New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka, 2009

[Howsie]

It's a shame really, Guptill looked so good. He's had so many starts in his test career so far he just hasn't gone on. Easily our best opener in awhile though.

 

[leftarmlegspin]

Sweet. 452 isn't too bad tbh. Not when they were 3-300. I'm really looking forward to watching Guptill bat tbh, let's hope he makes a biggie.

That's what I was talking about with regard to lack of depth in batting. At the moment, SL don't have a good enough WK/batsman to be playing at No.6 to accomodate Angelo Mathews. And the tail is appalling.

 

[diaskasun]

think sanga or dilshan should keep wickets, you need to balance the team some how,

 

[Howsie]

That's what I was talking about with regard to lack of depth in batting. At the moment, SL don't have a good enough WK/batsman to be playing at No.6 to accomodate Angelo Mathews. And the tail is appalling.

Mathews bats at six doesnt' he. He has a good FC record anyway.

 

[leftarmlegspin]

think sanga or dilshan should keep wickets, you need to balance the team some how,

Certainly if Mathews is going to play. His batting is not yet good enough to hold a No.7 or No.6 position.

The problem is that Dilshan and Sanga are both top order players. If Sanga struggles for form when keeping wicket, then Dilshan will do the same.

The only alternative is to put Dilshan back to No.6, but then you have a problem with the openers as there are none that are good enough for Test level at the moment.

Either way, either the middle order, or the openers are going to be weak until either Mathews improves his batting, or an opener of good enough quality is found.

 

[Howsie]

Certainly if Mathews is going to play. His batting is not yet good enough to hold a No.7 or No.6 position.

The problem is that Dilshan and Sanga are both top order players. If Sanga struggles for form when keeping wicket, then Dilshan will do the same.

The only alternative is to put Dilshan back to No.6, but then you have a problem with the openers as there are none that are good enough for Test level at the moment.

Either way, either the middle order, or the openers are going to be weak until either Mathews improves his batting, or an opener of good enough quality is found.

It can't be that bad, Mathews does average 47 with the bat in FC cricket. I can't see Sanga taking the gloves back now that he's captain.

 

[leftarmlegspin]

Mathews bats at six doesnt' he. He has a good FC record anyway.

Yeh, but he's not good enough to hold that position, and nor is Prasanna Jayawardene.

A good FC record is hugely different from Test, and some of that is boosted by club cricket, which is the main form of FC cricket in SL. He was immense in the Inter-Provincial tournament, which is a higher standard, but his 90+ average was only over 5 games.

And then you have to bear in mind that Inter-Provincial cricket is still a standard below Test level.


EDIT: No it isn't that bad, but it is not yet good enough. So for a while the team will be unbalanced. The batting lacks depth, no other way of saying it. He has potential, but he's not yet a Test level batsman. That FC average is boosted by club cricket.

 

[Howsie]

Yeh, but he's not good enough to hold that position, and nor is Prasanna Jayawardene.

A good FC record is hugely different from Test, and some of that is boosted by club cricket, which is the main form of FC cricket in SL. He was immense in the Inter-Provincial tournament, which is a higher standard, but his 90+ average was only over 5 games.

And then you have to bear in mind that Inter-Provincial cricket is still a standard below Test level.


EDIT: No it isn't that bad, but it is not yet good enough. So for a while the team will be unbalanced. The batting lacks depth, no other way of saying it. He has potential, but he's not yet a Test level batsman. That FC average is boosted by club cricket.

Fair enough. I didn't know that the Sri Lankan FC system was a tad weak. Who's the best up and coming batsmen that hasn't played for Sri Lanka yet btw?

 

[leftarmlegspin]

Fair enough. I didn't know that the Sri Lankan FC system was a tad weak. Who's the best up and coming batsmen that hasn't played for Sri Lanka yet btw?

Hmm, difficult one. For me, I would say Kaushal Silva. He's a WK/batsman, which is ideal considering Jayawardene's batting is a bit suspect. He's been in the SL squad a few times, and he was in the T20 WC squad, but didn't play.

He averaged over 50 in the club cricket competition, and over 60 in the Inter-Provincial tournament, so he finished the FC season with an average well into the 50's. I'd like to see him given a chance.

 

[Howsie]

Hmm, difficult one. For me, I would say Kaushal Silva. He's a WK/batsman, which is ideal considering Jayawardene's batting is a bit suspect. He's been in the SL squad a few times, and he was in the T20 WC squad, but didn't play.

He averaged over 50 in the club cricket competition, and over 60 in the Inter-Provincial tournament, so he finished the FC season with an average well into the 50's. I'd like to see him given a chance.

Yea I've heard about him, he's played for Sri Lanka A recently I think.

Only five overs till stumps, New Zealand is looking solid against the spin.

 

[Ari]

Only five overs till stumps, New Zealand is looking solid against the spin.

Don't say that!

 

[Howsie]

Why the hell did I say that.

Patel as the nightwatchmen, come on Jeet's do something usefull in this game.

 

[King Pietersen]

I explained about Vettori in the previous page. We continually decide to bowl first. I guarentee no other side has bowled first more than us and he ends up bowling a heap of overs when there's nothing in the pitch for him. He rarely gets to bowl 4th innings.

Hmm, there's certainly a slight bit of truth to that, he does have less bowling in the 4th innings (it's not because you bowl first so often though, as he has more overs in the 2nd match innings), but how do you explain the fact that his record in the 3rd innings of a match is only slightly better than his record in the 1st innings of a match? He's bowled in the same amount of innings in both, bowled slighlty more overs in the 3rd innings of a match, but his average is only .63 better than first up. Here's a run down of his figures:

1st match innings: 32 innings, 775 overs, 55 wickets for 2357 runs at an average of 42.85 and a strike rate of 84.5

2nd match innings: 37 innings, 1145 overs, 92 wickets for 2890 runs at an average of 31.41 and a strike rate of 74.6

3rd match innings: 32 innings, 830.4 overs, 53 wickets for 2238 runs at an average of 42.22 and a strike rate of 94.0

4th match innings: 21 innings, 418.1 overs, 28 wickets for 1068 runs at an average of 38.14 and a strike rate of 89.6

So really, Vettori only bowls well in the 2nd innings of a match, other than that he's very, very average. Those strike rates are particularly awful, especially in the 3rd innings of a match where you'd expect conditions to be far more helpful for spin bowling.

Flynn gone as well. Can't say I'm a fan of his particularly. He did well to recover after having his teeth knocked out, but I don't see him having a particularly long and fruitful Test career. He'll more than likely average about the same as he does in his FC career, around 34.

 

[leftarmlegspin]

Yea I've heard about him, he's played for Sri Lanka A recently I think.

Only five overs till stumps, New Zealand is looking solid against the spin.

Yeh he has, against Pakistan A. He was really impressive in those games. In the last, he scored 25* and 79*, the latter score he came in at No.4.

 

[Howsie]

@KP. Flynn's just holding that spot down until your favourite batsmen is ready