2020/21 Plunket Shield: Into The Tom Blundell Mangroves
While deep in the mangroves with kiwi cricket matters, the funk around Tom Blundell's batsmanship has been permeating around the land of Aotearoa. Knowing too much can be a thing, maybe it's like being stuck in those mangroves where your rocking the bare feet because both jandals got ravaged by the mud and are now lost in the mud.
In the case of Blundell, the information and context around him is so bonkers, it's fun and draining at the same time. With that in mind, the surface level approach is a genuinely a handy option here as Blundell knocked 101 for Wellington Firebirds in the second innings of their loss vs Otago Volts and was only dismissed after getting frisky with the ball...
Last summer, Blundell banged a century in Australia and that alone is admirable considering how many kiwi cricketers have done nada across the ditch and also how last summer's tour to Australia had a drastic impact on the Test careers of a couple Blackcaps. Not only did Blundell score runs in Australia, he did so opening the innings in the Test arena and now Blundell has grabbed a Plunket Shield century at the perfect time heading into the Blackcaps Test summer.
That moment, marked a transition for Blundell from middle order wicket-keeper/batsman to Test opener and this flowed into Blundell opening for Wellington. Prior to the season starting, this was the funkiest question in kiwi cricket as it would have been more bonkers if Aotearoa's Test opener went back to middle order batting with the Firebirds; obviously common sense suggests that these roles should be aligned for the benefit of Wellington, Aotearoa and Blundell.
And deep into the mangroves we go...
Blundell has a very solid First Class average of 36.81, built upon years of low key run-scoring in the greatest format of them all. Making his debut in the 2012/13 season, Blundell established himself as one of the premier wicket-keeper/batsmen in Aotearoa and quickly settled into a groove where he averaged 40+ for multiple seasons.
2012/13: 25avg.
2013/14: 44.66avg.
2014/15: 23.35avg.
2015/16: 44.76avg.
2016/17: 54.66avg.
2017/18: 32.90avg.
2018/19: 48avg.
2019/20: 33.22avg.
In the summer of 2016/17, Blundell finished 6th in Plunket Shield runs and the blokes with more runs than Blundell in that season are all in the grizzly veteran category; Brad Wilson (1st), Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Michael Papps, Rob Nicol. I can't say with certainty that Blundell didn't open for Wellington during the past decade, he didn't open with any regularity though and for much of this period the likes of Papps and Luke Woodcock handled the opening duties.
That's a pretty amazing batting record for a wicket-keeper/batsman and when Blundell was called up to play for Aotearoa as a wicket-keeper/batsman who batted #8 vs West Indies, he casually cracked 107* and wandered home in his whites. Prior to the three Tests vs India earlier this year, Blundell had played two Tests in 2017 and that lone Test vs Australia late in 2019. Peep the scary similarities...
2017: 3inns, 136 runs @ 68avg/56.90sr.
2019: 2inns, 136 runs @ 68avg/59.38sr.
In 2017, Blundell played in his regular role where he's perhaps most comfortable and he did that at his home ground the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
In 2019, Blundell played a rather different role and in a hostile environment.
Two very different scenarios, the same result.
Then 2020 started and Blundell was established as the Blackcaps Test opener for one Test vs Australia, then two Tests back in Aotearoa vs India. Blundell had scores of 34, 2, 30, 2*, 30 and 55. All of which was solid, especially alongside Tom Latham who is among the best Test openers in the world and suddenly Blundell has two Test centuries, one halfie and a batting average of 47.22 in Test cricket.
How you view Blundell's Test opening technique, is up to you. Blundell clearly isn't Latham and if he isn't like Latham, he's not like Jeet Raval. I'm not here to forecast how Blundell may perform this summer as a Test opener, this is merely about the journey of a bloke who has done the job and while it's lovely to suss out technique, or to nit-pick at opponents or roles etc, the most basic aspect of Blundell is the most beautiful; big man scores runs when he needs to.
To this point, Blundell is an example of a batsman who Aotearoa cricket would be wise to invest in as his career is a journey of scoring runs. Whatever role you want Blundell in, whatever environment you put Blundell in, he's got a track record of simply scoring runs. We (myself included) are often caught looking at this or that prospect, dwelling on whether a player has the tools to move up a level and zoning in on someone because of what they once did in the hope that they could find it again. Blundell though, he's a bloke who just scored runs.
It's all rather simple, in any format with any player; do they score runs or take wickets?
Throughout his career, Blundell has scored runs.
This season started slowly for Blundell as he put up scores of 2, 17, 8, 1 and 31 before doing what needed to be done. Given what I noted above, I don't mean to throw up Rachin Raivindra's name in a negative fashion and this adds to the whole funk as while Blundell was struggling his opening partner Ravindra has also been struggling; 58 runs in 6inns @ 9.66avg.
Ravindra is obviously on a different wave to Blundell and is paddling out to the swell, diving under waves, being swamped by waves and battling through. Blundell's surfing, he's been getting barelled for years and the difference here is perhaps evident in how Blundell has managed to go big despite appearing out of form, while Ravindra's still sussing the process out.
Devon Conway joins Blundell as being a bit older, with a track record of scoring runs and while Conway had scores of 4 and 16 vs Otago, he is still on top of the run-scoring charts this season averaging 42.16. Prior to round three, Conway had three consecutive games with 80+ scores and if you're jumping on the Conway band-wagon now, understand the while Conway didn't play for South Africa, he scored plenty of runs while in South Africa before coming to Aotearoa.
As I've gone walk abouts in the mangroves, the Conway/Blundell funk here is where the mangroves open up to a quiet estuary where peace is in the air. Both of these lads have years of big runs, in different roles and conditions. Maybe that's what got Blundell to the point of opening in Test cricket for Aotearoa as the likes of Kane Williamson and Gary Stead understood that whatever they asked of Blundell, he did it; scoring runs on the field in any role, tapping into that off the field in the nets.
Conway is now in this position where his talent is undeniable and given that he led all run-scorers in all three formats last summer, as well as dominance in two countries, Conway is a more of a run-scoring beast than Blundell. That sounds like a recipe for Conway to be a factor in whatever format and whatever role he is asked to do for Aotearoa, even better if it comes alongside senor Blundell.
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Peace and love.