Assessing The Blackcaps Pipeline After The 2023 World Cup
New Zealand's Blackcaps were knocked out of the Cricket World Cup by India and thus they fail to win another major tournament. The Niche Cache has consistently documented the strength of the Blackcaps and their development pipeline so there are no excuses for not being aware of a positive tinge, or the abundance of young talent on the rise. This is not unique to cricket though as the big four of Niche Cache sports also has rugby league, football and basketball thriving at all levels.
There are negative angles to assessing Blackcaps cricket. These are usually rooted in the past as many folks haven't adjusted to the changes in the Blackcaps pipeline or they come from a perspective that only breezes over the surface level. The latter is evident in how many view a lack of ODI and T20 World Cup wins as a failure, yet the simple fact that New Zealand sustains a spot among the biggest nations in the cricketing world is a fantastic achievement.
No other cricket team in the world has been as consistent as Blackcaps in World Cups. Three nations rule over the cricketing world and none of them have maintained a presence in the knockout stages of World Cups like Aotearoa. New Zealand has made five consecutive ODI World Cup semi-finals and no other team has done that. England is the only other team who have made the semi-finals of the last three T20 World Cups and there is nothing to envy about England's volatile nature in major tournaments.
By these markers, New Zealand has a case as the best cricketing nation in the world. This is amplified by the hefty disparity in populations, cricket playing populations and resources available. Aotearoa's performance is only comparable to England, India and Australia. Those three nations are so significant that they essentially run international cricket, often at the expense of cricket's growth around the world.
New Zealand is well positioned for cricket's evolution and to maintain this elite standard. Everything in the Blackcaps pipeline is streamlined to produce the best cricketers for Aotearoa. New Zealand plays a reasonable amount of Test cricket with many ODI/T20I series offering opportunities for emerging talent. A lack of Test cricket and sensible planning around workloads provides Blackcaps with opportunities to pursue gigs around the world, with minimal niggle between NZC and the playing group.
Any tricky contracting situations in recent years weren't that tricky. Trent Boult was already dipping in and out of ODI/T20I cricket prior to opting out of his contract. Boult can still play Test cricket without a contract and common sense usually prevails in making best decisions. Others like Martin Guptill and Colin de Grandhomme are older blokes who fall into the bracket of players leaving their national team mixer while transitioning into T20 mercenaries. One could also make the argument that the 1st 11 mana of Guptill and de Grandhomme was diminishing.
The domestic system in Aotearoa is flourishing. Former Central Districts coach and current South Africa ODI/T20 coach Rob Walter recently offered these insights...
"That's probably the strength of this New Zealand side, it's not easy to get a game, let alone a World Cup squad. If you look at a guy like Daryl Mitchell, it's an indication that in the New Zealand system, you have to play a lot of domestic cricket to eventually get a shot at internationals. In New Zealand, when a player steps in [to the national side] there's pressure from beneath and it inspires the incumbents to raise their game"
This domestic structure helped New Zealand 'A' grab two four-day series wins over Australia 'A' this year. The first was in Aotearoa after the kiwi summer and the second was in Australia over the winter. Such achievements are rare coming up against Australia and all four of those games featured domestic veterans with a mix of young talent.
Age is not a factor, regardless of how much local media moaned about the over-30 Blackcaps last summer. Blackcaps don't play as much cricket as other nations, workloads are managed and these blokes look after themselves unlike those in previous decades. The best cricketers in Aotearoa are the older blokes as well which is evident in Tom Bruce and Scott Kuggeleijn being the best players for NZ-A across both series this year.
Who are the best players in Plunket Shield so far this summer? Bruce, Kuggeleijn, Sean Solia, Doug Bracewell, Henry Nicholls, Greg Hay, Joe Carter, Jacob Duffy and Nick Kelly. All of whom are over 30 or in Duffy's case 29-years-old. Michael Bracewell can't be overlooked as he was being groomed for a World Cup role prior to a major injury and he's 32-years-old, while Cole McConchie made his T20I debut in 2021 and has played both white-ball formats this year as a 31-year-old.
This isn't bad, no negativity here. These players are ready for Blackcaps roles as mature cricketers with plug-and-play ability, who all grew up with their illustrious peers (Boult, Kane Williamson, Tim Southee etc). As coach Walter suggested, if these blokes don't take their opportunities then there are plenty more waiting for a crack. Across 'A' cricket and Plunket Shield this year, these blokes have maintained their status as fringey Blackcaps while also setting the baseline level of performance for all other players to aspire to.
The beauty of the Blackcaps pipeline is that there is so much funky young talent on the rise. Henry Shipley, Finn Allen, Ben Lister, Ben Sears, Dean Foxcroft and Adithya Ashok have already played for Blackcaps. The success of NZ-A against Australia featured Will O'Rourke bagging wickets in every innings bowled, offering the same height/swing-seam package as Shipley and Kyle Jamieson.
Aotearoa has three seamers hovering around 2m-tall in Jamieson, Shipley and O'Rourke. There are also fast bowlers in Sears and young Northern Districts seamer Matt Fisher. Fisher averages 24.5 with the ball after seven First-Class games and 20.5 after 10 List-A games, while his ND comrade Kristian Clarke averages 26.9 in FC and under 22 in List-A/T20.
Wellington's Nathan Smith is the best seaming youngster in Plunket Shield this season, now averaging 27.8 after 42 FC games. Smith is a capable batter as well, joined by Zak Foulkes and Luke Georgeson as high upside all-rounders. Every angle of bowling is covered and these aren't mundane talents as they all offer a dose of zip, movement, unique actions or heavy-ball antics.
Mitch Hay and Max Chu are the best young wicket-keeping talents. Hay has entered domestic cricket with a batting average of 44 after 14 games and Chu is quietly making improvements as a batter for Otago. Muhammad Abbas churned out 50+ scores instantly in his debut summer and he has a funky skillset with enticing lefty-seam. Whether it's Will O'Donnell, Katene Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Curtis Heaphy, Rhys Mariu or Dale Phillips; there are strong batting prospects in every domestic team.
Young players don't need to be squeezed into Blackcaps squads though. With senior players having a rest or taking up T20 gigs, openings naturally arise in Blackcaps ODI/T20 squads. This is how Shipley, Lister, Sears, Ashok and Foxcroft have already gathered Blackcaps experience. While there are development opportunities that arise for Blackcaps, they are not a development outfit.
There has been an increase in NZ-A cricket over recent years which provides crucial development bumps for all kiwi cricketers. These include trips to India every few years and the recent home/away series against Australia offered high level 'A' cricket. To crack an NZ-A team, players need to perform in domestic cricket and this level of cricket is strong enough that players who perform here are well prepared to step up.
Ponder how the Super Smash is structured with very few international mercenaries brought in. Lots of Blackcaps still play Super Smash and the standard of all domestic cricket is solid, ensuring a strong competition. Most importantly there are opportunities for youngsters to play lots of Super Smash which offers valuable experience in high pressure situations in front of big crowds.
Folks who don't tap into domestic cricket won't know about any of this. Combine that with Blackcaps struggling to win World Cups while also suffering losses during transition periods like the Test summer of 2022/23 and there is reason to be a negative Ned. Blackcaps are always pretty good though and they are consistently competitive against far bigger nations. The Blackcaps pipeline is also the best it has ever been with a strong domestic farm along with more 'A' cricket providing development.
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Peace and love.