On The Front Foot Episode 191: Lineup predictions for the Bengaluru test

is first up. We paid tribute to another black bet who passed away last week and two wins for the pos as they I a semi final based at the World T twenty and Garth Galloway and Jeremy Coney with me and I got some bewildering yous from Moultan, your favorite ground at Jeremy as bory as it would have been watching Pakistan score five fifty six in England eight hundred and twenty three. Finally, a game of cricket broke out. At least Brooke had a strike rate of ninety eight

after scoring three hundred and seventeen. But do you know what sober wildering they're contemplating playing the second ties on the same strip, did you believe it?

I mean, the other thing I thought was intoing. The Bamie Army were there in the small number, and I don't think I saw a Pakistan fan in the ground.

to come to India. They are a real challenge. They have a vast, i think array an experience of cricketers now and the IPL has certainly helped to grow that for them.

it really just comes down to accuracy and consistency. So whether that's spin or scene, we've seen that the most successful I think players in these conditions it does come down to accuracy. And you look at Again and Dere and someone like Ashwin and Judasia who just I guess they survive on their accuracy over here. And it's something that we keep talking about with our players is our ability to do that will be very important through this series as well.

the way that I've played out there. And and because ultimately it is their careers, it's the ones that that they are. They are batting and bowling in their careers, it's no one else, So we are encouraging them to play that way, and we certainly know against India to beat them, especially if it does start turning, then you have to take a certain amount of risk and with the bat to score the runs that you want to score.

if it's going to be like real Seema friendly. I think here the first thing you want to do is make sure you've got the bowl, as you think that can take twenty wickets as well, and that's certainly part of the thinking as we go into this first Test.

over the boundary from his number nine position. You know, I think his batting, I think he's let himself down in New Zealand down with his batting over an extended period of time. And it just shows you the sort of lack of well, this inability to get out of the club really that I call this team now, And it just seems like I for starters, I didn't think Saldy would get picked for the Test, and I think

that's the right selection. But then to pick him and play him at number eight, I just find it extraordinary. And the whole thing is so sad really seeing a captain having to stand down as captain during a series or before this new series starts going to Sri Lanka and underperforming having underperformed in series before that. It's very amusing and I'm sure there will be a lot of New Zealand fans who are extremely frustrated by what they hear and see.

at the base in reserve. You remember the time they won by one run in England, you know inserted, and you said, well they got to follow on, didn't they? And they were in the field for so long. And that was at a strike rate of one hundred and forty nine, which just highlights Garth's point back promptly. Then five years before that, twenty eighteen, he got a fifty that was at christ Church strike rate one hundred and

four versus England again. And four years before that two thousand and fourteen, he got a forty at Leeds strike rate of one hundred and sixty six. So you can see if Saudi bats at eight, is he going to smash Ashwyn over five hundred and twenty Test wickets? Now Jadasia or Boomera around, is he going to smash Sarah

will simply bounce him. So I think if you look at past New Zealand sides ninety nine two thousand Flemings team in India number eight, Chris Keirns, number nine, Dion Nash number ten, Daniel Vittori, that's an interesting eight nine ten, isn't it. And then in nineteen eighty five New Zealand played Australia. That's our team. We didn't play against India. Number eight Smith, number nine Braceful, both of those two

dot Test hundreds, Number ten Lance Keirns. And then you go back to that team you were talking about fifty five years ago, nineteen sixty nine in India, Number eight Wadsworth top score eighty, number nine Dale Hadley top score fifty six, number ten Bob Curis top score fifty one, and number eleven Hendley Howard top score sixty one. They could all hold a bat and you compare it to the lot that we've got. Now there is an issue, isn't it straight away?

a specialist spin bowler again. You know, I think New Zealand cricket should that we should hang our heads in shame that he has picked as a front line spin bowler. And I think the fact that Sody has been called in for Tests two and three just as a further indictment on the spin bowling ranks in New Zealand. For him to be traveling over there with the possibility of playing Test cricket, that simply tells you that we have

very little strength in those numbers. And I have to say it's something that we've been preaching about for a number of years.

something like that in Sri Lanka. But if I it's a you know, if if I wanted to pick the best strongest batting lineup, and that may not be the way you want to go, I'd have those six that I've mentioned blood or would be at seven, and then you'd have Sentner, Henry, Patel O'Rourke. Now what that leaves is the best lower order we have at the moment for batting. You know, mean means you've got two seemas

O'Rourke and Henry. Is that the option you want? It means you use O'Rourke and Henry and after an initial crack with the new ball, you then give them short two to three over bursts to go with the spinners Stantner and Patel. Stantner you would have to use as a holding like a third Seema Wads, as he used to do when Mike Hessen was the coach, especially in the fings, so that would be similar to the Sri

Lankan sides that we saw. Then the strongest bowling option for me would be Blundle at seven, Henry at eight, but Tell at nine, Sally it's at number ten and eleven. Oh Raw, that's the three seamers and one spinner. Totel with the two part timers, and that, I censor is the team that New Zealand will favor. The seamers can do a better job I think in Asia than a second spinner. Actually, you can get through your first innings a lot more by using a seamer at one end

and a spinner at the other. It weakens the New Zealand batting quite a lot, I think. And then the third option I think if you want to pursue you mentioned was an aggressive lineup and aggressive play. Gary Stead spoke about that, but to go in tandem with the batting that they that they use against spin. At the moment, you have Blundle at seven, Henry at eight, but Tell at nine, Sears at ten, and Iraq at eleven, So you get two pace options that will become our future.

