2020/21 Super Smash Preview
As we are seeing every time the Aotearoa Blackcaps play a bit of cricket, the seeds of change planted last summer continue to blossom into fresh foliage. One quick note regarding that fresh foliage as the hype around some of these emerging kiwi cricketers gets a bit bonkers when a kiwi lad dominates in Aotearoa, with all the eye-balls on them; around these South Auckland Niche Cache ways, a kiwi cricketer can't be deemed a 'Blackcaps star' until they have at the very least played international cricket overseas let alone performed to a similar level overseas as they do in Aotearoa.
This isn't a referendum on these younger lads who have caught our attention for the Blackcaps in Aotearoa, just a reminder to stay rooted to the mud like those mangroves. For example, Kyle Jamieson has played all his cricket for the Blackcaps in Aotearoa and the same low key excitement of wanting to see the Blackcap Test unit step up overseas, flows into the T20I stuff as there are two different beasts to tame. Slide a bit further to the hottest Blackcaps T20I hitters right now...
Tim Seifert
In Aotearoa: 29.41avg/145.34sr.
Overseas: 8.16avg/94.23sr.
Glenn Phillips
In Aotearoa: 29.87avg/153.20sr.
Overseas: 13.50avg/90sr.
There are wrinkles here to ponder as Blair Tickner has only played T20I cricket in Aotearoa, plus you could slice and dice other stats such as Jimmy Neesham averaging 40/168.42sr in Aotearoa and then averaging below 14 in 'away' and 'neutral' arenas. We have been dealing with an immense concentration of Blackcaps cricket in Aotearoa, their favoured conditions and while we can all enjoy, love and appreciate Aotearoa's best cricketers putting on a show, we also need to keep it a full steak and cheese pie.
Turn up the volume of this keeping it real note because the wave of youngsters washing over all kiwi cricket matters is only getting bigger, more powerful. If you were sleeping on this idea after last summer, the T20I and Test series vs West Indies smacked you in the face with fresh Blackcaps vibes and now this T20I series vs Pakistan has already featured Jacob Duffy, with further rotations to come as a fair portion of Aotearoa's cricketers get a crack.
With that in mind, the real juice is in the Super Smash where the same young wave energy has seen the Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy dominated by names that the casual fans won't know. There are a few players who have carried their Plunket Shield runs and wickets into Ford Trophy, which points to a skill-set that needs to be highlighted more so than the easier crossover of the white-ball formats.
Will Williams - Bowler - Canterbury
Plunket Shield: 1st - 21w @ 13.28avg/2.18rpo/36.5sr.
Ford Trophy: 2nd - 12w @ 15.08avg/3.74sr/24.1sr.
Ken McClure - Batsman - Canterbury
Plunket Shield: 5th - 246 runs @ 61.5avg/45.72sr.
Ford Trophy: 2nd - 273 runs @ 136.5avg/95.45sr.
Williams strolls around with a T20 bowling average of 23.22, so expect him to thread this form into the Super Smash. McClure's a bit more of an unknown as he has only played four T20 games for his 8.75avg, he does average 39.96 in First-Class and 47.77 in List-A with strike-rates that fit the formats so there is potential for McClure to be a batsman to keep an eye on. Sticking with the Cantabs, I'm fascinated by Leo Carter's certified six-hitter status and his work this summer comes after last summer's Super Smash when he hit more sixes than fours (10 vs 8).
Again, multi-format stuff is the most interesting. Carter hit 6 sixes in the Plunket Shield this summer, from 4inns and then 7 sixes in the Ford Trophy from 6inns. Some lads have hit more Ford Trophy sixes and some lads have hit more Plunket Shield sixes this summer, no one's hit sixes in all the formats like Carter.
This takes us to a funky pocket of kiwi batsmanship as there is a crop of funky sluggers who I'll throw up as demanding your attention in the Super Smash. Carter is one, along with Katene Clarke (ND Knights), Josh Clarkson and Bayley Wiggins (CD Stags).
Clarke is yet to play a T20 game and is sitting 4th in Ford Trophy runs, with 42.66avg/95.85sr and a career strike-rate in LA cricket of 92.99. There is an excessively mellow nature to Clarke's slugging as he flicks his arms around and the ball pings off somewhere.
Clarkson has been in this bucket for a while, having made his T20 debut in 2015 and the dude is a monster. Somewhat pigeon-holed as a limited overs player for the Stags - completely understandable given the talent in the Stags group - Clarkson didn't play any Plunket Shield to start the season. Clarkson has scored two 50+ scores in 5inns in the Ford Trophy, averaging 45.50/115.92sr and over 49 T20 games, Clarkson has a strike-rate of 138.18.
Wiggins is a sneaky bloke to keep front of mind as he burst on to my radar last summer in the Ford Trophy, batting just 3inns with a century and a half-century for his 68avg/97.14sr. This season, Wiggins averaged 35.8/117.76sr in the Ford Trophy and across his nine LA game to start his career, Wiggins is cruising along with 47.87avg/105.80sr. For context, here is how Wiggins stacks up against my noted six-hitter Carter strictly in List-A cricket...
