New Zealand Test Tour Of Zimbabwe Debrief
New Zealand grabbed another Test win in Zimbabwe and after winning all five of their T20 tri-series games, they finish the tour of Zimbabwe with eight wins and no losses. The Blackcaps have also registered the most Test wins in Zimbabwe and aside from the host nation, Aotearoa has now played the most Test cricket in Zimbabwe.
When checking through the chart of Test cricket played in Zimbabwe, there is a distinct theme of cricket's cartel ignoring Zimbabwe as a destination. Aotearoa has played 13 Tests in Zimbabwe and most nations have played at least five Tests in Zimbabwe, led by Pakistan and Sri Lanka who have played 12 Tests each.
It's a bit goofy that South Africa has only played seven Tests in Zimbabwe but at least they have toured their neighbours recently. The cricket cartel have not toured Zimbabwe since 2005 and while India has played six Tests in Zimbabwe, they were the most recent of the cartel to bother to venture to Zimbabwe. Neither Australia or England have toured Zimbabwe this millennium and they combined for three Tests in Zimbabwe, with England playing twice and Australia playing once.
This means that Aotearoa has played more Tests in Zimbabwe than South Africa, Australia and England combined. Aside from New Zealand being the best cricket nation in the world given population size and excellence in men's and women's cricket, we are in the majority of cricket nations who sit outside the cricket cartel and with that in mind, tours like this excursion in Zimbabwe should be celebrated.
While it seems that every Test that England plays is some kind of referendum about the state of cricket, the majority of the cricket world just gets on with playing cricket without grand notions. For those who want more countries playing Test cricket and cricket to grow around the world, all nations need to play against each other and travel the globe to show up in front of all cricket fans.
The Blackcaps dominated this Test series and Zimbabwe got to play more Tests on home soil. Zimbabwe need to keep playing Tests to get better and Aotearoa especially, is not in the position to be picky with their Test schedule. Until the cricket cartel change their perspective about international cricket, New Zealand should not try to be part of their shenanigans. We should embrace our position as part of the majority, rather than having a thirst to be in the cool club.
All of that is mainly for my personal perspective as my kiwi insecurities were always seeking more respect and opportunity from the cricket cartel. Now the path forward is clear in a far more healthy way and along with other observations like the Super Smash being a perfect T20 competition for New Zealand, I don't want to do anything like how the cricket cartel and instead want to celebrate how we do our cricket things.
With respect for Zimbabwe, there is no need to explore how Aotearoa 'plundered' and 'bashed' the hosts. The beauty of the Blackcaps pipeline right now is that a weakened squad should have handled their business vs Zimbabwe and anything less than comprehensive wins would have been disappointing.
There were lapses throughout both Test wins but it was crucial for Blackcaps to be ruthless and that's amplified by having new coach Rob Walter in charge. Mitchell Santner showed his class as captain and thanks to Tom Latham's injury, the change in coach coincided with a new Test captain getting experience. Add in the wide range of players used by Blackcaps across the entire tour of Zimbabwe and the last month sums up the glorious state of Blackcaps cricket.
17 players were used in the T20 tri-series. Latham, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Nathan Smith, Ajaz Patel, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher and Ben Lister were part of the Test squad. That's 26 different players who were in Zimbabwe under the Blackcaps umbrella and that is especially notable because coach Walter was able to spend time with almost 30 kiwi cricketers on his first tour as Blackcaps coach.
26 is already a crazy number for a country as small as Aotearoa, but it's easy to hit the 30 mark when factoring in players who were not part of the tour. Kane Williamson is on his OE, Lockie Ferguson and Kyle Jamieson have been chillin'. Glenn Phillips, Finn Allen and Ben Sears missed the tour due to injury. Blackcaps can build a funky team of players who weren't in Zimbabwe which is boosted by youngsters who have already played for Blackcaps like Adithya Ashok, Muhammad Abbas and Rhys Mariu.
Funky team who didn't tour Zimbabwe who have all played for Aotearoa:
Finn Allen (wk), Rhys Mariu, Kane Williamson, Nick Kelly, Glenn Phillips, Muhammad Abbas, Dean Foxcroft, Kyle Jamieson, Adithya Ashok, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Sears
Because New Zealand stays fluid and flexible in fitting around cricket's international growth, having such depth is crucial for Blackcaps sustainability. As has already been the case for at least five years, Blackcaps are highly competitive in all formats and for all tours regardless of when or where they are being played. Don't stress about who has dipped out of a Blackcaps contract or who is busy elsewhere because New Zealand has other players who are hungus for an opportunity.
Such as Zak Foulkes. Niche Cache homies already know all about Foulkes, so none of his Test debut mahi should be surprising. While others worried about Blackcaps absences, Foulkes settled into a groove as a regular T20I player for New Zealand. Along with Jacob Duffy and Matt Henry, these three have played T20Is consistently for Blackcaps in recent years with T20I bowling averages below 25.
Duffy and Henry fit into one major theme of Blackcaps cricket which is older players making significant improvements as they approach or go beyond 30-years-old. Foulkes fits into the other theme of the youngsters being awesome and while baggies of wickets may not convince you of his quality, Foulkes is a 23-year-old who averages below 25 in First-Class, List-A and T20 bowling.
Foulkes was the ideal replacement for Nathan Smith because he is a genuine all-rounder. Of course, any kiwi cricketer needs to be good at fielding and Foulkes took catches as part of the slip cordon in Zimbabwe as a wee flex of his fielding ability. Foulkes has opened the batting for Canterbury in Plunket Shield, has batting averages around 20 in FC and LA, as well starting his T20I batting career with a strike-rate of 144.
Prior to the Foulkes debut, Tim Robinson and Bevon Jacobs showcased their talent in the T20I tri-series. Mitch Hay is already being lined up as the next wicket-keeper and Ashok's the next up young spinner. Don't forget that Rachin Ravindra is 25-years-old, or that Abbas and Mariu are freakish batting talents waiting for their next opportunity. Abbas is a lefty seamer who joins Foulkes and Smith as all-rounders with O'Rourke, Sears and Fisher as high quality young seamers.
There are exciting youngsters ahead of Foulkes in the Blackcaps depth chart and there are many more behind Foulkes. All of whom are ensuring the senior Blackcaps stay sharp and in the case of Duffy, continue to improve on the hunt for more game time. This smells like the ideal situation for a new coach to takeover and the tour of Zimbabwe reinforced how impressive the Blackcaps pipeline is right now.
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Peace and love.