A Kiwi Tale (Tests only)

[cardassian]

It's been just under a year since Mike Hesson was appointed New Zealand coach. NZC is pleased with the way he is going as coach of the ODI and T20 sides but there is growing concern about the state of test cricket in New Zealand. Sensing NZC's discomfort, Mike Hesson has announced his retirement from coaching the New Zealand test team, he will however stay on as the ODI and T20 coach.

In a bold move NZC has appointed an unknown high school coach to the role of New Zealand Test coach. In a press statement NZC chief executive David White said "If he can coach kids that don't know what they're doing he must be able to coach adults that do know what they're doing."

In his first press statement as coach Cardassian said "I am thrilled to be the new test match coach. All I ask for is time to put New Zealand back on the test match radar."

When asked about short, medium and long terms goals for the team he stated " In my first year as coach I want to implement some new systems and introduce some new players to the test scene. It is my hope that while I am doing this New Zealand cricket does not go backwards but can hold it's ranking of 8th in the world. During my second year I would like to gain some forward momentum and try to rise a spot or two up the rankings. Within 4 years I want to be top 4."

"Stability and risk taking in selections is going to be key to my success as coach." Cardassian said, "It is my belief that players need to feel secure to succeed and young players need to be given an opportunity to prove themselves. For too long we have held onto players that just aren't up to international standard and ignored the young players waiting in the wings."

It is rumoured that upon being appointed New Zealand test match coach Cardassian held an emergency meeting with Jesse Ryder. Apparently they met at the Waitara Town and Country Club and discussed Jesse's availability over a few pints. Sources close to Jesse say that he was impressed with the new coaches ability to match him drink for drink and would be happy to return to the New Zealand test squad.

**Please note that I am useless at taking screenshots of match summaries and will be using full score cards for matches where I forgot to take a shot of the summary. I will do my best to remember but I would like to apologise in advance for forgetting.**

[cardassian]

New Zealand test squad for the upcoming tour to England announced.

R Taylor (c)
K Williamson (V)
H Rutherford
J Raval
B Watling (K)
J Ryder
D Brownlie
N Broom
D Mitchell
C Cachopa (K)
C Munro
T Boult
T Southee
D Bracewell
A Milne
N Wagner
C McConchie
A Patel


In an unprecedented move Cardassian has announced that these players are to be the New Zealand test squad for the season. In the same press conference he said that he was targeting the test series against the West Indies as the New Zealand's best chance of picking up ranking points this year.

[cardassian]

New Zealand tour to England

First up is a warm up match v Derbyshire.

New Zealand has gone with a shadow test team looking to get the tour underway with a strong start. Coach Cardassian is hoping to give the likely starters a taste of the English conditions.

Derbyshire	New Zealand
Madsen	Rutherford
Borrington	Watling
Chanderpaul	Ryder
Durston	Taylor
Redfern	Williamson
Burgoyne	Munro
Clare	Brownlie
Durham	Bracewell
Wainwright	Southee
Palladino	Wagner
Footitt	Boult

[cardassian]

Derbyshire won the toss and elected to bat.

We opened the bowling with Boult and Bracewell, using Southee and Wagner as first and second change respectively. Unfortunately for us only Bracewell Bowled well the others struggling to pick up wickets. Derbyshire eventually declaring at 352/7.

Our innings started promisingly with us reaching 121 before losing our first wicket. Jesse then came in and got a duck and when we lost our second opener 17 runs later we were reduced to 138/3 with no settled players batting. Taylor looked to settle things down but when Williamson went for 6 we were on the verge of collapse. Fortunately Munro and Brownlie put up a fight and we ended up declaring our innings at an end with the score 387/8.

With just under 2 sessions left in the game we once again took the ball in hand. Looking to take some wickets and get our bowlers into some kind of form we took an aggressive approach knowing the game was heading for a draw. Our bowlers still struggled in the English conditions and the game ended with Derbyshire 167-2 in their second innings.

