sears is quick, good ball to get Worker to miss time the slog and out. Having him and Lockie in the same game is an extreme pace bowler fans dream haha. I think with time Ben will be the next bowler in, hes toured with the Blackcaps and whilst he needs to learn a lot still for touring, hes becoming very hard to handle in NZ conditions with 150+ and excellent variety balls. Im a fan. 

I have no issue dropping Ajaz, depending on which wicket, was so much fuss in the media. Yes he took 10 wickets in a match, whilst an amazing stat, the SR wasnt impressive. I feel if it over shadows that Hadlees 9/53 will be a great shame, given Hadlee would have also taken the 10th next over but caught the damn 10th wicket. In saying that, imo Ajaz still has a place on the right wickets at home. 

Sears with another terrific delivery, might just break the Auck backbone with this spell. 2-4 so far, pretty good spell so far in t twenty.

This wont happen, but when we play aus, Id LOVE to see Sears, Fergusson, Milne, Jamieson (when bowling mid 140s) and Boult at high 130s in the ODIs. Having Lockie and Sears delivering 155kph bouncers at the Aus shoulders and share speed yorkers in tandem would be a JOY for NZ cricket given we have struggled to deliver serious pace bowlers in the past outside Bond.

Dochart: Tealeaf:

Finn Allen will definitely play for the Blackcaps full time once the likes of Guptill retire. He didn’t do to well in Bangladesh but might be fine in playing in Aus conditions.

I still can’t believe the media were saying why didn’t we select Ajaz Patel for the test squad. It was pretty obvious that we weren’t going to pick spinner only in NZ conditions. This is why they selected Ravindra as can bat and bowl spin.

With Williamson out of the Bangladesh series this will give a good chance for Young and Conway to cement their places. Taylor and Nicholls are on the chopping block and when Kane comes back one of these 2 will be out if Young and Conway do well.

TeaLeaf:

Dochart: Tealeaf:

Finn Allen will definitely play for the Blackcaps full time once the likes of Guptill retire. He didn’t do to well in Bangladesh but might be fine in playing in Aus conditions.

I still can’t believe the media were saying why didn’t we select Ajaz Patel for the test squad. It was pretty obvious that we weren’t going to pick spinner only in NZ conditions. This is why they selected Ravindra as can bat and bowl spin.

With Williamson out of the Bangladesh series this will give a good chance for Young and Conway to cement their places. Taylor and Nicholls are on the chopping block and when Kane comes back one of these 2 will be out if Young and Conway do well.

Yep agree with all that. And the Ravindra was the other point I meant to make about not playing Ajaz. Cant afford both in NZ conditions. Im just not convinced with Ravindra yet, I personally like to see GP get another go. 

I think all of our batsmen suck in the sub continent lol, we really need to do better to put all the comments about it and NZ not being worlds best to rest. In saying that I think we could have done a lot better in Ind with a couple of better selections.

One thing you know with GP is he has intent, he isnt going to block 18 balls in a row or settle for 1.8rpo. Taylor should have been there to up the run rate but he is just in a huge trough and Nicholls, Im not a fan. I could go with giving him a rest to give GP a go in his spot.

I really hope Young goes on with it, copped a bit of bad luck that last test.

Dochart:

I would really like to GP play ahead of Nicholls. I think NZ could have won in India if they had made better selections. Playing Mitchell over GP was a bad decision but at least Mitchell contributed more than Taylor and Nicholls in that 2nd test match.

TeaLeaf:

Dochart:

I would really like to GP play ahead of Nicholls. I think NZ could have won in India if they had made better selections. Playing Mitchell over GP was a bad decision but at least Mitchell contributed more than Taylor and Nicholls in that 2nd test match.

I wanted to say this about GP over Nicholls. I feel Nicholls needs a rest to reassess. It did wonders for Southee and I think it might work for Nicholls.

Wow Auckland failed and made 135, thought Welli would cruise in, then Allen gone, then Van Beek in the first over for Welli. Auck back in it.