Mark Keown

In light of the absence of anything decent to contribute to the world, I will make a few comments on the Black Caps that I need to get off my chest. I really don't get the selection of the Black Caps for the first test against the Windies beginning in Dunedin tomorrow. Here are some questions. 1) Why drop an opener who has just scored 83 against Australia in a test in Australia? That is a disgrace to me. Sure, Redmond has not done that well. But he has shown good promise in England despite not performing in the test. He appeared to come of age in that innings. So why drop him? Of course, it may be because his name is Redmond, remember Rodney? 2) Why drop NZ's best opening quick for the last 10 years, Chris Martin? I don't get this. Over 140 test wickets, bowled well in Australia, if not quite at full tilt yet. Surely, a couple of tests on NZ green wickets against the hapless Windies are just what he needed to go past 150 test wickets. Wierd! 3) Why drop NZ's exciting ne...

The Black Caps loss to England this morning is the worst performance I have ever seen from a NZ team. They got themselves through a brilliant Ross Taylor innings with help from Mills and How into a great position. Vettori bowled beautifully to knock England over. A team with a lead of 170 or so should never be lose on a turning track. To capitulate as they did in the second innings was a disgrace. It was a stunning performance. The performances of Taylor, Oram and McCullum is not appropriate for that level. Taylor can be forgiven. The others needed to bat with some test sense. They only needed to bat sensibly as they did in the first innings and they would have batted England out of the game. Having said that, they should have been able to bowl England out on that track. I am a great fan of Vettori but he failed. Mills, Oram, O'Brien and Martin should have locked up one end and Dan should have bowled England out on a turning pitch with variable bounce. It is a long time since he bo...

What a great start to the season for the Black Caps. We have come to the end of an era and it is not looking good. Hammered by South Africa and more of the same in Australia. Our top order is dismal! Embarrassing. A lack of technique is palpable. We need to go for experience. And what are they doing to Matthew Sinclair. Put him in and leave him in and watch him flourish. It is time for Vincent to give it away, he is not there. We are terribly vulnerable at present, weak. The loss of Fleming, MacMillen, Cairns and others is really noticeable. To me the only world class players are Bond who is out again and Oram who is class. McCallum is class with the gloves and has his moment with the bat. But, we need to desperately find a top order that can get us through to 150-200/3 to give ourselves a chance. Is is time for Bracers to go? Perhaps. But then, he does not have a lot to work with.