2020/21 Ford Trophy: Back with Ford Trophy Blackcaps
The second stanza of Aotearoa's Ford Trophy has swung back around and as the Blackcaps will barely dip their toes in the ODI lake with three ODIs vs Bangladesh this summer, mapping out Aotearoa 50-over business is a bit tricky. The one-day format has dipped in significance since the World Cup final as we get a diet of Test and T20I cricket in the international arena, which comes with intention as the big checkpoints ahead are the World Test Championship final and T20 World Cups.
So, what do we make of Ford Trophy cricket? My interest around the FT at the moment is sorting through the best cricketers in Aotearoa. Super Smash cricket is a wee bit more whimsical in who gets hot and who the best players are, while the 50-over format provides a greater opening for class to shine through. With the T20I Blackcaps doing their thing, there is an almighty crop of fringe Blackcaps on the domestic circuit and this is where I'll focus the vibe.
Canterbury and Northern Districts Knights are tied on 22 points at the top of the Ford Trophy ladder, although the Knights did lose both their games vs Wellington Firebirds over the weekend. Canterbury had a win and a loss vs Otago Volts, while Auckland Aces jacked up all sorts of runs in two wins over Central Districts Stags.
Henry Nicholls made his return to cricket in the second game of the Canterbury vs Otago match up, playing his first game since the second Test vs Pakistan. Opening the batting, Nicholls put up 33 runs in the loss against Otago and that's somewhat notable because it's one of Nicholls' few low scores this summer.
Plunket Shield: 87.
NZ A vs WI: 76.
FT: 43*.
Test: 7, 174, 56, 11, 157.
FT: 33.
Tom Latham played both games for Canterbury, with scores of 63 and 36. Latham batted #3 in the first game, then with Nicholls coming in to open, Latham dropped down to #4 as Nicholls replaced spinner Theo van Woerkom. Interestingly, Latham has played a lot more cricket this summer than Nicholls and most Blackcaps have played more cricket than Nicholls as he has only got through eight games this summer; Nicholls obviously had some niggles to suss out.
Latham's been equally as productive and like Nicholls, Latham's scoring runs across the formats.
Plunket Shield: 14, 86, 45, 63.
FT: 16.
Test: 86, 27, 4, 53, 33.
FT: 63, 36.
No centuries, but why would you care when you're passing 50 every other innings? As the Blackcaps will get plenty of visibility in the next week or so, don't overlook Latham and Nicholls as Aotearoa's top-tier batsmen while different lads shine with the Blackcaps. Nor should we overlook Matt Henry's steady work after he found himself back in the Blackcaps Test outfit after falling victim to the nightmare in Australia.
Low key, Henry hasn't played any white ball cricket for Aotearoa since ... the World Cup final. Henry took a healthy 1w @ 4rpo in that final and played nine of the 10 Blackcaps games, which obviously had Henry high up in the ODI bowling pecking order for the Blackcaps. As 2020 vanished just as it appeared, we are approaching two years since the World Cup final and that's a long time - far too long to assume anything with Blackcaps ODI spots.
In the two games vs Otago, Henry took 3w @ 3.40rpo and 3w @ 3.70rpo.
That takes Henry to 13w @ 17.30avg/4.09rpo in the FT, ranked 4th in wickets and Henry was pretty damn fabulous in the Super Smash; 2nd for wickets, 14w @ 24.64avg/8.28rpo.
Henry only played one game of Plunket Shield and was again efficient with 4w @ 1.57rpp in 38.1 overs. Henry did enough to get back into the Blackcaps Test mix and was then one of the best Super Smash seamers, before re-upping as one of the best Ford Trophy seamers.
Central Districts Stags are enjoying a dominant white ball summer from George Worker, who was third in Super Smash runs and is currently fourth in Ford Trophy runs. Maybe Tom Bruce is someone to keep an eye on after he hit 96* @ 154.84sr vs Auckland? Ajaz Patel's general form this summer could be important as the Blackaps ponder their Test spin options to take away on tour.
