Doug Bracewell's Knee Injury & The Stable
We should see this most Test matches, but zzzzz.
After a gap in quality between the Australian and Blackcaps ODI bowlers became crystal-clear in the Chappell-Hadlee series, Doug Bracewell's knee injury should throw grenades of concern through the Blackcaps bowling group, or as we prefer to call it; The Stable. This wasn't quite the case though as a combination of Bracewell making sporadic starting appearances and the presence of many other quality seam bowlers has kiwi cricket nice position to absorb Bracewell's absence this summer.
To some extent, Bracewell was meant to form a dynamic bowling trio with Trent Boult and Tim Southee. They are around the same age and Bracewell appeared on the Test scene just before Boult made his debut, late in 2011, joining Southee and giving us hope that we would be treated to a lovely future with these three swinging and seaming the Blackcaps to some sort of glory.
Southee and Boult went on to establish themselves in the Blackcaps Test team - they've gone backwards since then - while Bracewell has showed signs of promise but ignoring his injury, he's been overtaken by Neil Wagner and is probably level with Matt Henry in The Stable. For a bowler who gets natural out-swing and can extract any minor assistance from the pitch, Bracewell doesn't own a bowling record that reflects that with a Test average of 38.83, while a First-Class average of 34.12 is perhaps more concerning.
A bowler with the tools that Bracewell has should boast an average well under 30, yet Bracewell only averages under 30 in T20 internationals (24), List-A (29.43) and domestic T20 cricket (22.39). We've also heard many times about Bracewell's capable talents with the bat, which have had him being groomed as an all-rounder at various points of his career. Bracewell averages 13.85 in Test cricket, 10.57 in ODIs, 25.66 in FC cricket and 20.75 in List-A cricket and this resembles his bowling as you can see that Bracewell is a well-trained batsman with power and a solid technique, it's just that there's not much to show for it besides a couple FC centuries and 13 half-centuries.
It always felt as though Bracewell was being picked on potential and I had no dramas with this as there weren't too many better options and the potential was there for all to see. Now though, kiwi cricket is in a far strong position where we have four all-rounders who can do a job at the international level (Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner) and these all-rounders each off something different, for different situations.
That means there's no real need for Bracewell's all-round ability, while a healthy looking Stable of bowlers won't make future Blackcaps selection a certainty for Bracewell in any format. This is a great time to assess how The Stable is looking because we've been treated to the continual rise of Neil Wagner, the emergence of Lockie Ferguson and a cluster of domestic bowlers who are putting up impressive numbers in domestic cricket.
Southee, Boult and Wagner are the top-dawgs of The Stable. There's not too much discuss here and Matt Henry is lurking in the shadows, a tier below, waiting for an opportunity to get a run. Bracewell is in the same tier as Henry, although Bracewell's injury now gives Henry a chance to be the best 'next up' option and Bracewell's standing, along with Henry's is under pressure from the tier below.
Take Ferguson for example as many people got their jollies about Ferguson being selected in the ODI team, but what's if I told y'all that he averages 25.09 in FC cricket compared to Bracewell's FC average of 34.12? Ferguson's FC record is far superior than his one-day (33.70avg) and T20 work (62.50avg), which should have us all excited about him potentially playing Test cricket, possibly over Bracewell.
Ferguson is the 2nd-best seamer in Plunket Shield cricket this season, with 18 wickets and he's chasing Canterbury's Kyle Jamieson who has 24 wickets. Jamieson is young and very tall, which gives him a point of difference but he's probably a season or two off make the jump up and the 3rd-best seamer who also has 18 wickets, Scott Kuggeleijn, has ruled himself out of international cricket for the foreseeable future. These three are the pick of the bowlers from Plunket Shield cricket, while Jamieson's new-ball partner Ed Nuttall also deserves a nod of approval with 12 wickets.
I'd throw Ben Wheeler into that tier as well, which gives us a second-tier featuring; Ferguson, Jamieson, Nuttall, Kuggeleijn and Wheeler. Blokes like Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan could work themselves into this mix if they can stay healthy, until then they are limited-overs specialists at best. Veterans like Hamish Bennett, Seth Rance and Brent Arnel deserve a mention as they are consistently among the best bowlers in the country, their international futures do appear limited though.
The third-tier features younger bowlers who could play international cricket in three-five years time, but either need to play far more domestic cricket, or show that they could demand selection. Jacob Duffy from Otago leads that pack, along with Wellington's Matt McEwan while raw youngsters Zak Gibson and Brett Hampton from ND deserve some attention, as does Darfield's finest Henry Shipley.
If I were to select a Test bowling attack from The Stable, I'd be leaning towards giving Ferguson a run over Bracewell and both of these two are currently behind Henry. Bracewell's knee injury couldn't have come at a worst time as he didn't do much damage in his last Test against South Africa on a pitch that suited hid bowling perfectly (1/98, 1/19) and he was slowly sliding down the ranks of The Stable already.
Now he's out for the summer and there's a new wave of bowlers who will now enjoy opportunities in Bracewell's absence. As is always the case, the real winner here is kiwi cricket because we'll either see someone like Ferguson step up and offer something to the Blackcaps Test bowling attack, or Bracewell will return with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove.