By Lynn McConnell
Unable to bowl Bangladesh out in the Test series, unable to win one of the ODIs and unable to defend a total of 307 – New Zealand’s attack has become toothless.It is more of the same. A new season starts with optimism but at the outset the side trips up and makes the remainder of the season a battle for redemption.
The days of making a positive start to the year and building on it are a distant memory. New Zealand ended the ODI series with Bangladesh one point ahead on the ICC rankings – one point!
Add to that the worrying injuries suffered by Kane Williamson and Brendon McCullum, the absences of Daniel Vettori (although signs are that he is on the comeback trail) and Martin Guptill, the prospect of a rejuvenated West Indies team, and an all-conquering Indian team, on the horizon and the job ahead of the side is obvious.
Failure to beat Bangladesh has damaging consequences for New Zealand. It has slipped further down the pecking order in the game on a world-wide basis and in spite of advances made, especially against England, last year, the same old problems are beginning to emerge.
New Zealand’s ability to attract high-profile opponents to play here season after season is dependent on the competitiveness of the home side. It has to be said there is not a lot of reason for sides to consider a New Zealand excursion.
And no slight on Kyle Mills but is Ross Taylor no better than the fourth option for captaining the side?
Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson and Mills have all been ahead of Taylor in the pecking order so far this year. Mind you, given the unforgivable treatment he received last year when demoted from the leadership, it would not surprise if the fact was that Taylor rebuffed any approaches to him to lead the side (which would be totally understandable).
However, what is immediately apparent is that New Zealand does not have enough international quality players to be attempting to play the game with ‘specialists’ in the various forms of cricket.
New Zealand’s best Test players are the most important players in the side. Very few are not capable of playing one-day cricket. These players should be performing game in and game out consistently for the side.
Twenty20 considerations don’t really come into the picture. It is still hit and giggle in most people’s minds.
But New Zealand’s top players should be competing at the highest level as often as possible.
Consider some basic facts: Taylor (13), Guptill (16), McCullum (20) and Williamson (24) are our top ODI batsmen according to the latest rankings. Add BJ Watling and they are all in the top 50 Test batsmen.
Watling should be in the ODI team. He is competitive enough and has the basic technique.
These are the players the core of the batting side of the team should be built around. Watling could wicketkeep and the desire to field a block-busting wicketkeeping all-rounder should be discarded.
It also has to be wondered why the likes of Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner are not considered to be worth developing in ODI bowling. The more they play at this level the most experience they will bring to the game.
They should all be under the sort of strict fielding regimen that Steve Rixon used as the basis of his coaching approach and they should be given the chance to perform consistently in the top two disciplines of the game.
With the World Cup only two summers away, New Zealand desperately need to get their one-day act together, and losing to Bangladesh should be just the warning those responsible for the team should heed.
