Kiwi County Tour: Zoning In On Tom Latham And Adam Milne
Undeniable.
So we've breezed through the County Championship winner Neil Wagner and celebrated another fabulous Kiwi County Tour campaign for Lord Jeetz, there are also a few younger lads who finished off the KCT strongly. There's not a whole lot to say about James Franklin and Kieran Noema-Barnett, both of whom also featured on the KCT but didn't do a whole lot in those last few games, so I'm zoning in on Adam Milne and Tom Latham.
There's obvious interest here with Latham Aotearoa's opening batsman in Test cricket and Milne searching for further opportunities in Test cricket. It's kinda the other way round in ODI cricket as Milne's shot back into the Blackcaps bowling attack, playing as the third seamer during the Champions Trophy and Latham struggling to really nail his niche in the limited overs stuff.
Milne was one of many kiwis who snapped up a T20 Super Blast contract, but unlike the others, Milne hung around with Kent and played four more County games after the end of the Super Blast. This saw Milne snap up 12 wickets in eight innings, including a 4/68 @ 3.23rpo haul against Latham's Durham that included Milne trapping Latham lbw for 8, as well as the wicket of Paul Collingwood caught behind.
This game was however also reflected Milne's County season as he went wicket-less through 20 overs in the second innings (3.25rpo) and Latham scored 119. Milne had three 2+ wicket innings, with a 3/91 @ 3.03rpo in the first innings of the next game vs Gloucestershire and 2/58 @ 2.67rpo in the first innings of the next game after that vs Glamorgan. These three consecutive first innings of 2+ wickets were all followed by second innings in which Milne took just a single wicket as he went wicket-less in two second innings and took a wicket in the second dig vs Gloucs.
In the four games, Milne had 10 first innings wickets and just 2 second innings wickets. You could suggest that opposition teams dealt with Milne better in the second innings as they had seen, felt and discussed Milne's style. From there, teams could come up with plans or individuals would just feel more comfortable with Milne's whippy style. An overall County average this season of 44 wasn't all that hot either and while it's important that Milne is merely bowling in long-form cricket, he put up his worst First-Class bowling average (60.33) last summer in Aotearoa and his 44avg in England this year is second.
Latham on the other hand is trending in the opposite direction and his average of 63.66 in four games for Durham was the second highest average over a FC season in either Aotearoa or England of Latham's career. This builds on last year's KCT when Latham averaged 46.75 and then he backed that up in Aotearoa in FC (including Tests) with an average of 42.36 last summer. In two consecutive English summers, Latham has averaged 46.75 and 63.66, strutting around with a FC average now of 42.17.
Even more impressive is that in just four games/seven innings, Latham hit two centuries and a half-century, as well as a 23* which definitely isn't a failure for an opener either when your steering your team to victory. While there was a trend in when Milne took his wickets, Latham finished the season with 8 and 119 in the penultimate game, then 77 and 4 in the final game. Sure, if Latham wasn't going big, he was dismissed early, but he scored runs in either innings and his class was evident.
Note: Latham also took the piss in scoring 241 for Durham's 2nd XI against the MCC's Young Cricketers.
An interesting comparison for Latham is his opening partner for Durham, Keaton Jennings. Jennings made his Test debut last year in India and has played six Tests for England with a century and half-century to his name, although his Test average of 24.50 ain't all that flattering. Jennings gained England selection after averaging 64.50 last season and he couldn't really back that up this season as he averaged 25.78.
While Jennings put up scores of 0, 16, 17, 13, 6 and 10 in the last three games he and Latham played together, Latham scored; 27, 23*, 8, 119, 77 and 4. This resulted in Jennings being overlooked for England's Ashes squad and it's funky that our Test opener was the gun opener for Durham.
Another fantastic English summer is in the scorebooks for Latham and he continues to stack up runs, while developing his cricket under the weight of consistent four-day cricket in England. Unfortunately Latham won't have too many opportunities to showcase this unique ability in Aotearoa over the summer and he'll instead be trying to establish himself as an ODI opener.
The summer schedule plays into the hands of Milne, who has greater opportunities in limited overs cricket and I'm low key noting this summer down as a pivotal stage in Milne's career. He appears to be as healthy as he's ever been which is why his presence in England was crucial and Milne will need to stay healthy, while also demanding further selection in the Blackcaps ODI team. An ODI average of 37.73 and FC average of 32.88 don't exactly do that, but we are yet to see Milne stack up game after game after game and there's many young bowlers ready to take his place.
Peace and love 27.
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