Exploring Blackcaps Pipelines: ODIs vs Sri Lanka & Aotearoa 'A' Squad
While Sri Lanka need wins in pursuit of automatic World Cup qualification, Aotearoa's Blackcaps are chillin' near the top of the World Cup Super League ladder. A bunch of Blackcaps are unavailable and this provides opportunities for fringe players at the same time as an Aotearoa 'A' squad plays against a touring Aussie outfit
Some 1st 11 ODI lads will play the first game vs Sri Lanka before departing. Don't buzz about them as the Blackcaps pipeline is on show to finish the kiwi cricket summer. Development requires leadership and Tom Latham is deployed as skipper alongside Matt Henry, Tom Blundell, Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell.
Latham has scored the most runs for Blackcaps in the WCSL with 746 runs @ 53.28avg/97sr. Henry leads the kiwi bowlers for wickets with 24w @ 21.58avg/4.4rp, so this Blackcaps ODI team still has two of the best performers from this WCSL cycle. Nicholls and Mitchell are averaging 33ish, expect them to step up in with more opportunities. Blundell has only played two ODI games but he's a funky hitter in domestic cricket to go with his longform craft.
Will Young and Mark Chapman also have intriguing context to explore.
Young has two centuries against Netherlands in his eight ODIs, as well as five scores below 10. In Ford Trophy, Young whacked 268 runs @ 89.33avg/102sr this summer and he was among Central's best hitters in Super Smash with a strike-rate of 165.
Chapman scored 83 runs @ 13.83avg in FT and 51 runs @ 10.2avg in SS this summer. That is countered by recent form though. Chapman has knocks of 145 and 61* in his last four innings of Plunket Shield, his first 50+ scores of the season.
Chad Bowes has been promoted and he is likely to open when selected. Peep the trend of new Blackcaps being experienced domestic troopers as Bowes is 30-years-old with over 10 years of First-Class experience. Bowes is a silky batter with a PS strike-rate of 103 which stems from two centuries well over 100sr. As a top-tier SS hitter and a reliable FT run-scorer, Bowes is well deserving of his call up.
Rachin Ravindra is selected in the spin all-rounder slot, while Ish Sodhi is the leading spinner. The World Cup will be played in India later this year and as Sodhi has only played six of the 21 games, there may be a consistent opportunity for him in this series. Sodhi has 8w @ 30.75avg/4.62rpo and the best Blackcaps ODI combo is probably Sodhi with Mitchell Santner, who has 17w @ 35.88avg/4.4rpo in the WCSL.
Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips are in the 1st 11 spin mix as well, but it's Ravindra's opportunity in this series. Ravindra's selection could influence the seam group as Blair Tickner, Henry Shipley and Ben Lister will be competing for game time after gaining experience on the tour of India recently.
Lister has the lefty thing in his favour and Shipley's best suited to nibbly decks. Tickner played all three games in India and then went on to crack the Test 1st 11 which could give him some momentum in home conditions.
While those lads get the ODI opportunity, the Aotearoa A squad has Doug Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Scott Kuggeleijn, Will O'Rourke and Brett Randell as the seam group. O'Rourke is a 21-year-old seamer who has been shining in all formats this summer for Canterbury and his x-factor is his height. Randell is 27-years-old and he is one of the best seamers in PS right now after moving from Northern to Central for more game time across all formats.
Lister is 27-years-old and Shipley is 26-years-old. Along with O'Rourke and Randell, the emerging crop of seamers is starting to blossom. Same with the spin depth as 20-year-old Auckland leggy Adtihya Ashok joins Ajaz Patel in the A team. Ashok's just about to take over as Auckland's main spinner with Will Sommerville retiring and unlike most kiwi spinners, Ashok may be graced with a slower development path.
Tom Bruce, Henry Cooper, Cam Fletcher, Cole McConchie, Robbie O'Donnell and Sean Solia are hearty domestic lads who have all dominated the domestic circuit at some point in recent seasons. They are joined by Dean Foxcroft and Mitch Hay as the young batters rising through the pipeline.
24-year-old Foxcroft was the best SS batter and is top-five for PS runs, scoring 50+ in each of the last four games. Hay is a 22-year-old Canterbury batter who has a 50+ score in four consecutive games and most of those runs flowed with 21-year-old Rhys Mariu scoring at the other end for Canterbury.
There is plenty of young talent apart from the four new lads in the Aotearoa A squad as well. This 'Youngster Parade' PS update was published last week, there will be another PS breakdown coming in the next few days and the Domestic Cricket realms have been tracking this stuff all season.
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