Jeet Raval and His Underground Slump
Those who follow the Kiwi County Tour closely, will know all about Jeet Raval's struggles with Yorkshire during September. Raval played his first game for Yorkshire in County Championship Division One back on September 4th, replacing none other than ol' mate Kane Williamson and in four games (7 innings), Raval has continued to look for runs in a search that goes all the way back to March 1st.
Thanks to Raval's woes with Yorkshire, I went digging and discovered that this hole Raval is in goes a lot deeper than struggling as an opening batsman in your first stint on the Kiwi County Tour bus. There is no shame in scoring 84 runs in 7inns, averaging 12, considering this context as conditions aren't exactly helpful for a foreign batsman; we only need to look at Matt Henry's crazy stats to suss out how effective some nifty seamers can be.
Obviously, Raval and Yorkshire would have been hoping for a better month. Yorkshire enjoyed the services of Williamson for three games and the Blackcaps skipper hit a trio of half-centuries, averaging 36.33 before departing, replaced by Raval. Comparing Raval and Williamson is rough, however it's an important note because if reflects the challenge that Raval faced as Williamson is not only one of the best batsmen in the world, he's been around County cricket for a long time. Raval is a Test opener, sure but he's still figuring out things at this level and such a stint for Yorkshire is a steep learning curve.
The issue is that Raval has just two knocks of 20+ in his last 15 innings. Having been sublime in Auckland Aces Ford Trophy winning campaign, Raval's last 15 innings have all been in long-form cricket with a splash of variety within the long-form format; two Plunket Shield games, one NZ XI vs England, two Tests vs England, four games for Yorkshire.
Up until last week, Raval hadn't actually put up a score over 20 in 13 innings. There was a 20 for Auckland vs Central Districts in the second of those two Plunket Shield games and then Raval had his best outing for Yorkshire of his County excursion with scores of 21 and 13. Here are Raval's scores in those 15 innings:
0, 17, 20, 0, 7, 3, 5, 17, 15, 8, 10, 8, 9, 21, 13.
Some would call that a slump. What's also weird about this is that only 3inns were in Test cricket, with 5inns (Plunket Shield and NZ XI) in the level below, in Aotearoa where Raval should be able to dominate - as he did in the Ford Trophy where he averaged 43.14.
The County cricket stint in isolation is whatever, as I've explained Raval shouldn't be expected to automatically score runs in that environment at this time of his career. Pile his lack of runs in September on top of his previous outings though and we've got a slump, a slump that also includes Raval averaging 19.33 in the Plunket Shield last summer.
Raval did beat up the West Indies, so I put his poor Plunket Shield work away and kept quiet. A Blackcaps opener shouldn't average less than 20 in the domestic competition though, just like a Blackcaps opener probably shouldn't be struggling to pass 20 in 15inns.
This isn't enough to push Raval out of his Blackcaps opener gig, especially not with a new vibe permeating through the Blackcaps group under coach Gary Stead. Raval is likely to be given every opportunity to battle his way out of this slump with the tour to United Arab Emirates, playing against Pakistan likely to be an interesting challenge for Raval based on how his 2018 has been, along with an extreme change in conditions from England to UAE.
Drier pitches and more spin may help Raval bounce back, then he'll return to Aotearoa and one would expect/hope that Raval can put everything he's learned during this slump into action on home soil. Raval deserves the benefit of the doubt, he's been super solid up to 2018 and in 9 Tests prior to the England series, Raval had just two scores less than 10 in 15inns.
Aotearoa isn't exactly flush with long-form openers either. Other than Central Districts' Greg Hay who went bonkers last summer averaging 60.46 in nine PS games, there are no openers demanding closer inspection. There are lads who may push for selection in the coming years, but right now it's either Raval or Hay and sticking with the guy who has been super solid is the most logical.
From my perspective, this is all about setting the scene with regards to Raval. Strictly looking at his Test stats, which most TV jokers will do over the coming months, doesn't provide much reason for concern; averages 38.11 and his failures vs England are out-liers. When we surround that England series with a slump that stretches back to the start of March, in different styles of long-form cricket, it's a very different story for Raval.
On top of that, Raval is yet to play a Test outside Aotearoa. Judging any kiwi cricketer's international abilities based on what they do in Aotearoa, is silly and any major judgements good or bad, should be put on ice until that player plays multiple series on foreign soil. Raval may be in a slump, but his Test record points to domination in Aotearoa and combine this with the underground slump, you could suggest that there is a bit of an illusion at work.
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Peace and love 27.