Scott Styris takes guard for the new over, while Shaun Tait retires from the bowling crease to be replaced by a young Mitchell Johnson. Filling in for the rested Glenn McGrath, Johnson is slightly less quick, somewhat less hostile, and significantly less coordinated than his 2013-14 incarnation. But today, the first ball is just about … More Peter Fulton: ‘I loved every minute’
Name a batsman who looks good, but just never makes those tough runs. You’ve named half a dozen already. Mark Waugh springs to mind for Australians, Ian Bell’s the most recent exemplar for Britons, while Vinod Kambli emerges from the subcontinent. A lot of times of late, the name floated has been Ross Taylor. This … More Ross Taylor: Not just touch
If the ongoing Test series between Australia and New Zealand has taught us one thing, it’s this: Australian pitches are currently flatter than at any other point in living memory. But this is not another think-piece decrying the loss of sporting wickets. It is not written to empathise with the plight of the fast bowler, … More Off Spin in Australia: A Thankless Task
“We got hammered in the first Test, absolutely hammered. We were nowhere near good enough. Graham Gooch got 200, I’d never seen anyone get 200 before. … I remember at the end of that Test thinking, ‘how we are ever going to get this guy out?’ ” It was 1994, and Dion Nash was yet … More Dion Nash, ‘I decided I was going to prove them wrong’ (part 1)
Recently, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Wellington’s new coach, Bruce Edgar at the Wellington Firebirds’ training set-up at Westpac Stadium. Most of what we discussed will be coming shortly, in a feature piece discussing his career – from his playing days as a stoic opening bat, to coaching, being New Zealand selector, … More Bruce Edgar: Wellington coach
Read part 1 here *** “I enjoyed the environment, I really did. In the late ‘90s, there’d been a real change in the culture of the Blackcaps. They no longer thought they were shit-hot, and were useless, they actually started realising they had a lot of work to do. “They’d really brought guys like Cairns … More Mark Richardson: ‘determination is the biggest thing’ (part 2)
When, in late 2004, Mark Richardson announced that he was hanging up his boots, it invoked an immediate expression: surprise. He was 33 years of age, and only a few months earlier was the Hero of Lord’s. Surely, the masses believed, he was retiring too early? Chairman of Selectors, Richard Hadlee, intimated as much – … More Mark Richardson: ‘determination is the biggest thing’ (part 1)
The name Richard Petrie isn’t one that sits amongst the upper echelons of New Zealand cricketing folklore. The bowling all-rounder who first took off with Canterbury, and later became a senior figure at Wellington, played just 12 ODIs – and while his stats weren’t poor, they equally didn’t lend themselves to greatness. For those who … More Richard Petrie; ‘you win some, you lose some’
The image is a compelling one: imagine the scene, Wellington’s Basin Reserve. It’s the final day of the State Championship for 2005-06. The match is, surely, destined for a draw. Not thanks to a banal set of innings culminating in an absolute absence of fruit-bearing, but instead courtesy of the fresh brace of black clouds … More Bevan Griggs: determination and dedication make the Stag
When Jimmy Neesham was named in the thirteen-man squad for the second Test against India, all the way back in February 2014, it was very much as a utility cricketer. It was his second Test-squad, having been brought in as cover for Corey Anderson in the lead up to the third Test against the West … More Jimmy Neesham, ‘not a cliché-maker’
Mind The Windows 