Vettori leads Twenty20 squad as Franklin dropped

[King]

Daniel Vettori will captain a Black Caps Twenty20 World Cup squad that finds no place for troubled James Franklin More... Vettori leads Twenty20 squad

Aug 9, 2007 There are two bolters in the Black Caps line-up for next month's Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, which was announced on Thursday afternoon. Nathan McCullum and Bradley Scott have been promoted after strong performances for New Zealand A. Scott gets his chance at the expense of James Franklin, who's been dropped from the side and told to work on some technical aspects of his game. Wicket-keeper Gareth Hopkins has also earned a call-up on the back of his impressive form on the A tour. The inclusion of Scott Styris is subject to his recovery from injury. Daniel Vettori will captain the side in the absence of Stephen Fleming, who indicated earlier this year he wanted to captain the Test side only. Black Caps Twenty20 World Cup squad Daniel Vettori (captain) Shane Bond Peter Fulton Mark Gillespie Gareth Hopkins Chris Martin Craig McMillan Brendon McCullum Nathan McCullum Jacob Oram Jeetan Patel Bradley Scott Scott Styris (subject to fitness) Ross Taylor

[King]

Franklin would have been pretty handy with the bat if not the ball in the Twenty20 world cup. A disappointing omission that. Brendon's brother Nathan McCullum makes his debut in international cricket.

[MundaPakistani]

They will reallly miss Fleming because NZ is the kind of team which really needs a "thinker" on the field

[King]

Nothing of that sort MP. Although Fleming is pretty proactive there is nothing extra he could have done in the Twenty20 format of the game. Vettori is experienced and smart enough to put together a game plan.

[MundaPakistani]

Nothing of that sort MP. Although Fleming is pretty proactive there is nothing extra he could have done in the Twenty20 format of the game. Vettori is experienced and smart enough to put together a game plan.

With the kind of a bowling attack they have they will have to be very clever in the way which they use their bowler e.g in some cases it might be a good idea to open the bowling with Bond and J patel or in other cases have Bond come in as the 1st change bowler and open with Patel and Oram. So D Vettori might be a smart player but as a captain will he be bold enough to take such gambles which may backfire?

[Cricketics]

one of my fav, Brandon Mcculum would be star in this 2020 cup.. hope his brother comes out to be another star..

[King]

With the kind of a bowling attack they have they will have to be very clever in the way which they use their bowler e.g in some cases it might be a good idea to open the bowling with Bond and J patel or in other cases have Bond come in as the 1st change bowler and open with Patel and Oram. So D Vettori might be a smart player but as a captain will he be bold enough to take such gambles which may backfire?

To be honest the bowling looks pretty decent. I don't reckon strategies matter in Twenty20. Either way it is a bash fest from over 1 to over 20. Unless a bowler claims a hat trick or something the batters won't really have chance to pace their inning. Either way the bowlers are in for a stick. Any bowler that gives less than 8 rpo is a star and if he picks up couple of wickets then he will be considered for man of the match. Who would have thought rpo of tad under 8 or 7 would be good for a bowler even a decade ago :D?

[MundaPakistani]

To be honest the bowling looks pretty decent. I don't reckon strategies matter in Twenty20. Either way it is a bash fest from over 1 to over 20. Unless a bowler claims a hat trick or something the batters won't really have chance to pace their inning. Either way the bowlers are in for a stick. Any bowler that gives less than 8 rpo is a star and if he picks up couple of wickets then he will be considered for man of the match. Who would have thought rpo of tad under 8 or 7 would be good for a bowler even a decade ago :D?

I am not so sure about that Ravi! Getting field positions, bowling changes, batting positions, batting strategies etc right in this form of the game is more important than in the ODIs, i have seen quite a few of these 20/20 games and to me it seems that the teams who walk in thinking that 20 overs are not enough to build an innings end up with scores like 110/8.

[King]

Fair call MP. All the game I've watched so far barring one has been a slog fest. It hasn't mattered who bowled when, every bowler was taken to the cleaners.

[Donny]

I have watched both players captain NZ. Fleming: Over rated. Vettori: Smart. Will do the job.

[MundaPakistani]

I have watched both players captain NZ. Fleming: Over rated. Vettori: Smart. Will do the job.

Why do you say that Donny? I personally feel that Fleming's captaincy is one of the main reasons why NZ have been competitve over the last 10 years or so.

[Donny]

Well, MP, that's the whole point. They haven't been. Apart from some good ODI performances, NZ has languished in 7th place on the Test table for most of Fleming's reign as captain. He's underperformed as a frontline batsman and apart from some home wins on juicy tracks, their Test record is abysmal.

[MundaPakistani]

Well, MP, that's the whole point. They haven't been. Apart from some good ODI performances, NZ has languished in 7th place on the Test table for most of Fleming's reign as captain. He's underperformed as a frontline batsman and apart from some home wins on juicy tracks, their Test record is abysmal.

Donny who is going to win them test matches? Bond barely ever shows up and there is only so much that bowlers like Franklin, Martin and Vettori can do plus their batting is perhaps the worst among the top 7 test playing countries so you really cant blame Fleming for the lack of success.

[Donny]

Ok. So what does he do that impresses you, MP ? You wrote this:

Why do you say that Donny? I personally feel that Fleming's captaincy is one of the main reasons why NZ have been competitve over the last 10 years or so.

and then this: "so you really cant blame Fleming for the lack of success."

[MundaPakistani]

I was referring to their ODI side and how they have been able to stay competitive. Fleming seemed to know exactly how to use those dibbly dobbly medium pacers like Harris and Larsen and even in recent times he has used the likes of Styris and Mcmillan to provide important break throughs in the middle of an innings. What's your take on his captaincy purely from a strategic point of view?

[Donny]

Since I started noticing the "best captain in world cricket" sort of comments about Fleming, I took particular notice whenever I could get coverage of Black Cap matches of his style. I'm still baffled. Those bowlers you mentioned provided the breakthroughs, not SF. It's not rocket science. If your frontline bowlers aren't doing the job, you try someone else. What I did notice though, when he was rested/injured, was how different the Caps looked under Vettori. They appeared far more enthusiastic and beat Sri Lanka 4-1 over 2 series in 05/06 and 06/07 after beating Australia in the 3rd. Chappell/Hadlee series match.

[King]

Well, MP, that's the whole point. They haven't been. Apart from some good ODI performances, NZ has languished in 7th place on the Test table for most of Fleming's reign as captain. He's underperformed as a frontline batsman and apart from some home wins on juicy tracks, their Test record is abysmal.

Looks like you are not too aware of some of the series results Donny :regular_smile: NZ drew against Sri Lanka and India the last time it visited. Something not every cricketing country can stake claim to. NZ produced some really good results between 1999 (including the test series win against England in England) and 2004. Over the last couple of years NZ has had its problems in test cricket. BTW juicy tracks are for both teams not just one. The same can be said about every other cricketing nation too. I agree Fleming's captaincy's quite overrated. Also as a batter he hasn't really done enough justice to his talent. Over the last few years he has shown a bit more responsibility though. I guess it is time for him to just concentrate on test cricket leaving the ODIs for the younger ones. A down trend is quite understandable considering the retirements of Astle, Cairns and injuries often. Hopefully with Bond, Oram, Styris and Vettori around NZ should produce better results.

[Donny]

I am aware of their record. You have to go back 5 years to find an away win in Tests (*other than Bang & Zim) and that was against the Windies. Then it's another 3 years back to 1999 when they twice beat a very lowly England. Under his captaincy, NZ has won just 4 from 42 *away Tests in 10 years.