Catching Up With Aotearoa Blackcaps Autumn Funk
Despite the chaos in the world, Aotearoa cricket matters are fairly settled and we're entering the build up phase where energy is being concentrated for the Blackcaps blossoming in England. Various Indian Premier League players will apparently slide over to England earlier than expected and as the IPL final was meant to be a couple days prior to the first Test vs England, the likes of Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson should be able to settle into a Blackcaps groove with plenty of time to spare.
Jamieson has been the most notable kiwi in the IPL, not precisely for his performances but his overall vibe of performing to his contract value. Bangalore sit 3rd on the ladder at the time of the postponement, tied on 10 points with Chennai who are 2nd via Net Run-Rate and Jamieson's 9w @ 24.55avg/9.20rpo has him ranked 7th for wicket-takers. Jamieson is the second best Bangalore bowler and he is the third best foreign seamer in the IPL behind Chris Morris (South Africa) and Sam Curran (England).
Trent Boult is right there with Jamieson, repeating his strong work in last year's IPL. Mumbai are a spot behind Bangalore on the ladder and Boult has 8w @ 27.87avg/8.46rpo, also sitting as the second best Mumbai bowler. Boult and Jamieson played all seven games, while chillin' with Morris, Curran, Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Pat Cummins (Australia), Mustafizuer Rahman (Bangladesh) and Kagiso Rabada (SA) as the best foreign bowlers. Not bad company.
Williamson got through four games, only dismissed once and those 3 not-outs present an average of 128. Scoring one 50+ score, Williamson churned out 128 runs @ 126.73 and his Hyrderabad outfit were reasonably crappy with a 1-6 record from their seven games. Williamson and Boult were a wee bit behind their 2020 work, but still among the IPL's most effective players and Jamieson is showcasing his ability to rise with every new challenge.
The only other kiwis to play in the IPL were Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham who both laced up for Mumbai. They both played just one game with Milne bowling 3 overs @ 11rpo and Neesham bowling 2ov @ 13rpo along with a golden duck. These serve as reminders of the IPL reality and how the buzz around IPL auctions doesn't quite translate to opportunity as Mitchell Santner (Chennai), Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert (both Kolkata) didn't play a game.
Santner's one of the best T20I bowlers in the world but Chennai were cruising (5-2), while Ferguson and Seifert have Brendan McCullum as their coach and also kinda sucked (2-5). There are a couple funky nuggets here and these nuggets should also be used for context around Jamieson's work, plus how freakin' awesome Williamson and Boult are...
Adam Milne
2020/21 Big Bash League: 44ov, 5w @ 66.60avg/7.56rpo.
2021 IPL: 3ov @ 11rpo.
Tim Seifert
2020 Caribbean Premier League: 9inns, 133 runs @ 22.16avg/109.91sr.
2020/21 Super Smash: 10inns, 281 runs @ 28.10avg/115.63sr.
T20I vs Australia: 4inns, 27 runs @ 6.75avg/62.79sr.
In a fairly hectic Blackcaps squad mixer, Milne's recent work in T20 tournaments isn't as fantastic as it may seem. Seifert's T20 career strike-rates are both over 130 (T20I and T20), yet when working with McCullum in the CPL, Seifert's strike-rates began to dip and all of this has come after McCullum celebrated Seifert as a slugging force. Seifert didn't play for the Blackcaps after that Aussie series.
Speaking of the Aussie series, it's also worth noting that the best batsman and bowler in that series were Martin Guptill and Ish Sodhi. Guptill was the only batsman from either team to score 200+ runs and Sodhi was the only bowler from either team to take 10+ wickets. Neither Guptill or Sodhi was part of the 2021 IPL and neither are currently listed as preparing for T20 Blast in England - neither is in the Test squad.
England...
Will Young played three games for Durham with scores of 24, 0, 1, 21 and 124.
This gives Young a total of 5inns, 170 runs @ 34avg. Young opened the batting in all three games and is listed as playing with Durham up until April 25th, not required for T20 Blast. This leaves Young in an opening where he's already in England and his Kiwi County Tour stint has ended, so he's probably waiting for the lads to arrive.
As it stands, Devon Conway is the only kiwi who will play County Championship cricket alongside his T20 Blast deal. Conway is listed as being available for two CC games with Somerset. Here's the kiwis in England breakdown...
Will Young - Durham (no T20)
Jimmy Neesham - Essex
Glenn Phillips - Gloucestershire
Colin de Grandhomme - Hampshire
Finn Allen - Lancashire
Devon Conway - Somerset
Lockie Ferguson - Yorkshire
Aotearoa has two of their best general cricketers in Guptill and Sodhi kicking back in Aotearoa. Then Neesham, Phillips, Allen and Ferguson will be in England but aren't part of the Blackcaps Test squad - which has 20 players named. Take that Blackcaps Test squad and add the lads named here, giving us 26 high quality cricketers. Add Seifert and Milne for 28. Add two more from your list of favourite kiwi cricketers who haven't been named here and you've got 30 high quality cricketers.
We've never been here before. Bask in gratitude.
Peace and love.