New Zealand recently announced their 15-man squad that would be heading to the 2015 Cricket World Cup and what a team it is. While the usual faces have kept their place in the ever improving team, some surprising decisions were made that could prove to be costly.
Let us begin with the batsmen. Youngster and rising star Tom Latham has been selected to open the batting with veteran Martin Guptill. While Latham has been fairly successful so far in his international career, it seems Guptill of late has been struggling to mimic the performances he is able to achieve in domestic cricket, on the international front. New Zealand will always look to their Trio of Reliability in Taylor, Williamson and Brendon McCullum, but relying on three batsmen game after game is both unfair and risky. The openers need to develop an early partnership to set the ground work and find a way to click with one another, something that has not yet been achieved.
What is fairly noticeable about this team is that fact that it seems to be a “bowling” team. Realistically, the Blackcaps have only six specialist batsmen (in the 15-man squad) before moving into the all-rounder’s and bowlers. That isn’t to say that the all-rounder’s and even some of the bowlers are incapable of hitting a few. Nathan McCullum, Vettori and Southee have shown they are no fools when it comes to batting and their explosive hitting towards the back of the innings will prove invaluable in the tougher games.
What New Zealand is not lacking in is tall, quick bowlers. Boult, Southee, Milne and McClenaghan are all on hand to offer their services and offering both left-hand and right-hand bowling, combined with the swing twins’ remarkable success, means the variety and options available to this team in regards to the ball is extensive. New Zealand’s bowling has long been viewed as their stronger discipline and if this remains the case, I truly believe they will be able to rely on it more often than not (combined with consistent and excellent fielding that the Blackcaps have become known for).
Sadly, with every decision that requires selection and elimination, there has to be a few calls made that don’t seem to make much sense. Matt Henry, who has been a recent inclusion into the limited overs team, has missed out on a place in the squad due to the selection of Kyle Mills. While Mills has extensive experience and success in this format, I feel Henry has the right to be disappointed. While the youngster has only played six international ODI innings, he has managed 19 wickets with a 5-wicket haul to his name. New Zealand is known for their young and innovative bowlers and Mills seems to be past his best. While both have proved their death bowling is far from poor (the crutch of most teams these days), Mills has been extremely effective in the final overs, giving him the ultimate advantage.
The biggest shock (and I say shock because I don’t believe this decision will benefit the team) in the inclusion of Grant Elliott in the place of Jimmy Neesham. While Neesham has been donning both the Test whites as well as the limited overs kit in the past year or so on a regular basis, he loses his place to a player that has been out of the international team for quite some time now.
I have observed lots of commentary regarding this decision and the reason for Elliott’s selection is varied. Some are under the impression his selection is based on the fact that the openers have been unable to solidify a working partnership and he and Latham will be competing for the second opening place considering Guptill is unable to bat anywhere else in the order, while others claim that Neesham will find his growth to becoming a top class Test all-rounder taking a knock by playing limited overs. There have also been reports that the selectors were looking to have a bowling option come from one of the top five (clearly Williamson was overlooked in this consideration).
Despite everything, this New Zealand squad is a fairly strong one. It comprises of almost everyone who has been part of the successful run of wins that the Blackcaps currently find themselves on and puts them amongst the favourites for taking the ultimate title.
Team
Brendon McCullum (c), Nathan McCullum, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori, Kane Williamson
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