Domestic Cricket Daily: Da Blackcaps Mixer #3
omg NO ONE IS B-MAC WHY DO WE NEED MORE B-MACS LET'S STOP
The return of George Worker to Plunket Shield brought with it an immediate example of why Worker has taken the crown as the batsman youz talk about the most. Any batting conundrum that the Blackcaps Test or ODI team has, is met with cries from y'all that Worker is the bloke to fix them and while I tend to fall back on fit issues; it's impossible to ignore the fact that Worker's earned this lovin' through a weight of runs.
Conversation around Worker usually zones in on the Blackcaps ODI team. Worker averages 43.29 through a whopping 101 List-A games, compared to 29.59 in 81 FC games, which is an obvious sign of where Worker's best work is done. That's a close-minded conversation though as Worker averaged 60.75 in the Plunket Shield last season, with five notable scores in eight innings. Worker has done enough throughout his career to be in contention for Test and ODI selection, although he's another player who has been a victim of the Blackcaps selection yo-yo.
Worker joins Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry in the yo-yo category. They are players who could have very easily been selected and given consistent opportunities to seal further selection, or to provide reason as to why other players should be selected ahead of them. Instead, they have been given opportunities here and there, which I believe creates an environment of fear - how much have we heard about successful cricket teams playing without fear lately?
There are different wrinkles to that fear idea and one wrinkle is that players are playing with fear because they never know when they are going to be dropped. Sodhi and Henry have been in and out to such an extent that there's no rhyme or reason to their inclusions or exclusions, meaning they have no idea where they sit. Worker is the same and the lad must be wondering what he's got to do to seal a Blackcaps spot and then - most importantly - what he's got to do to keep that spot.
Depending on your taste, Worker has just as good a case to open in ODIs with Martin Guptill ahead of Colin Munro and I kinda see more upside in giving Worker an elongated crack at opening. Worker averages 43.29 in LA cricket and Munro averages 36.91, but because there's a fascination with finding the next B-Mac, it's Munro's hitting ability that has been given the nod. This fascination with giving it a tonk, will likely lead to Glen Phillips getting the next crack as well which will be weird when we have such a dominant force in 50-over cricket right there in Worker.
This is simply because Munro and Phillips fit the idea of what Lesson want. Instead of leaning towards the best players, they want players who can do that role for the team and it's up to you as to which you prefer. What would be terrible is if Worker was selected to do a B-Mac job and if Worker is selected to open, he's got to be allowed to be George Worker. Hence he hasn't been selected and hitters have.
Hello, World!
This sucks for Worker and all he can do is to keep piling up runs. Lesson are making their beds with such selection decisions and I have a hunch how these decisions will end up (the same as the all-rounder plan for the CT). With the bigger picture in mind, I just want someone to be given a consistent opportunity leading into the World Cup. Now it's Munro's turn and I just hope we don't get to the WC and see something new, as was the case for for the CT. If we go down the Worker route, give him time to suss this out prior to the WC.
Worker is an opener and sure he could bat any where, plus his spin leads him into that all-rounder bracket, but his best shot in either format will come as an opener. While we can say that Worker should be in the ODI team based on him being a LA beast, the same can't be said about Worker and the Test team. There is however a fantastic opportunity for Worker to spice things up there as he scored big runs last season and if he can continue to roll through consistent scores in Plunket Shield cricket, he'll be ready to pounce.
Jeet Raval and Tom Latham are the Test openers and I don't see that changing this summer. An injury could open things up for Worker, or if Raval has a terrible summer and looks completely out of his depth, then Worker could sneak in for winter tours next year. Injury is definitely Worker's best hope and this Test path is far less cluttered compared to the weird shenanigans in the ODI team.
I don't view the likes of Michael Papps, Brad Wilson, Greg Hay or Luke Woodcok as being in contention. They've got the runs to suggest they would be, I just prefer younger options that have greater upside and this is where Worker is in luck because there aren't many young openers making waves at the moment. The only other lad I'd consider is Chad Bowes from Canterbury who isn't demanding further inspection just yet with 141runs @ 23.50 in six innings this season.
Quite simply; Worker is next in line. And that can't be clouded by the weird judgements of Lesson that we see in ODI cricket, well it could if they wanted a veteran opener. Worker has to keep scoring runs to maintain an undisputed 'next up' position and in doing so, he'd increase the pressure on Raval as Raval isn't setting the Plunket Shield on fire this season (146r @ 24.33avg).
It's all fine and dandy to hope that Worker continues to dominate and then gets a crack in ODI or Test cricket, I don't want to see more yo-yo treatment of Worker though. He doesn't deserve it, instead he deserves consistency in selection and I've got no reason to believe that such consistency in selection is a priority from Lesson. I don't know what that means for Worker, I just know that the more runs he scores, the crazier Lesson look and Worker's started the 2017/18 season in righteous fashion.
Peace and love 27.
Hit an ad if you enjoyed the read. You'll be making a donation without having to pay anything, or make any crazy effort and you'll be showing your support to the Niche Cache as well. Shout out to you for reading this.