I'm fine-tuning my focus though and that means: Ross Taylor, Will Young, Blair Tickner and Doug Bracewell.
Bracewell didn't play in either of the losses vs Auckland. Taylor is clearly in a rough patch of form and for any grizzly cricketer, that's all good as long as it flips into good form at some point.
Tickner is rather fascinating, starting with Hamish Bennett being selected ahead of him for the series vs Australia. There is a plethora of heavy-ball righties in Aotearoa cricket and with no Lockie Ferguson in the T20I mix, it becomes a choice between Tickner, Bennett, Bracewell, Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn and Jacob Duffy. Tickner was the leading Super Smash wicket-taker with 17w @ 20.52avg/8.30rpo and the issue for Tickner is how his domestic work translates into T20I cricket.
T20I: 6 games, 5w @ 42.40avg/9.63rpo/26.4sr.
T20: 56 games, 84w @ 20.46avg/8.55rpo/14.3sr.
In the losses vs Auckland, Tickner and took 1w @ 6.50rpo and then bowled 1 over in the second game before leaving the field injured. In two Plunket Shield games, Tickner took 1w @ 142avg/3.40rpo and assuming Tickner gets back on the park in the Ford Trophy, I'm eager to see how effective Tickner is given that there are some hefty disparities between formats and levels.
Unlike Will Young. Young is stacking up runs outside of the spotlight while various Blackcaps get the attention with Young putting up scores of 7 and 79 vs Auckland. Here's how Young's summer looks overall...
Plunket Shield: 5inns, 199 runs @ 66.33avg, 1 x 100.
Super Smash: 7inns, 297 runs @ 42.42avg/174.70sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50.
Ford Trophy: 2inns, 86 runs @ 43avg/104.87sr, 1 x 50.
For a bloke who has been identified as the next-up Test batsman and chucked into the 'we need a Test opener' role, Young continues to score runs fairly easily across the formats.
Lastly, remember that Colin de Grandhomme dude?
Since the ODI series that was scratched vs Australia early last year, de Grandhomme has played eight games and all have been on the domestic circuit. In two Plunket Shield games, de Grandhomme had scores of 3, 60 and 23, while he didn't take a wicket in his 3 bowling innings. De Grandhomme's lovely power was on display in the Super Smash, just without any big runs as he scored 51 runs @ 159.37sr in four games; great lower order job-doing.
In the two FT games vs Wellington, de Grandhomme had scores of 43 and 19 while batting #5. This sets up a crucial period for de Grandhomme as he tries to wiggle his way back into the Blackcaps T20I mix and also the Test squad, where there isn't exactly a shortage of nifty all-rounders; Jimmy Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner.
In his last T20I innings (vs India early last year) de Grandhomme batted #5, although he batted #4 in the two games prior and he was only available to play the first three games before the squad was rotated. Which was convenient because in his three games, de Grandhomme scored 8 runs @ 42.10sr.
It's weird looking back on that series because Colin Munro and Ross Taylor were Aotearoa's best batsmen, but have since been cut from the T20I mix. De Grandhomme's cut wasn't as precise though considering he was rotated out in a pre-planned move, while not scoring runs. The top-six for those first three T20I games vs India was Guptill, Munro, Williamson, de Grandhomme and Taylor. Guptill's desperately needs runs, while Munro, de Grandhomme and Taylor are surplus to requirements.
The days of de Grandhomme batting #4 in T20I cricket appear to have been short lived. There's very little chance of de Grandhomme ever being selected ahead of Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips etc and even then, Jimmy Neesham's doing pretty well in de Grandhomme's other T20I role. Daryl Mitchell was one of the best batsman and bowlers in the Super Smash, giving him a sniff ahead of de Grandhomme as well.
Hence, the bro CDG may want to do some major Ford Trophy things. With the biggest pool of depth we've experienced in Aotearoa cricket, Blackcaps opportunities can quickly move past a player. Others such as Santner and Henry found their way back into the Blackcaps Test team, so this isn't to say that de Grandhomme's got no chance but now de Grandhomme has to out-play the likes of Neesham and Mitchell. Kia kaha CDG.
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