Derbyshire	351-7
Borrington 81	Bracewell 3-87
Clare 96*
New Zealand	387-8
Taylor 69	Clare 6-75
Munro 100
Derbyshire	167-2
Borrington 63*	Bracewell 1-23
Chanderpaul 56

So not the start to the tour we had hoped for. Glimpses of promise in the batting lineup but real concern in our bowlers ability to penetrate.

MOM J Clare

[cardassian]

Next up is another warm up match. This time against the MCC. This is expected to be an easier game and Coach Cardassian is demanding an improved performance from the New Zealand team in this one. Many changes are made to the New Zealand XI as Cardassian says he wants to give everyone a run before the tests start in case they're required.

MCC	New Zealand
Gilmore	Rutherford
Wallis	Raval
Page	Ryder
Jefferson	Broom
Norris	Williamson
Carter	Mitchell
Hyde	Cachopa
Chapman	Boult
Piggott	McConchie
Wallace	Patel
Peel	Milne

[cardassian]

MCC won the toss and elected to bat.

We opened the bowling with Milne and Boult. Both picked up an early wicket as we reduced MCC to 8-2. A fightback from Gilmore and Jefferson saw them recover to 133-2 before Boult got the much needed breakthrough sparking a collapse that saw MCC reduced to 159-7. Some resistance was put up by the tail to get MCC through to 214 all out.

We got off to a rocky start with the bat seeing Raval go for 5. Rutherford and Ryder both made starts getting into the 30s before they both went and we were reduced to 83-3. A brilliant 167* by Broom and a 50 from Williamson got us through to 210 before losing our 4th wicket and we eventually declared our innings at an end with the score 365-8.

MCC's second innings never really got underway, with them losing wickets on a regular basis. Our 4 main bowlers all taking wickets and MCC struggling to get through to 160 all out.

Set just 10 to win our openers saw us home.

MCC	214 all out
Gilmore 75	Boult 3-40
Jefferson 48	McConchie 3-55
New Zealand	365-8
Broom 167*	Piggott 2-24
Williamson 50
MCC	160 all out
Hyde 43	Patel 3-37
Carter 35	Milne 3-38
New Zealand	10-0
Raval 8*
Rutherford 2*

So a better result for New Zealand but against worse opposition. The bowlers really stepped up this time as did Broom. This causes some selection issues ahead of the first test. Do we go with experience or have these youngsters shown enough to take some of the test spots.

MOM N Broom

[cardassian]

First Test V England

Cardassian has decided to go with a mixture of experience and youth in the first test V England. In a press conference he stated "We believe that we have the mix right between youth and experience. We expect to see young players step up in this environment and show us that they have what it takes to succeed on the international stage."

England	New Zealand
Cook	Rutherford
Root	Watling
Trott	Williamson
Bell	Broom
Bairstow	Brownlie
Prior	Taylor
Compton	Munro
Broad	Bracewell
Swann	McConchie
Anderson	Milne
Finn	Boult

[cardassian]

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat.

We never really got our innings under way. With Watling out early it wasn't long before our middle order was exposed, at one stage seeing us reduced to 93-5. However there was a fightback from Bracewell coming in at number 8 (74*) and our number 11 McConchie 65. This got us through to a sub-par total of 283 all out on day one.

Where we had struggled against the English bowlers, they dominated ours.
Our attack got smashed all over the park, with the exception of Munro who picked up 4-89. A brilliant 192* from Bairstow got England through to the mammoth total of 501-7 declared.

Our second innings got underway much the same as the first with Watling out for 4. We were soon 89-3 and a big loss looked on the cards. However a determined Rutherford (268) and Brownlie (109) got our innings back on track. Unfortunately the rest of our batsmen failed again and it came down to Bracewell to back up his first innings with a 93 to see us through to a good score of 554 all out.