You get Sears and if it swings it will you know, he'll get a bit of movement, a rurical attack with the bounce. Henry the most consistent medium fast we have and that's the way. But there are problems again there the batting is weakened.

of his batting strength. And you know this is this is what Jerry's referred to and that's been a constant theme with this, with this New Zealand setup. I think though that you know everything that you're hearing from Gary Stead tells you that they're going to play Saudi. That's that's what I think they're going to do, you know, And that means that they will have to play Henry

and O'Rourke as well. And so it just becomes to me if that's what they go ahead with, they move away from what they did in twenty twenty one where they had Jamison and Saldi and Saldi you remember five wickets in the first innings in camp or in Bold very well, but I can't see him doing that again. And if they go with that side, then it weakens the spin bowling option. So it just seems to me

they've got a real problem. But they obviously want to play Southy and for me, I would be O'Rourke and Henry and then I'd be looking at my spin bowlers, Buttel would be the first one i'd pick, and then I would be trying to find a way for Bracewell and Phillips to be doing the rest of it. But I think they'll go with Santana and that defensive option, and again, as Jerry says quite rightly, he'll be that defensive bowler who can hold an end up and they'll

hopefully attack from the other ends. But gee, there's going to be some work to do.

And I dismissed that no one tries to drop the catch. Well, of course that's not the case. Then no one ever tries to drop a catch. But the fact of the matter are there was some poor attempts at catching during that series and that's got to be picked up as well to support those bowlers.

Mitchell does not look like a natural first slipper. Yes he does take some good grabs in there, but he's not consistent enough in my opinion to be a top class first slip. And it's very hard that those two positions are absolutely critical. And you know New Zealand are going to be starting well and truly behind things in India and they have got to be They've got to be perfect behind the stumps.

as well, they like him. But Ashwand Jadeja, Akshapatel and Kildep Yadav. That's all good spinners, aren't they over there? They've got more experience and they know how to use the SG bore which is slightly smaller. It's got a higher, more pronounced scene last longer than the kooker barrow does. As you pointed out, wads twelve series now in India, and the best we've done is one all fifty five years ago. You know, our best batsmen is absent. Our

batsmen gets sixties and seventies. They got to be one hundred and fifties over there. And I've highlighted here our fielding in New Zealand has deteriorated. So I've come in. But anyway, England, and the last point I would make is India away in Australia next so they will know they want the points against New Zealan and they got a five Test series in Australia. The incent of is there for India to play well.

But the pictures weren't as they are today. The ball seemed around a little bit more and Brian Hastings will be remembered very fondly in d by many New Zealand fans, and of course he played in a few fascinating series. He played, of course in that win against the West Indies, played in the Test when Rodney Redmond scored his one hundred in his first Test match, and featured in that magnificent partnership with the Richard Collins one hundred and fifty one for the tenth wicket's.

people often scored runs when they were needed. You mentioned

that base in reserve sixty nine. I remember that was the day when Charlie Griffiths and Prof Edwards, the two opening bowlers for the West Indies, were left out of the touring team to go to England for the West Indies, and they unleashed their anger on the top order of New Zealand that time, and the New Zella were only chasing about one hundred and fifteen hundred and sixty something like that, and Haster went in and we must have been two for thirty and then very shortly after three

for forty. Hayster was in, but Brian Yule came to join him at number five. They put together a partnership of about US seventy or eighty runs I think, and Hayster was not out at the end at oh he was over sixty anyway, I know that runs, and Ross Morgan from Auckland was batting with him when they won that game. There's that famous photo of Graham Dowling wrapping his arm around Hayster's shoulder as they walked up from the base and reserve up to the up to the

changing rooms up there. So yeah, I recall two things about Hayster. The first was that in seventy four when we played Australia at Lancaster Park, a very tight match, both teams scoring about two thirty to two point fifty in each of their innings, and we were batting last, chasing Ida know about two thirty, we lost Dad Parker in mystery Morrison and Congo. Congo was run out and so we were suddenly three for sixty after quite a

reasonable start. And then Hayster joined Glenn Turner who had already got one hundred and the first dig and they had a partnership of over one hundred. I was next in. I knew I was watching every ball, willing it on, sitting in the tunnel down there at Lancaster Park, and Hayster actually got out on the second to last ball of the day. I couldn't believe it. He hit Ashley Mallet and was caught at long arm, second to last ball of the day. I could have strangled his neck,

scrawny neck. Anyway, we needed about sort of fifty and I went in the next day and played a sort of a very bad smell innings, you know. I hung around and got out with about twenty to go and turned from Ken Wadsworth got those runs and I remember a big flashing off drive where Words smashed it and a spectator stealing the ball trying to run away, but he was chased by a very resolute Ian redpath from Australia, and he recovered the ball and gave it back to

