2021/22 Men's Super Smash: Wellington Firebirds Chasing Three Super Smash Championships In A Row
After bagging back to back Super Smash men's championships, Wellington Firebirds are 2-3 to start this summer's tournament. This is in contrast to Wellington Blaze who haven't lost a game in a women's Super Smash featuring Wellington and Otago Sparks domination, while the men's ladder is clogged up with teams evenly poised. Northern Brave are 1st on 14 points and Auckland Aces are 5th on 8 points, with five of the six teams wining two or three games while Otago Volts are last with a 1-4 record.
Otago host Auckland this afternoon (Wednesday), so that will impact how the ladder looks. I'm zoning in on Wellington here though and an easy note to start with is the absence of Blackcaps Test duo Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra. They haven't played in the first five games and won't play for at least a few more weeks while the Test series vs Bangladesh continues. Both have been staples of Super Smash dominance for Wellington and that presents a super funky wrinkle of Wellington refreshing their roster with young talent.
Tim Robinson is the bloke who has made the heartiest impression so far and is another jumping off the Wellington production line. Robinson smacked 65 runs @ 133sr vs Otago yesterday and the 19-year-old oozes the same class as Blaze batter Georgia Plimmer where their range of strokes, nimble feet and attacking instincts set them apart from other young players.
Robinson made his debut in the first Super Smash game and his first five games at this level have resulted in him leading Wellington run-scorers. Wellington have five batters with 100+ runs and Robinson's slightly ahead of the rest, plus Logan van Beek's the only one not batting in the top-order...
Tim Robinson: 113 runs @ 123sr.
Finn Allen: 109 runs @ 198sr.
Troy Johnson: 106 runs @ 110sr.
Michael Bracewell: 106 runs @ 118sr.
Logan van Beek: 100 runs @ 161sr.
Robinson started in the middle order, before being promoted to open in his last two games where he replaced another young talent in Luke Georgeson. These two and 24-year-old Troy Johnson have collectively filled the holes left by Conway and Ravindra, which is another nod to Wellington having the best development system in Aotearoa. Conway, Ravindra and Tom Blundell blossomed via their Wellington mahi and commanded higher honours, now they are replaced by youngins who are blossoming via their Wellington mahi.
The 'Aotearoa 11' currently playing a warm up game vs Bangladesh had Robinson named in the initial squad and no Georgeson. Come game time and Robinson kept playing Super Smash while Georgeson opened vs Bangladesh, which could be a sign of how Robinson is viewed in the Wellington set up. Georgeson scored 31 runs in his three games and may be better suited to red-ball reps right now, while Robinson's showing flashes of being a monster in the Super Smash.
Also important here is that the 'Aotearoa 11' team is not a Blackcaps 2nd 11 type of situation. Those playing against Bangladesh are surplus to Super Smash requirements this week and get a nice chance to play a touring Test team. The best players are in the Super Smash though.
Last season, Allen hit 512 runs @ 56.88avg/193sr. The weight of runs is not the same this summer as Allen's got 109 runs (5inns) @ 21.80avg, but the key thing for Allen is his strike-rate and as long as he is smacking with a bonkers strike-rate; Allen's doing his job.
That's especially relevant now that Jimmy Neesham is back in the line up. Neesham has a T20I strike-rate of 152 in 29 innings, while his strike-rate since the start of 2019 jumps up to 162 in 17inns. Neesham and Allen are two of Aotearoa's best sluggers, while Nathan Smith hit 38* @ 211sr yesterday to seal the win over Otago. With Neesham, Smith and van Beek playing as all-rounders, Wellington have middle order slugging to go with the well-rounded mahi of the top-order.
We also know that Neesham takes wickets and a T20I bowling strike-rate of 18.1 tells that story - anything below 20 is lovely. Neesham took 2w in 3ov yesterday (9sr), while Smith has 4w @ 18sr and van Beek has 6w @ 18sr. Three all-rounders who have their batting and bowling strike-rates aligned with T20 cricket; among Super Smash all-round elite.
Chuck in one of Aotearoa's fastest young bowlers, if not the fastest in Ben Sears who leads Wellington for wickets with 7w @ 8.77rpo/13.2sr. Sears continues to develop after taking 9w @ 6.86rpo/14.6sr last season and to venture up the Super Smash ladder, Wellington will need to find greater support for Sears.
Wellington have won both their games away from home, while losing all three at the Basin. Wellington have not bowled a team out yet and their three losses in home conditions saw them take 4w vs Central, 4w vs Canterbury and 9w vs Auckland. Sears has been their best bowler, Smith has been solid and Neesham was fabulous in one game. Michael Bracewell (3w @ 6.07rpo/26sr)and Peter Younghusband (3w @ 7.07rpo/28sr) are the main spinners, while Hamish Bennett hasn't quite hit his lofty Super Smash standards just yet with 5w @ 8.11rpo/20.4sr.
Everything is fairly solid with bat and ball for Wellington, yet they are 2-3 in pursuit of a third Super Smash championship in a row. Neesham is a welcome addition and his experience will bolster a young batting unit. Allen's drop off in runs is a concern but Wellington have different players stepping up to plug that hole in the same way that their lack of spin x-factor could be viewed as a minor issue. It won't take much to climb up the clogged Super Smash ladder and Wellington still have a well balanced group to battle on as they chase another title.
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