Aotearoa A vs Australia A (The Re-Up): Game One Debrief
The Aotearoa A cricket team now has two wins and a draw against Australia A this year after Scott Kuggeleijn led the kiwis to victory in Brisbane. NZ A was rolled for 147 in the first innings and 5w @ 3.7rpo from Kuggeleijn helped dismiss the Aussies for 263, with Jacob Duffy taking 2w @ 3.6rpo and Sean Solia taking 2w @ 2.9rpo chiming in.
In their second effort with the bat, Kuggeleijn whacked 101* @ 119sr down the order to take the kiwis to 468. Solia anchored the innings with 91 runs, while Tom Bruce's 51 runs and Muhammad Abbas' 55 runs were also notable. Australia A were chasing 353 runs for victory and managed 127 runs as Kuggeleijn bagged another 4w @ 4.3rpo, with 3w @ 2.1rpo from Solia.
The Aussies were without Joel Paris who left injured in their second bowling innings and didn't bat. Given that Aotearoa A rolled the Aussies within 40 overs for 127 runs, it's unlikely that Paris would have changed the outcome of this game. Stack that on top of the overall results and how the wins were split between countries for an impressive vista.
Kuggeleijn was the best player for NZ A and he was also the leading wicket-taker for the kiwis in last summer's series, taking 9w @ 28avg/3.7rpo. All of which follows Kuggeleijn's Test debut against England and with 2w in both innings of that game, Kuggeleijn has at least 2w in seven of eight innings playing A/Test cricket. The basic idea of a Test debutant being the best kiwi bowler in the next three A games is a reinforcing sign of the kiwi cricket system.
Bruce was the best NZ A batter in last summer's series with 264 runs @ 45avg. Solia wasn't so good last summer with 96 runs @ 24avg. Both continue to offer solid mahi as domestic leaders and Solia's all-round ability is among the most reliable in Aotearoa. These players fit into the Cole McConchie pocket of Aotearoa's depth and while McConchie is getting Blackcaps experience in the white-ball group, that's usually where youngsters are exposed to international cricket.
Blackcaps Test selections skew towards experienced troopers like Kuggeleijn. McConchie will be a factor in the Test depth which flows into cricketers like Bruce and Solia, who could earn sporadic Test opportunities. There is ample space for development of youngsters in the kiwi cricket system, the Test team usually selections mature lads who can do a job for one Test ... maybe two.
Abbas is the most impressive youngster heading into the Aotearoa summer. Dean Foxcroft and Adithya Ashok are the trendy lads because of their Blackcaps mana, yet Abbas is dominating everything at a younger age. Except for his lone appearance for NZ A last summer and he had back to back ducks overlapping each series before his knock of 55 runs in the second batting innings for Aotearoa.
In 11 innings of First-Class batting, Abbas has a century and four scores over 50. Those knocks are spread across his six FC games, going 50+ in five games and scoring 50+ in each of his first four games of FC cricket. Abbas' fifth and sixth games of FC cricket were A games. Very few lads have had instant impact over the past decade like Abbas and while there is caution about him backing it up with seasons of dominance, he's now scored runs against Australia A in Australia.
Duffy and Randell were solid alongside Solia and Kuggeleijn, operating as the four seamers with Ajaz Patel offering spin. Unfortunately for Patel, he didn't take a wicket after taking 1w @ 132avg/4.7rpo in last summer's series. Patel took 10w in a County Championship game for Durham a few months ago and this was followed by two 2nd 11 T20 games with no wickets, then no wickets in a County Championship game for Durham. Four consecutive games with no wickets and Patel's County stint looks like this: 0w, 0w, 5w, 5w, 0w, 0w.
The second game is a day/night game in Mackay, starting Monday afternoon.
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Peace and love.