2022 Blackcaps Tracker: Another Michael Bracewell Yarn
As Blackcaps roll through European opponents, Michael Bracewell continues to build his case for T20 World Cup selection and perhaps a spot in the 1st 11. Bracewell has commanded lots of Niche Cache coverage as he has swiftly climbed the Blackcaps ladder this year and while Blackcaps manage their pool of depth in a busy phase, Bracewell threads his way through all things Blackcaps.
The last tracking check in with Bracewell was between ODIs and T20Is against Ireland. Bracewell peaked in that ODI series and against weaker opponents in this Euro excursion there hasn't been much mahi for Bracewell to do, however he has continued to churn out efficient cricket. There has also been a development with a squad to tour West Indies named, featuring Bracewell.
Bracewell's inclusion is notable as the squad to play ODIs and T20Is in West Indies resembles a strongest possible white-ball group. All the depth from this Euro excursion is trimmed and Bracewell stays in the mix. Tom Latham also features in the squad and he will operate in his ODI wicket-keeper role for three important ODI Super League games. Latham is unlikely to snap up a T20I wicket-keeping gig though and those duties will probably fall to Finn Allen or Devon Conway.
Tim Seifert played in last year's T20 World Cup final as the wicket-keeper and batting #6. That might have been due to Conway being out injured which also led to Daryl Mitchell opening. Inject Conway back into the top-order and that leaves Mitchell competing with Bracewell for a middle-order batting slot. Adam Milne also played the final, alongside Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Milne was playing because Lockie Ferguson was out injured and now Milne's out injured, plus Ferguson is more effective as a speed demon.
All of which tightens the selection mixer and Bracewell is still there smacking boundaries, also snaring a few wickets. How Bracewell's T20I strike-rate of 215.78 looks against a stronger opponent in West Indies will be crucial in forecasting his T20 World Cup chances. All Bracewell has done in this Euro excursion is blast bowling attacks and the premise of a Blackcaps T20I middle-order featuring some combination of Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham and Bracewell is fairly exciting.
None of those lads should bowl 4 overs every game, but they can all bowl. Neesham and Bracewell are highly efficient wicket-takers, boosting their case for 1st 11 selection.
The low key learning from Bracewell's ascension is weird management of spinners in Aotearoa cricket. This is not new as spinners like Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner weren't brewed in domestic cricket prior to Test debuts, while Ajaz Patel benefitted from a slow grind before his promotion to international cricket. Aotearoa took a second-tier T20I team to Bangladesh last year with Patel joined by Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie; Patel struggles to crack the Test team, while Ravindra and McConchie are no longer in the mix.
Todd Astle had a back up role at the T20 World Cup before dipping out of the equation. Despite Bracewell coming off one of his worst Plunket Shield seasons, Bracewell earned Test spinner duties ahead of Patel as well as leaping over Ravindra who had taken over from Santner. There doesn't seem to be a plan here with Blackcaps spinners apart from Sodhi and Santner being world-class T20I bowlers.
This time last year, it seemed as though McConchie or Ravindra was being brewed for all-round spin duties. Neither was graced with opportunities apart from Ravindra playing in the Test loss to Bangladesh (selected ahead of Patel) and now those two aren't even in the mix, meanwhile Bracewell is hunting T20 World Cup selection. Everything about Patel's Test cricket opportunities suggests strange management of spinners, let alone all the other weird wrinkles.
Don't judge Bracewell from his Test cricket mahi as his context is all about the T20 World Cup. Here's what Bracewell has done throughout the Euro excursion...
ODI vs Ireland: 190 runs @ 137.68sr | 2w @ 59.50avg/75sr.
T20I vs Ireland: 21 runs @ 161.53sr | 3w @ 1.66avg/1.6sr.
T20I vs Scotland: 61 runs @ 61avg/244sr | 1w @ 29avg/24sr.
ODI vs Scotland: 3w @ 14.33avg/20sr.
Now the kiwis take on Netherlands in two T20I games, before that West Indies leg. Bracewell's mahi is about batting and bowling strike-rates first, then peeping what batting craft Bracewell can show under adversity. This dude wasn't even in Blackcaps wider squads ahead of last year's T20 World Cup and now Bracewell is on the cusp of cracking the squad for this year's World Cup.
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