2020 Aotearoa Cricket Landscape: Seamers and Seam Things
When Aotearoa's Blackcaps resume their international cricket shenanigans sometime soon-ish, we will be entering an enticing period where the seam bowling crop should be as deep as it has ever been. Earlier this year I explored how the three Test series' that the Blackcaps played last summer ushered in a host of different blokes and different trends, such as Kyle Jamieson blasting his way up the seam bowling depth chart.
Blackcaps Test Transitions and Transformations: Chapter Tahi
Blackcaps Test Transitions and Transformation: Chapter Rua
Blackcaps Test Transitions and Transformation: Chapter Toru
Regardless of the schedule, everything prior to the upcoming summer has settled into segments with regards to the seamers. You may be like me as your frothing over the start of the Plunket Shield and while this is similar to the Blackcaps in the sense that there are all sorts of pockets of intrigue, the opening rounds of Plunket Shield cricket will see a hefty amount of high quality seamers trying to put their best foot forward.
Take blokes like Adam Milne and Doug Bracewell for example, who have battled injuries in recent years and have fallen behind the likes of Jamieson, Lockie Fersguson - perhaps even lads like Scott Kuggeleijn or Hamish Bennett in white ball cricket. Right now, most hearty kiwi cricket fans will have Jamieson in their Blackcaps Test 11 over Matt Henry if there were a spot up for grabs.
Remember Matt Henry!?
Once my underground king, Henry has played three Tests in almost three years. Henry was solid in the Plunket Shield last summer while everyone's attention was on the Blackcaps (17w @ 29avg) and he's come the closest of any kiwi cricketer in emulating Jeetan Patel's Kiwi County Tour dominance. But, Henry has been unable to snap up his sporadic Test opportunities and those then got dished out to Ferguson (injured in his debut Test) and Jamieson; who smoked his opportunity like a fully legal Aotearoa bong rip.
I'm not going to roll through in great detail the whole fringe-y Blackcaps seam bowling stable, the above is a hint at how crazy the seam bowling situation is. Everything changed swiftly and dramatically last summer as what we thought of the seam bowling depth was flipped over and Plunket Shield cricket is going to help lay some of this out.
Much of the top tier stuff is settled with Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme all having their place in a Blackcaps Test 1st 11 (conditions dependent). Then we have Jamieson, Ferguson and Henry in the second tier which in my mind is the group of seamers who are likely to earn squad selection. The next tier consists of all the seamers who have trickled in and out of all Blackcaps cricket in recent years - we all know who they are.
You'll be able to differentiate yourself from your homies in cricket yarns by pointing to a few lads who are Plunket Shield troopers and have a bit extra that could see them pull a Jamieson and fire up the tiers quickly. Blair Tickner is someone who could be in that third tier via his white ball Blackcaps involvement but his red ball work in Plunket Shield cricket is a domestic cricket deep cut; 18w @ 25.22avg last season.
That's after a 2018/19 season with 14w @ 29.64avg and per NZC's archive, Tickner has averaged under 30 in each of his past three summers of First Class cricket. Tickner started his career averaging over 40 in each of his first three seasons of FC cricket and that lays out some blatant improvement, hence Tickner moved into Blackcaps white ball squads. If someone is going to emulate Jamieson this summer, there's a high chance it could be Tickner.
Note: peep how Tickner and Jamieson are very different bowlers to the kiwi prototypes in Southee and Boult. Ferguson's also a unique operator and the variety in shapes, sizes, skill-sets and seam weaponry is low key lovely.
There is a young crop who need to earn a few more stripes on the domestic circuit, but have shown indicators of their talent. Wellington's Ben Sears is one and he also has a unique style in Aotearoa - Devon Conway said he's one of the fastest bowlers in Aotearoa - which helped him take 14w @ 18.57 last summer in the Plunket Shield. Canterbury's Fraser Sheat did some nice things also with 19w @ 20.38 and Sheat's cruising along with a FC average of 17.83 after 10 games.
Unfortunately Willem Ludick has joined Malcolm Nofal in gappin' Aotearoa cricket (Firebirds all-rounder Nofal's gone back to South Africa), after a strong seaming display in the Plunket Shield last season. Ludick finished third in wickets with 21w @ 19.57 but has made a move to USA, so he's out of the frame - that sneakily allows the Stags to settle with a possible bowling attack of Milne, Bracewell, Seth Rance and Ben Wheeler.
Otago's Jacob Duffy and Wellington's Logan van Beek are there with Tickner as the key lads I'll be paying attention to. Duffy has been on the scene for yonks (62 FC games at 25yrs) and for those making the introductory trip to Duffy's Cricinfo profile, the FC career average of 33.91 won't excite you but keep in mind that Duffy's played a lot of cricket in his development years.
Duffy finished first in Plunket Shield wickets with 22w @ 22.86avg, as well as second in Ford Trophy wickets with 21w @ 19.19avg last summer. It won't take much for Duffy to become a factor in that pack hunting the second tier as he has years of experience, similar to van Beek who was fourth in Plunket Shield wickets last season with 19w @ 25.63avg. These two feel like the seamers who are best positioned to make moves this summer, although they could also fall back towards the peloton if someone like Tickner catches fire.
As much as I'm fascinated to see who pounces at the start of the Plunket Shield and commands attention, some top tier stuff is also rather intriguing. Most notably how good Southee, Boult and Wagner have been since Gary Stead took over and under Kane Williamson's captaincy. Those mainstream media jokers with sources may have their grip all over the narrative that there is some level of niggle in the Stead/Williamson relationship, from my view there is nothing to suggest that and a Blackcaps pocket like the top tier seamers has actually improved with Stead as coach.
Tim Southee
Career: 29avg.
Stead as coach: 22avg.
Williamson as captain: 24.61avg (average over 25 for all three other captains)
Trent Boult
Career: 27.65avg.
Stead as coach: 26.86avg.
Williamson as captain: 26.21avg (average over 27 for other two captains)
Neil Wagner
Career: 26.60avg.
Stead as coach: 22.26avg.
Williamson as captain: 22.81avg (average over 30 for all three other captains)
All three of these lads, three of Aotearoa's best seamers ever are doing their best work under coach Stead. Stead may not have had a huge role in Jamieson's development, although Stead has played his role in creating a culture where Jamieson can have immediate success and look at ease in Test cricket - as was the case for Tom Blundell. With the top tier seamers specifically, Stead's getting extra juice out of them and with those foundations laid, we can look forward to this summer as we are bound to get some seaming spice sprinkled on top.
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Peace and love.