Domestic Cricket Daily: Da Blackcaps Mixer #2
Really, chill. This is crystal ballin'
Although I need to add a few prefacing notes to the inclusion of Doug Bracewell in the Blackcaps mixer, there have been some extra-ordinary events that have led to Douglas getting the nod here. The single most important prefacing note is that I do not believe Bracewell will play any international cricket this summer.
That's because Bracewell has to A) be Sober Scuba Steve (or show he's a big boy now who can handle himself) and B) Test cricket is Bracewell's go and Aotearoa ain't playing no Test cricket. Well, they are but it's limited to two Tests at either end of the summer and that means that the Test bowling depth won't be explored like it would in a four-Test series, or a five-Test series when bowlers are rotated through injury and form.
In a way, Aotearoa's bowling depth could be explored this summer, just not in a full Jacques Cousteau exploration style via the lack of Tests. This is funky event numero tahi as Aotearoa's bowling stocks have been low key cut down with Mitchell McClenaghan, Ed Nuttall, Kyle Jamieson, Ben Wheeler and Lockie Ferguson currently out of action. There are still many options available, but with a full gang of kiwi seamers fit and firing, Bracewell simply wouldn't even slide into the mixer; no matter how good his batting is.
Bracewell is currently 6th in Plunket Shield run-scoring and has scored more runs than (players with three/four innings batted); Daniel Flynn, Mark Chapman, Tim Seifert, Brad Wilson, Hamish Rutherford, Chad Bowes, Greg Hay, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Jeet Raval, Cole McConchie, Jimmy Neesham, Dean Brownlie, Rob Nicol and Will Young.
He's not tonking it either, batting with a gentlemanly strike-rate of 59.28. Bracewell has 6 wickets @ 30.33avg/3.19rpo, which compared to the other seamers thus far isn't amazing, but Bracewell, Seth Rance and Blair Tickner have 6 wickets each and Bracewell's average is lower than Rance's 33.16avg and Tickner's 43.33avg, via a lower rpo.
Most kiwi cricket fans get their knickers in a twist when an emphasis is placed how good a bowler is at batting, or the desire to stack a team with all-rounders and I'm in that bucket myself. We've seen how important it is to have blokes batting No.7-9 scoring a few runs in the Plunket Shield though, whether it's Bracewell and Bevan Small for Central Districts, or Jeetan Patel for Wellington in this latest round.
In the current Blackcaps Test team, Colin de Grandhomme has this job. This isn't an all-rounder job, this is a fourth seamer who can handle themselves with the willow and as I can't see a Blackcaps Test team playing with a genuine all-rounder in the mid-term future (12 months), I'm intrigued by this CDG role; I'm firmly of the belief that CDG won't hold on to this role for the next 12 months.
Haere mai into my imaginary world where Aotearoa play an abundance of Test cricket and this conversation actually matters...
Moving away from the legit all-rounder role allows Aotearoa to play with six specialist batsmen and five specialist bowlers. BJ Watling's a specialist batsman and he'd bat No.6, with your choice of batsman at No.5 (Henry Nicholls, Tom Bruce - he's a gun four-day batsman not just a T20 slogger!! - George Worker, Ken McClure, Bharat Popli, Mark Chapman, Jeetan Patel ... whoever you want). Mitchell Santner is the main spinner and he bats No.7, while Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner hold things down as the three certified seamers, batting No.9-11.
That leaves us with the fourth seamer spot, which could also be left vacant for Ish Sodhi. I've made the argument many, many times that Sodhi is a kiwi leg-spinner, so the notion that he can only bowl alongside Santner in spin-friendly conditions is silly; he uses bounce as a weapon. Bracewell and Sodhi are joined by Matt Henry as my leading contenders for this spot in my imaginary situation and I wouldn't sleep on Scott Kuggeleijn developing into this conversation either. Lesson also love Adam Milne and Milne has been given low key batting opportunities, so don't sleep on him either.
This imaginary situation is interesting to ponder because I view it as becoming a reality maybe by next winter and definitely in 12 months time. Bracewell hasn't played himself into the Blackcaps mixer for this summer, he has however started his comeback on the right note and we need to let time tell the truth of this tale. This is merely the introduction to Bracewell's comeback and who knows how the next few weeks, the next chapter, will unfold. The introduction has involved Bracewell doing his job with the ball and offering some funk with the bat, stay tuned.
BJ Watling didn't take the field this week. Tim Seifert played as the wicket-keeper and slid back down to the middle order, with Henry Cooper coming in to open.
Jeet Raval scored 12 and 22 for Auckland (youz already know he took a wicket!) and he's now got one notable score in four innings. Raval's averaging 28.25. As you know, we judge Raval on the number of balls faced and he didn't do too well here either; 24 balls and 29.
Neil Wagner took 4 wickets @ 3.31rpo vs Wellington and he's now taken 1+ wicket in his last eight innings'. He also hit 43 so maybe Wagner's our answer to No.8!? Wagner's got a average of 22.11 this season, conceding 2.92rpo.
Peace and love 27.
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