Carter: 11 sixes in 21inns @ 0.52 sixes per innings.
Wiggins: 15 sixes in 8inns @ 1.87 sixes per innings.
Of course, the Stags enjoy those Pukekura Park dimensions and in the Ford Trophy they have played four of their five games at Pukekura Park which likely boosts a few of those Stags strike-rates. I'm fairly confident that Wiggins is still a slugging talent that could explode in the Super Smash, while I'm fascinated as to whether Auckland Aces batsman Will O'Donnell can carry his Ford Trophy dominance over into the Super Smash.
O'Donnell is 1st in Ford Trophy runs, with scores of 5, 50, 61, 85, 62 and 106.
Prior to this season, O'Donnell had played two FC and eight LA games. He didn't add to his FC tally to start this summer, he did slot into the Aces line up as soon as the Ford Trophy sparked up and the fact that Rob O'Donnell is the only other Aces batsman in the top-20 for Ford Trophy runs highlights why Auckland are 2-4 (5th). Maybe those game situations have forced Will O'Donnell to bat accordingly as his 74.39sr is the lowest in the top-10 for runs, as well as being the only batsman with a strike-rate below 80 in the top-10.
That's where the fascination sits as O'Donnell's gliding through a delightful patch of runs and I'm intrigued to see whether this aligns with T20 cricket. O'Donnell doesn't have the T20 signs that other young batsmen have, although he enters the Super Smash with the hottest streak of form and it's a blank Super Smash page for the Aces batsman.
For those who need the vibe of kiwi cricket change reinforced even further, here are the best bowlers from last summer's Super Smash: Hamish Bennett, Ollie Newton, Ajaz Patel, Roneel Hira, Anurag Verma and Kieran Noema-Barnett.
I'd suggest that ND Knights seamer Verma is the only bloke who has a sniff of repeating this, presenting a couple bowling notes to take forward into the Super Smash. Verma's best format is T20 cricket where he averages 24.65 in his 38 games, so don't sleep on his value to this Knights outfit and that's especially interesting as Verma will be a key supporting figure to Brett Randell.
Randell was 9th in Super Smash bowlers last season, a smidge behind Verma as the Knights best bowlers with 11w @ 23.36avg/9.17rpo/15.2sr. That builds a nifty T20 record for Randell of 25.11avg/9.08rpo/16.5sr after just 15 games and then we flow into this season where Randell has taken 2+ wickets in all five of his Ford Trophy games. Randell is 1st in Ford Trophy wickets, taking 14w @ 18.85avg/5.73rpo/19.7sr.
Bowling strike-rate note: anything under 20 is notable in LA/Ford Trophy, dropping to anything under 15 in T20/Super Smash.
Lastly, we have spin bowling. The likes of Ish Sodhi and Todd Astle will be on offer in the Super Smash, with Astle taking his 4w @ 51.50avg/4.90rpo from the Ford Trophy into the Super Smash. Will Somerville's been solid with 7w @ 35.14avg/4.43rpo in the FT without anything amazing, while Michael Rippon has enjoyed a slight promotion into Aotearoa 'A' business and that's led to 4w @ 55.50avg/5.84rpo in the FT.
Mitchell Santner will likely stick with the Test squad for a portion of the Super Smash and while I'm fizzing to see he and Sodhi together for the Knights, I'm not banking on heaps of Super Smash Santner. Ajaz Patel is out injured, then the Somerville/Astle/Rippon trio hasn't been overly dominant in the Ford Trophy. That leaves Sodhi as he spinner carrying some level of juice into the Super Smash, more to the point though; who is going to break through?
Rachin Ravindra is the main geezer here, even that comes with oodles of funk. Ravindra's best bowling format is T20 cricket and I'll be most intrigued by his left-arm tweakers in the Super Smash, while T20 is his worst format so far with the bat. Ravindra has the required strike-rate alignment and his class is obvious, so this feels like the perfect moment for Ravindra to showcase his all-round T20 ability given the swift experience he has gathered over the past 12 months. Ravindra's Wellington Firebirds homie Peter Younghusband comes into the Super Smash as the best FT spinner, with his leggies taking 8w @ 23.12avg/5.13rpo/27sr.
Aotearoa does seem to be lacking an emerging spinner who is equal parts dominance and funk, which is why we look to someone like Ravindra as a T20 option. There will be someone from that older group who shines and the presence of Hira, plus Jeetan Patel's brief 5w @ 9.6sr in two games last summer suggests that experience spinners tend to enjoy the frisky batting of Super Smash cricket. Expect that to happen, however this will keep things rather tame at the top as we all probably feel the same about Santner/Sodhi taking the Blackcaps T20I team through these World Cups.
The unknown in kiwi cricket is who is the next funky spinner? I'm not sure who that may be, nor am I certain that this will be answered strictly in this summer's Super Smash. Most teams have an experienced spinner as well, meaning that the younger spinners in this Super Smash will probably be the batsmen who bowl a bit such as Ravindra and hopefully, some other jokers.
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Peace and love.