The Silver Fern

@sparky said in Ashes 2025/6:

Joffra Archer has been ruled out of the rest of the tour with a side strain.

England XI for fourth Ashes Test: Zak Crawley, Ben "Uber to the nets" Duckett, Jacob "YMCA" Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (capt), Jamie Smith, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.

As seen on Reddit, problem for England losing Archer isn’t just they lost a bowler but also their 2nd best batsman….

He would be a handy club cricketer or twilight cricketer..

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360918234/indonesia-cricketer-becomes-first-take-five-wickets-one-over-t20

@Godder said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@Chris said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@Chris said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:

@Chris said in West Indies tour of NZ:

Latham with 3 test Centuries and Captaining the team to a 2 -0 Test Series should also be in the mix for Man of the Series.
Duffy also leading the attack should in the mix.

and keeping at a pinch too ! completely forgot his first ton.........

But there were quite a few good batting performances but taking wickets wins matches, would have to be Duffy now I've thought about it.

Black Caps top five is absolutely set in stone barring injury.

Hay should replace Blundell. Whether he will is at the whim of the selectors.

Phillips wasn't hugely compelling in terms of batting and bowling, sort of went ok, absolutely dynamic fielding though, will be interesting what happens when Santner is fit. Bracewell will only get a look in if those two are both broken.

Duffy as others have mentioned has to be considered for when everyone is available, particularly with the injury prone nature of the others.

Smith and Foulkes a bit meh. Neither took their chances for a big performance.

Rae filled in admirably.

Tickner bloody good until injured. He'll be back.

Nice to see Patel get wickets at home as yet another bowling option.

Yep agree with all of that, I think you summed it up perfectly,I saw it the same way.
Duffy adds some depth with Henry,O’Rourke and Jamieson back.
> You know my thoughts on the wk that is a no brainer for me.
Rae worked hard he didn’t let us down but he sits way back from the 4 mentioned above.
Smith and Foulkes not really test bowlers or allrounders as yet.
Tickner went well but does spray it a bit he is a ok sub if one the top 4 go down.

I hope we have our top bowling attack for 3 big test series coming,England,India and Australia we will struggle big time if we have to select from outside those 4.

First class and test averages don’t always marry up for whatever reason but if he can keep with an average of 40 plus he will be an absolute gun for NZ.

Gilly’s don’t grow on trees, this guy needs to be nurtured particularly as he is still young with years of international cricket ahead of him.

Blundell has done a job ( despite batting woes of late ) but this guy is the future.

As someone said earlier, no one owns the jersey/cap

Hay for me is one of the best Gloveman I have seen he moves really well, gets in to catching positions easily.
The sort of WK you don't notice unless you are watching him intently just gets it done with ease.
It is harder to find good WK these days a lot of the young players coming through give it up or don't want to take it on, they see it as too much hard work which it is, it is a skill you have to keep working on.
His batting has real potential.
Blundel was a good player but time has now caught up with him it is not easy being a Wk on the wrong side of 35.

Yeah back in the day specialist keepers averaged 20 odd or in some cases even lower. I think Alec Stewart was one of the first to change that, Jack Russell was supposedly the better keeper but Stewart filled the role at test level really well and his batting spoke for itself.

Very little to go on but from what I’ve seen in his only test Hay was brilliant behind the stumps whereas I think @Virgil pointed put that Blundell dropped one yesterday.

Keepers don’t have tangible stats like batsmen and bowlers though so hard to gauge.

Byes and dropped catches are key IMO. The keeper can't control the quality of the bowling (although can direct some improvements) but the least they can do is not drop anything (occasional impossible chances aside) and not give away runs (the occasional uncatchable bouncer aside). Video analysis helps but obviously that's not a stat as such.

Batting averages were always relevant, they were just seen as less important than keeping skill - a useful tiebreaker if a country had two similar quality options (Alan Knott was selected over Bob Taylor because of batting as an older example), but not as important as now. Shows the importance of all-rounders - if a team doesn't have all-rounders who can bat and bowl, the keeper needs to be able to bat.

