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They call him Steady, and when you talk about Black Caps’ test cricket picks, coach Gary Stead lives up to that nickname.
Dropping the Jeet Raval 15 months ago after a test in Perth, and promoting Tom Blundell with astonishing success in a lost cause in Melbourne, was a notable departure from the script.
Since that terrible Australian tour, a 3-0 loss, Covid-19 ensured that all New Zealand tests were at home by beating India, the West Indies and Pakistan, all 2-0, to be the first. team at the World Test on June 18. Championship final against India at the Rose Bowl.
Now, as Stead prepares to name his squad of up to 20 on Thursday, Blundell’s experiment must finally come to an end. The talented cricketer, a worthy test pilot, and the No. 6 hitter when potentially dumped by BJ Watling in the next year, will be on the tour team, but his Wellington teammate Devon Conway is a huge favorite. to go out to open with Tom Latham. at Lord’s on June 2.
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Stead could hardly have delivered more praise when he said Thursday: “It looks like Devon has all the skills to be an amazing player and I think we are really lucky, right now, to have had people on our team like his Ross Taylors and his Kane. Williamsons, then they see someone like Devon Conway and they think this is another kid who could be in that class too. “
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
More runs for Devon Conway on his home turf in the Basin Reserve.
That screams the mantra that Stead and co-manager Gavin Larsen must have on their minds: ‘how can we not pick him?’ With Williamson, Taylor and Henry Nicholls entrenched at three, four and five, the starter is Conway’s place.
He’s comfortable with three, but always maintained that he would hit anywhere in the top four if necessary. At 29, he’s 5-6 years older at his hitting peak, and in his T20 and ODI performances this lift can’t be delayed any further.
Blundell averaged 22.6 against the West Indies and Pakistan at the top, with a pressure point off the stump, between the bat and the pad, exposed on defense.
For Wellington, he averaged 19 of the 11 Plunket Shield innings they opened before sliding down to No. 5 and claiming the gloves against the Northern Districts last week. The result: 103 was not, after his young teammate Rachin Ravindra made an effortless 138 against Neil Wagner and Scott Kuggeleijn.
On the other hand, the latest innings, Ravindra’s top-class third tonne, seem to have secured him a spot on the England tour as the bolter, with the swing of the left arm as his main asset. It would be a remarkable recovery from a shoulder dislocation suffered in January.
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
Wellington’s young hitter Rachin Ravindra looks like a strong bet to form an extended England tour team after scoring his third-century first-class (file photo).
Stead said that when choosing their test tour squad, they pick the probable 12 or 13 and then come back.
Judging from recent picks, with the latest adjustment, the 12 for the WTC final look like this: Conway, Latham, Williamson, Taylor, Nicholls, Watling, Mitchell Santner / Daryl Mitchell, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Wagner and Trent Boult.
The backup cast will feature Will Young, Blundell, Ravindra, Ajaz Patel, Matt Henry and perhaps Doug Bracewell, while Grandhomme’s Colin name will appear with an asterisk when he returns from ankle surgery in a race to get fit.
Glenn Phillips, Will Somerville and Michael Rippon, the latter the leader in turning around the Plunket Shield with 17 for Otago, and a skilled hitter, will also appear on the sidelines. Spin, however, may not play a major role in England in June and Santner, Patel and Ravindra may have that covered with just one of them, possibly none, to make it to the XI.
Kai Schwoerer / Getty Images
Daryl Mitchell celebrates his first century of testing, against Pakistan in January.
The fast four are must-have picks, then it becomes a throw between Mitchell’s or Grandhomme’s impressive overall qualities, or a spin option. Patel is still the pick of those, but since the test spinner should be a hitting option on the seven, he restricts their chances unless they’re playing on a spinning subcontinent.
For the first of two England tryouts on June 2, and the likely absence of Williamson and Boult in the IPL playoffs, Young would hit three but, as he was on the ODI squad, he appears to have been outscored by Conway in the pecking order after beating him to a vacant batting spot against the West Indies in December.
Thursday’s announcement will answer a few questions, although Stead may choose to keep his letters close about Conway’s place in order. A match within the team in England in May could offer the first major clue and provide Conway’s stepping stone to an expired test limit.
