Michael Bracewell Is The Latest Slow-Cooked Blackcaps Test Cricketer
Last summer Michael Bracewell churned out 190 runs @ 19avg in Aotearoa's Plunket Shield and as a sign of the fresh vibes offered by Matariki, that campaign has resulted in a Blackcaps Test debut. Throughout this journey of pondering Aotearoa sport through The Niche Cache, there has been a release of opinion to embrace learning. Less opinion and more insights, which for Aotearoa cricket revolves around the trends deployed by Blackcaps and White Ferns in selecting their players.
The White Ferns colonizer games squad captures their selection theme nicely, as did the World Cup squad along with player contracts and development contracts. White Ferns do not select the best players, they select players based on potential. White Ferns did not roll out their best ODI squad for a monumental home World Cup and the T20I squad named last week does not represent the best T20 wahine cricketers from Aotearoa. That's why White Ferns stumbled through the World Cup and won't compete for a medal as the commonwealth celebrates stuff.
Blackcaps on the other hand chuck players in the hangi, slow cooking them to ensure they are ready for international cricket. Daryl Mitchell, Will Young and Tom Blundell are the best examples right now as they all stacked up years of domestic cricket mahi, rolling through highs and lows. Ajaz Patel had to collect three seasons of 40+ Plunket Shield wickets before being a Blackcaps factor and while Devon Conway had to wait for Aotearoa mana to be manfiested, Conway entered the Blackcaps group as a mature cricketer.
Bracewell is the latest bloke to emerge from the hangi. The anomaly for Blackcaps Test selection was Rachin Ravindra who was quickly ushered into Blackcaps squads after a few seasons of domestic cricket. Ravindra was in the Blackcaps squad this time a year ago and played three Tests before dipping out of the Test mixer, now replaced by his Wellington leader Bracewell. This is a clear example of the Blackcaps theme as Ravindra couldn't command further selection as a youngster, with his spot taken by a crafty veteran.
Michael Bracewell’s batting averages per season
There has not been the same level of domestic cricket dominance in Bracewell's mahi compared to other Blackcaps. This makes Bracewell an intriguing bloke to tap into as his selection seems to be based on mana and less about pure production. As you can see in the graph above, Bracewell has had a volatile domestic career with good phases, bad phases and everything in between. Bracewell has not been a dominant force in all three formats at the same time, nor has he struggled in all three formats at the same time.
Bracewell earned Test selection after First Class and List-A campaigns that are among his worst, although he was emphatic in the Super Smash. During his Super Smash summer, Bracewell settled as the best domestic leader in Aotearoa and those mana wrinkles have quietly compounded on top of each other.
The kiwi summer finished with Bracewell snapping up opportunities. Bracewell was captain of an Aotearoa 11 that faced Netherlands for two one-dayers with the kiwi outfit featuring young players not required for Plunket Shield mahi. Bracewell was joined by Dane Cleaver as the veterans in this team. Bracewell's 127* in the first game was the only score over 30 for the Aotearoa 11, then he hit 81 in the second game and the next best score was 41.
Bracewell led all run-scorers from either team in that two-game series, also taking 2 wickets in each game. Bracewell was definitely the best kiwi in this series, maybe the best player overall. Then Bracewell played all three ODIs vs Netherlands and while he couldn't cash in with runs, those runs would come in England. Bracewell took 4w vs Netherlands and also took wickets in 9 consecutive innings (Ford Trophy, Plunket Shield, tour games/ODIs vs Netherlands, tour game in England).
In the first warm up game of the England tour against Sussex, Bracewell hit 51*. Bracewell's first knock of Test cricket overnight saw him score 49 and two decent scores from three games on tour is fairly decent. Bracewell the batter is well-rounded, mature, comfortable in his game. But Bracewell's bowling is the extra wrinkle that has seen him overtake Ravindra and in the process Mitchell Santner.
There is a trend in Aotearoa cricket of batters bowling more spin. Any joker who has played cricket knows that batters love to roll their arm over in the nets but are too lazy to steam in bowling pace, usually celebrating themselves as spinners. The best batters are naturally the best at this part-time 'I'm a spinner!' pocket and from that starting point, it's easy to understand how a professional cricketer can add to their skillset.
Glenn Phillips and Bracewell are the busiest lads in this role. Philips has moved to Otago where he will gather more overs and after sporadic bowling over his first nine seasons, Bracewell has bowled at least 400 FC deliveries, 200 LA deliveries and 50 T20 deliveries in each of the last three seasons. Bracewell did not bowl in his first seven summers of T20 cricket, his first five seasons of LA cricket and his first three seasons of FC cricket. Now Bracewell is doing an all-rounder job for Aotearoa.
Mitchell, Young and Blundell were not domestic battlers, neither is Bracewell. The long grind of domestic cricket can look battler-ish, yet these lads have grown into their mana of being among the best cricketers in Aotearoa. Bracewell oozes cricketing pedigree and that's most obvious in the Bracewell whanau, also evident in him being one of the younger players in the 2008 Aotearoa Under 19 World Cup squad.
While Tim Southee and Trent Boult were pushing the Under 19 age limit, Bracewell was closer to Kane Williamson and Corey Anderson in age. Williamson's a freak and Anderson was a freak, so Bracewell was clearly a high quality prospect. Bracewell then backed that up with selection for the 2010 U19 World Cup alongside his cousin Doug who is the same age as Michael, but Michael played an extra U19 World Cup.
That tells the story of how Michael was viewed as a young cricketer. Michael then watched a bunch of players from both U19 World Cups flourish into Blackcaps troopers and the comparison to Anderson provides hope for all the slow-cookers whipping up their hangi. Bracewell was slightly younger than Anderson for both World Cups and Anderson exploded as he entered international cricket, yet that soon fizzled into the regular cycle of 'will USA like cricket?'.
Now Bracewell is playing Test cricket as an all-rounder in a different but similar role to what we imagined Anderson could have played. This is another nod to the long grind that favours growth and readiness for the moment ahead of potential and hype. Bracewell represents the new wave of Blackcaps Test players. Recent retirements may have sparked a young crop of Blackcaps Test cricketers but those spots are being plugged by lads like Bracewell who come from the slow grind.
Want to know what raising mana looks like? Try a decade of the domestic cricket grind, enduring tough times to learn and grow. Enjoying the good times knowing that one can get better. That is how Bracewell got to his Test debut, it's how other lads earned their Test debuts and it's how folks can elevate their own mana.
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