Haster actually, who gave it to the Canterbury Association. It was mounted and in the fiftieth reunion, just that last game we played Australia down there, and it was actually at that reunion, So the last time I saw Paste actually was in the member's lounge at the pavilion, looking a bit frail, but still very much as sparkle in the eye. I do remember my last memory of Haste

as on the ground we were playing in Perth. A couple of our bowlers we were bowling, had a quick rub down prior to going out, and Haste the city had quite a tight back, so he grabbed the young jewant that was lying down there and rubbed it on himself. Vigorously on his back at presumably the right spot, and during which the bell went for us to get onto the field. So he raced off to complete a quick

toilet and then ran out onto the field. And for the first ten minutes I've never seen him moving so much. I mean he was at cover and he was saving one almost at midawn, so he's racing across the pitch to save. He could not stop moving. And I went past him after an over or two and I said, Haster, that stuff's obviously loosened up your back and he said yeah, he said, but it was going to the toilet after that was the problem. He said, I'm scorching and on

fire and mistrides. He forgedt. Do you wash his hands? Yeah, he had the DP, but you know, Haste to play for Burnside. He played for other clubs as well, in christ A, Burnside West. He was of course of Wellington College, played for Wellington, played for Wellington, Yeah and CD. When he lived in Blenham, he was an ICC match referee. Love Trotting, loved Trotting, but most of all just a bloody good mate, you know. Hastere was and very sad.

on the international stage. Some tears of delight for the Ferns that skip us, Sophie Divine after beating Pakistan without needing run rate to decide their fate.

as the field is spread, that pace goes off. It was extremely hard work, so we sort of had to reassess. Obviously we would have liked a few more runs, but that's the nature of the game. And then I guess the great thing about it as we knew Pakistan were going to have to come out swinging, and also we knew that one hundred and eleven was going to have to be enough, so that probably galvanized the side a little bit to know that it's enough runs for us today.

And again, just really proud of the way the group pulled together, kept things simple. It would have been easy to sort of look too far ahead, but to do the job tonight's you know, really pleasing.

a side like India has missed out. Yeah, and it just goes to show you the strength of the woman's game at the moment. Ah, Yeah, you're right, and it's really important that we reflect on where we've come from. In terms of that South Africa World Cup, we're in an exact same situation as we are in this tournament.

We knew we'd have to win at least one of our first two games and obviously the remaining games, and we learn a lot about ourselves, not only from that World Cup, but the I guess following twelve eight months. We obviously brought in a really young squad and to see them grow and shine like this tournament. You know, if it's not Georgia Plimmer, it's Eding Casson. If it's not eating it's Franjonis. But it's not Franuzzy I thought

was outstanding today. And to be able to see the growth of those youngsters, it certainly makes me proud, sort of a bit of a proud mum. I'm sure I'm not the cool mum that they want me to be. But to see the growth that they've had from Matt tournament, it was really hard for them to be thrown into that and expectations. But for us, you're right, probably no one has expected us to be here, and I guess that's a bit of a key we way though, we sort of fly under the radar and you know, just

sort of will swift away a little bit. But to know that when we play our best cricket, we can win this thing. So we'll certainly, you know, enjoy tonight's success and what we've been able to achieve, but this is now. The next focus for us is now we're here, we want to win the bloody thing. Yeah, and I think you look at who's on the bench. I mean, Molly pen Fold has been outstanding the last twelve month.

She's you know, come on and leap some bounds. And you've still got players like Jess k hanaho Leak Asprick you missed out tonight, And it is it's those small way things where it's going to take time to build depth, especially in the country as small as New Zealand. It's

not going to happen overnight. So this has been you know, even since before the World Cup, common games, you know, for us to continue to build, and it's going to be a continual work on for us as given the same level of depth because we're not India, we don't have a billion people you know to sort of pick from. So yeah, again it's really positive signs, but we know that this is just part of the journey and yeah, we're moving in the right direction, but there's still a long way to go.

on once this Toilman's finished, whenever that is. I think I spoke after that match that we've been planning that game for a long long time and to see our plans you know, come to fruition is something that was really pleasing and to see you know, I guess at the time, it's always nice to win, but I guess the way that we won as well obviously helped our net run rate, but it also showed a lot in terms of what our bowlers are capable of against you know,

an absolutely dangerous Indian banning lineup, but also with the bat that we've got threats throughout our lineup. So yeah, it certainly was. I guess gave us a bit of a confidence boost. Everyone knows we haven't had the greatest results over the last six to nine months, so to be able to pull that out it has it's given this group and even tonight's performance I think as well,

you know, Pakistan are a dangerous team as well. I think Fatimasana is just the absolute future of the women's game and just so much respect for her and obviously condolences to her and her family, but for her to come out there tonight just blows my mind really to show you know, her strength and stuff like that, so players like her going around. I think the woman's game is going to be in pretty good hands.