Five Tiers Of Blackcaps Seamers Ahead Of The 2023/24 Home Summer
The Blackcaps summer of cricket is underway and there are plenty of seamers competing for game time across all three formats. Blackcaps have a development pipeline that is thriving with NZ-A defeating Australia A in two longform series across both countries, a bunch of debutants entering the Blackcaps mixer and a domestic circuit that is the ideal farm system for young talent. This specifically applies to seam bowling as the variety of seamers on offer is enticing and the young domestic seamers offer quirky skillsets that Aotearoa has rarely produced.
To help us work through the seam bowling depth, sorting them into tiers is the exercise. These tiers zone in on lads around the Blackcaps campfire and does not include a rather exciting crop of seamers who are still rising through the domestic pipeline. The young seamers are likely to be playing Super Smash on telly though and folks will have lots of fun tracking these lads: Kristian Clarke, Matt Fisher (ND), Ray Toole (CD), Nathan Smith (Wellington), Fraser Sheat, Zak Foulkes, Cameron Paul (Canterbury).
These tiers have Trent Boult sitting in his own zone. Boult is one of the best seamers to ever represent Aotearoa and his mana ensures that he can pick his spots. If Boult's available then it's a lovely bonus. If Boult's out of action then no dramas - literally no dramas here so don't fall for dramatic headlines. Boult's absence only enhances development opportunities that naturally arise in a busy schedule of cricket.
Top Tier: Big Donnies
Tim Southee, Matt Henry
Southee is doing the opposite of Boult, playing as much cricket as possible for Aotearoa and earning the Test skipper role. Southee is still snaring plenty of wickets and he is joined by Henry, who has plugged the hole left by Boult. Henry has benefited from a consistent Test role and he earned this Big Donnie status by playing seven T20Is this year, his first year playing more than two T20Is. This makes Henry an all-format seamer for Aotearoa, averaging below 30 in Tests and T20Is while 30.6avg in ODIs this year.
Second Tier: Overlapping Excellence
Kyle Jamieson, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne
Jamieson's status as a Test seamer puts him alongside two white-ball monsters in Ferguson and Milne. The priority for Jamieson at this stage and throughout his Blackcaps career has been Test cricket, while his workload is managed for ODI/T20I series. It would be lovely if Jamieson was always available but it's tricky to keep an athlete like him healthy and this overlaps with the skill, speed and experience of the other two lads in this tier.
Ferguson is a steady presence in the ODI 1st 11 and depending on his health, as well as the urgency of the series, Ferguson is usually in the best possible T20I team. Milne has had a sneaky resurgence in recent times and he's still bowling fast, also enjoying the lowest bowling average of all ODI Blackcaps this year (20.44 - prior to ODIs vs Bangladesh). Milne is also second for T20I wickets (11w) this year and as Ish Sodhi (15w) and Mitchell Santner (11w) are the only other bowlers with 11+ wickets; Milne is the best T20I seamer this year for Aotearoa.
Third Tier: Veteran Plug and Play
Neil Wagner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Doug Bracewell
Wagner, Kuggeleijn and Bracewell won't be playing ODI/T20I cricket any time soon. All three are still capable of doing a job in the Test team with Wagner's mana helping Blackcaps win crucial Tests last summer before he replaced Henry in the Test squad to tour Bangladesh. That presents an insight into Blackcaps Test decision-making as Southee, Henry and Jamieson were the initial seam attack for Bangladesh then Wagner stepped in for Henry.
Wagner can still play in a seam quartet for Tests this summer, otherwise he is behind the other three. Folks who dislike Kuggeleijn's selection last summer would love to know that Kuggeleijn was the best NZ-A seamer in two series wins over Aus-A and is the leading wicket-taker in Plunket Shield so far. Along with Milne, Kuggeleijn is the best seamer below Blackcaps and Milne's got the ODI/T20I slot covered with Kuggeleijn covering the Test bully depth spot.
Bracewell has been out of action in recent times, but like Kuggeleijn he was fantastic in Plunket Shield with both veterans taking 15+ wickets with averages of 16. Bracewell and Kuggeleijn have both played a Test this year, both took 2+ wickets in their Test appearances and they have complimentary skillsets; Kuggeleijn's perfect for bully-ball and Bracewell's a kiwi nibbler.
Kiwis don't want to trust the Blackcaps pipeline. There are ample development opportunities in the pipeline that brew young players towards the pinnacle of Test cricket. A combination of learning about Blackcaps operations and deep domestic knowledge suggest that Wagner, Kuggeleijn and Bracewell are the most reliable lads to pop in for a Test or two. Senior players and staff trust these three, they are mature team-first last and idea for plug-play mahi.
Fourth Tier: Curious Zone
Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner
Duffy and Tickner could be considered veterans and folks stressing about the age of Blackcaps should know that Duffy is 29-years-old and Tickner is already over the hill at 30-years-old. Both these lads have played ODI/T20I cricket this year and the curious zone is already evident in Tickner missing the ODI squad to play Bangladesh, overtaken by some of the lads in the fifth tier.
Duffy is in the ODI squad and like Kuggeleijn/Bracewell, he is still one of the best Plunket Shield seamers this summer (18.3avg). Duffy hasn't quite snapped up his Blackcaps opportunities this year and there is pressure on him to perform, given the depth on offer and how Tickner has dipped out of the equation.
Fifth Tier: Emerging Frothers
Henry Shipley, Ben Lister, Ben Sears, Will O'Rourke
It's easy to spot folks who aren't tapped into Blackcaps cricket when they chat about a lack of young/emerging players. Emerging lads have already stacked up ODIs/T20Is for Blackcaps. Shipley has played 13 games for Aotearoa and his eight ODIs this year featured 15w @ 23avg which is the lowest average of the eight bowlers with 10+ ODI wickets for Blackcaps this year. Lister has also played 13 games which skews towards T20I mahi where the lefty has bowled in 10 games, which is tied with Mitchell Santner and only Ish Sodhi (13inns) has bowled in more T20Is this year.
Blackcaps needs are covered in Shipley and Lister. Shipley is tall and whips up lots of nibble, while Lister is a lefty, who (like Ray Toole) has a natural angle across right-handed batters. Add in this hostility of Sears who hasn't played for Blackcaps this year but has played six T20Is already with a lovely average of 22.6.
Sears was a late inclusion in the Blackcaps ODI squad to face Bangladesh, replacing Jamieson. O'Rourke was already in the squad which could have him ahead of Sears is the depth chart. Either way, O'Rourke offers a third funky tall seamer alongside Jamieson and Shipley. Add in the skills of Lister and Sears for an enticing crop of seamers who are now competing to leap ahead of the third and fourth tiers.
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Peace and love.