Obligatory CricInfo Statsguru - this is all 85 keepers (surprisingly few) who played at least 20 test matches as designated keeper, in batting average order. 35 have averages > 30, with most of those (26) starting in the 1990s or later. 69 (nice) have averages > 20. The median keeper was Moin Khan (28.67).

Andy Flower is often forgotten about, had an amazing career especially when you think he was playing for Zimbabwe
For a long time Gilchrist averaged well over 50 was as high as 60 early in his career
We had it good with Watling too, he would be our goat as far as keepers go

@Canes4life the What a Lad podcast with Dupes was exceptional … well worth a listen about chasing dreams and achieving them.

@KiwiMurph said in Exodus:

What a waste.

I liked when Razor fans were defending him for dropping Sotutu and calling him lazy and what not when in reality Jason Ryan had a hatred for him and it didn't matter what he did as he was never getting picked regardless.

IMG_6444.jpeg

@OomPB Kolisi coming back, joining Wilco Louw

https://rugby365.com/tournaments/european-cup/john-dobson-reveals-siya-kolisis-role-at-stormers/

@canefan This is a very enjoyable 49ers season. Overcoming injuries and just refusing to go away.

Brock Purdy and Shanahan were dialed in today.

49ers already confirmed for the playoffs with Lions losing yesterday.

@kidcalder said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb I think Fury will try to fight AJ like he did Deontay 2 & 3 but AJ is a better boxer than Wilder. Stopping Fury will be a big call as he has great recovery and will but age does mess with that ..
I think they will fight at least 2 times and could split the wins and take it to a trilogy.... best earner for all

My point was , the advantage I believed fury had over him , movement , slickness , ability to slip punches , hand speed , I just don’t think is there anymore . Although he still may have the better chin .

The old peek a boo fury I think would have caused AJ all sorts of problems technically, but the flat footed fury now trying to exchange shots , far less so .

I think AJs decline has been more due to a drop in self belief more so than the physical drop off like furys . In a fight of trading shots with both fighters getting hit I favour the heavier puncher .

@sparky said in EPL 2025/26:

Morgan Rogers is on fire. 🥶🔥

Bailed us out 2 games in a row now.

I noticed that Pritchard wasn't wearing his headgear in the SF. That probably didn't help whenever he got concussed.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a nz team or two joining the big bash, we have a lot of kiwis playing now anyway and great experience on Aussie decks too

@Duluth I had a play around and might have worked it out. Granted the true test will be Jan 25th but I currently have a USA paramount account

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/360916842/sam-tanner-beats-hayden-wilde-and-teen-sensation-sam-ruthe-5000m-showdown

Jeez that's a crazy score card. First time in T20 history that a chasing team has two players get a century.

Wild the talent stags are attracting. They've got young Josh Augustine and Stan Mclurie waiting in the wings too don't they? Good to see Dunshea is on board for 2026 too.

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@MN5 said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew said in All Blacks 2026:

@antipodean said in All Blacks 2026:

@taniwharugby said in All Blacks 2026:

@Victor-Meldrew think i mentioned elsewhere on here, heard Enoka speak at a conference (wasnt even there as the "main" speaker we had to listen to, but was by far the more memorable) he was awesome to listen to, I'll be reading his book too.

One fella i was sitting with said it was his 3rd time hearing him, said he told so many different stories and kept everyone engaged.

Haven't clicked on that link, but I recall him saying Mealamu was a player who carried more mana than anyone.

The sort of person who could politely instruct other All Blacks to come suitably attired to breakfast and as grown adults they'd acquiesce.

Who's filling that role now?

Read somewhere he's an accomplished artist as well.

Ardie is probably pretty adept at bulk messages on insta. I reckon its him.

Just throwing out a wild theory, but wonder if Scooter would have been doing that role if he wasn't made captain.

Gumboots and moleskins for everyone.

I wonder who applied?

https://www.allblacks.com/news/whitney-hansen-announced-as-black-ferns-head-coach