Sorry about the pun.
I don’t usually wrap up one day series, and I wont do this one.
I will say sucks to be you New Zealand, 2 zip up, work their way back to 2 all, and then rain fucks up their finish.
That must smart.
This has been an interesting time for the players though, there has been some fresh faces, some character arcs, and forced rests.
Martin Guptil may have a stupid name (it’s not funny or cool to say, yet still odd enough to mention) but he showed on debut he can bat, well last night he showed he can smack, slap, and carry his team. The rest of the series he struggled a bit, but there is class and dash in him.
Callum Ferguson jumped the queue by finding form at the exact right time, and then kept his spot by getting some of the best luck of any debutante ever. Hard to say whether he made more runs, or got more dodgy LB decisions, but once he was let go at the Gabba, he was a force of furious destruction.
Ben Hilfenhaus has been talked up for a long time, but when he finally gets in he is very up and down. His good is unplayable, his bad is anal fodder, and no one is any surer about him now than they were before.
Tim Southee came into the series with a decent effort against Australia in the test series behind him, but in the one dayers he has been easier to score from than Tara Reid. He also has only 3 wickets in the series, and without the new ball he looks like a change bowler.
Brad Haddin took his chance at the top of the order, the one that most people thought he would have had by now. He really isn’t, and has never been, a good middle or lower middle order white ball batsman. At the top of the order he took over, and Warner might have to wait a while for a recall now.
Iain O’Brien needs a swab. In England he was a medium slow bowler who filled up an end. Now he is almost genuinely quick, and he took 10 wickets in this series, the Australian’s seemed to score off him easily, but if he can keep taking 2 wickets a match the kiwis will keep him around.
James Hopes has gone from a bits and pieces all rounder to the man Ponting throws the ball to during a drama. He has also batted in the top order, and his forehead is still awesome.
The greatest story has to be Grant Elliott, who has managed to turn himself from Jacob Oram’s hamstring replacement, into an international all rounder. No one is sure how, but he has.
One day you might say, “as kiwi as Grant Elliott”.
callum ferguson…..redbacks represent! show the bloody victorian pretenders in the team how its done son.
i know a guy whose cousin sister’s boyfriend went to the same school as callum…so we practically know each other.
As kiwi as Grant Elliott? Sounds very familiar to “as English as Paul Collingwood”
Good read!
Fergusson plays slightly unorthodox for an Aussie. I feel hes a good non-probot because I saw him hits the ball in interesting position like a cover drive looking shot going fine of backward point. Is he some sort of ODI specialist or does he play good in the Sheild?
South Africa can produce an S.A. Rejects International XI with good success.
Grant Elliot
K.P.
Jacques Rudolph
Ryan Ten Doetsche’
Garnett Kruger
Charl Langeveldt
… ….
Deepak, I wouldn’t say he has set the shield alight, but he has 576 runs at 48 with two tons. So he goes alright.
he looks like one of those x factor players who are underperform in domestic cricket but somehow look like a million bucks playing intl cricket. think michael clarke, rohit sharma.
effing rohit should be in the indian test team. probot indian selectors haven’t got the foggiest idea in spotting talent. in ODIs we persist with raina when rohit should be coming in at 4. in tests they insist on flat track bullies like yuvraj when rohit should be slotted as sachin’s replacement down the road.
if australia could just get over their boner over bits and pieces allrounders and selected a proper batsman, callum might get that baggy green after all. my aussie test XI would be:
hughes, katich (c), punter, mr cricket, mrs bingle, callum, haddin, brett lee, michelle, bryce, dirty / sizzle.
now that’s a team of world beaters!
india test XI: god, gotham city, laxman, sachin, dravid, rohit, MSD, irfan, zaheer, ishant, mishra / chawla.