Slow Cooking Blackcaps Test Contenders
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Top-tier Blackcaps batsmanship has been in a fruitful wee period and a Test team featuring many of Aotearoa's best cricketers ever has created a hearty group of batsmen who have been enjoying the slow cooking process. There was a stage for kiwi cricket fans when the bloke called up from domestic cricket had toiled away for many years without much domination and thus when a promotion came knocking, they couldn't quite hit that consistent international standard.
Any batsman who showed a flourish of run-scoring potential was quickly whipped into the Blackcaps because, well ... there just wasn't much talent. Stretching through the CBD infused memory banks has me pondering how both angles rarely resulted in producing a solid international cricketer; the grizzly veterans plugged a hole and couldn't kick on while many of the hot youngsters weren't ready.
These days Aotearoa has lads like Will Young, Tom Blundell, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell who have all stacked up runs and experience in domestic cricket. All four of these batsmen are on the fringes of 1st 11 Blackcaps duties ahead of the stuff coming up in England and this is a luxury made possible via the excellence of those above them.
I'm of the opinion that the current Blackcaps success is primarily due to the best collection of cricketers Aotearoa has ever had. With the ball there are Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner who are all top-five Aoteaora seamers ever, while the likes of Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham and BJ Watling are all the best or top-five at their specific roles. That's at least seven lads out of a playing 11 who reside in the 'best ever' yarn and I quite like the skills of Henry Nicholls as well.
Coaches are handy and play their role in all of this. The best way to sum this up may be that the change in Blackcaps vibe between the Mike Hesson era and Gary Stead is more to do with the Brendon McCullum to Williamson captaincy eras. The McCullum era had a distinct flavour as does the Williamson era, both were and are successful. Blackcaps success is all due to a golden generation and this golden generation has also flipped the whole kiwi cricket development process as it's simply harder to get into the team.
Take Ish Sodhi and Jimmy Neesham for example. Both have unique cricketing talents and those in Auckland during their formative cricketing years would chuck these two into the prodigy type of talent bracket. Sodhi made his First Class debut in 2012 before making his Blackcaps Test debut in 2013, while Neesham made his FC debut in 2010 before a Test debut in 2014. Both have had epic Test cricket moments and contributed their bit to Test cricket history, yet neither is a Test factor right now.
Maybe it was due to glorious decision-makers frothing over talented cricketers without foresight or a slow cooker in their kitchen. Maybe these two stood out because there wasn't as much talent as we now have. Unfortunately for Sodhi and Neesham (both of whom churn out nifty Plunket Shield performances every summer), rising to Test cricket swiftly has not resulted in consistent opportunities.
Mitchell Santner's debut gap is four years like Neesham and Santner is a weird case because he appears like an anomaly, however he seemed to benefit from the consistent selection that Sodhi and Neesham didn't quite get. Santner also hit a plateau where his unflattering record (bowling average of 43.97, batting average of 25.53) came knocking to collect debts.
Santner's clawed his way back to the Test team. One could argue that Sodhi and Neesham are now replaced by Ajaz Patel and Daryl Mitchell who were both slow cooked in domestic cricket, thus more ready for international cricket. There are other examples here and this should frame how we approach the freaks who jump on the rapid rise train; Kyle Jamieson has played 34 FC games and will likely encounter a tough patch as he adds to his six Tests.
I'm most curious about this group of batsmen though and the cricketing university they have graduated from...
Devon Conway: FC debut in 2009, 108 FC games.
Conway played five consecutive seasons of 10+ FC games (2009-2015) in South Africa with 10 consecutive seasons with a FC average of 30+.
Tom Blundell: FC debut in 2013, 71 FC games.
Blundell played 10 games in four consecutive summers (2014-18) and has averaged 30+ in six consecutive kiwi summers.
Will Young: FC debut in 2012, 85 FC games.
Young played 10 games in five consecutive summers (2013-18) and he has averaged 40+ in seven consecutive kiwi summers.
Daryl Mitchell: FC debut in 2012, 78 FC games.
As an all-rounder, Mitchell has averaged 25+ with the bat in seven of his last eight seasons and scored a century in six of his last eight seasons. Mitchell also has 5+ wickets in each of his last six seasons.
All of these blokes have had time to develop their craft, grow as a human and prepare for their Blackcaps Test contributions. Of course, Conway had to wait for his eligibility to switch and that was icing on the cake baked back in South Africa where Conway fought through niggly dips in form. Young has been the next up batting prodigy since the 2012 Under 19 World Cup and he has joined Sodhi in being the only players from that squad to play Test cricket.
Sodhi debuted soon after the World Cup, Young had to bide his time and grow into his Blackcaps opportunity. From that 2012 U19 squad we also have Joe Carter, Sean Davey, Jacob Duffy, Cameron Fletcher, Ben Horne, Ed Nuttall, Rob O'Donnell, Matthew Quinn (England) and Theo van Woerkom who are still playing domestic cricket. Carter, Duffy and O'Donnell have captained their respective regions.
Duffy is in the Test squad over in England and he may be in a similar sweet spot to the four batsmen. Duffy made his FC debut in 2012 and has played 69 FC games, providing him with growth and an opportunity to learn his craft of swing bowling. The likes of Lockie Ferguson and Jamieson offer a unique package, while Duffy is more in tune with the batsmen as his craft requires repetitions against the best as well as understanding how to use his skillset in different conditions.
Part of my Blackcaps confidence is that the current crop of best ever kiwi cricketers has forced the second tier to put in more work to earn their opportunities. We have seen Blundell, Young and Mitchell immediately enjoy success at the Test level and the only doosra here is that much of this has been done in Aotearoa where these lads have played most of their 70+ FC games. They feel better equipped for success overseas than previous batsmen of a similar ilk though.
The presence of our greats has created this, they have also allowed for the easiest flow. Under Kane Williamson, Blundell and Young have been in Test squads without a serious sniff of playing to help them find their groove in a Test schedule. Those who have had a quicker promotion process like Mitchell or Jamieson have been placed in roles that are in tune with the 'do your job' aspect of sporting success (Melbourne Storm).
Aotearoa's talent pool has grown as the top-tier talent has improved. Think of a clogged pipe with the likes of Williamson, Taylor, Latham and Watling clogging up that pipe which results in a backlog of batsmen who have to keep improving or else they lose their place at the front of that backlog. This is a overlooked benefit of the golden generation that has not only transformed how competitive the Blackcaps are in Tests, they have also created the backlog that we are now seeing filter through to the Test team.
Also consider what a fresh youngster has to do to earn a 1st 11 call up and how realistic we should be about their Test success; have they been graced with time to understand themselves and their craft or are they doing that learning process in the cauldron of Test cricket? These young freaks are in the Blackcaps right now, there are some rising quickly to become factors and the next step in this observational journey is to see how the balance of the backlog and supreme youngsters plays out over the coming two years.
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