Set 337 to win and a day to do it in an English victory looked unlikely. We quickly reduced them to 108-4 just after lunch and an unlikely New Zealand victory looked on the cards. However in the middle session Bairstow and Prior really took it away from us, scoring quickly and confidently taking England through to 251 before they lost their 5th wicket. Needing just 80 runs and having 5 wickets in hand England managed to chase down the target in the final session, eventually winning by 3 wickets.

New Zealand	283 all out
Bracewell 74*	Swann 4-79
McConchie 65	Finn 3-75
England	501-7 declared
Bairstow 192*	Munro 4-89
Trott 86
New Zealand	554 all out
Rutherford 268	Swann 4-173
Brownlie 109	Broad 3-89
England	337-7
Prior 109	McConchie 3-104
Bairstow 96	Boult 2-47

Not the start Cardassian wanted to his International coaching career but some positives all the same. Bracewell's batting was far better than expected. Rutherford showed his class. Brownlie batted well in the second innings. McConchie picked up 5 wickets on debut, although he went for too many runs. Munro bowled well in the first innings and Boult bowled well in the second.

Negatives were our batsmen not producing. Milne not stepping up in either innings (0-101 and 1-76) and Bracewell not bowling well finishing with figures of 2-161.

MOM Rutherford

[cardassian]

New Zealand V England second test

For the second test Cardassian decided to make two changes to the New Zealand team. With fitness concerns over Ross Taylor he is sitting it out and will be replaced by Jesse Ryder. Williamson will take over the captaincy. Adam Milne has been dropped for this game and will be replaced by the experienced Tim Southee. England has named an unchanged team.

England	New Zealand
Cook	Rutherford
Root	Watling
Trott	Williamson
Bell	Broom
Bairstow	Brownlie
Prior	Ryder
Compton	Munro
Broad	Bracewell
Swann	McConchie
Anderson	Southee
Finn	Boult

[cardassian]

New Zealand win the toss and elect to bat.

After the good second innings we are confident our batsmen can put on a good score and put England under some scoreboard pressure. We start off well with Rutherford and Watling putting on a 131 opening stand. However we then go on to lose both openers and Broom for this score. When Williamson goes for 3 we are struggling at 138-4 and when Ryder follows soon after for 6 we find ourselves in trouble at 157-5. If not for a quick knock of 41 by Bracewell (he's on fire this series) we could have ended up much worse but we finally get through to 276 all out. Another sub par batting display first up.

When Bracewell removed Root for 20 and then Southee removed Cook for 41 we thought we had a sniff of a chance of restricting England to a score similar to ours. However a composed 109 from Bell and a 97 from Compton saw England through to 413 all out.

Trailing by 137 it was always going to be a big task for our batsmen to get us back into this match. When Watling got a duck it made the task even harder. This early wicket sparker a top order collapse and we soon found ourselves 70-4. Rutherford was still in fighting and when he was joined by Munro New Zealand had a glimmer of hope. They saw up through to 257 before Rutherford got out for 114. Munro was out a few runs later and we were 261-7. This time there would be no heroics from Bracewell and we were dismissed for 308.

Needing just 172 for victory England cruised to an 8 wicket victory.

New Zealand	276 all out
Rutherford 67	Swann 4-58
Watling 54	Finn 4-95
England	413 all out
Bell 109	McConchie 2-25
Bairstow 97	Munro 2-54
New Zealand	308 all out
Rutherford 114	Broad 4-76
Munro 82	Swann 3-81
England	172-2
Cook 63	Munro 2-43
Root 50

A disappointing second test. The same issues we saw in the first test came through again in the second. Our batting order looks frail and our Bowlers often struggle to take wickets. Hopefully we see some improvement in the next series otherwise the public of New Zealand will be calling for Cardassian's head before he really gets started.

MOM Rutherford.

[cardassian]

New Zealand V England series round up.

A concerning series for new coach Cardassian. The positives were few and far between and the negatives numerous.

Rutherford was the player of the series scoring 477 runs at an average of 119.75. Bracewell showed that batting wasn't too difficult scoring 217 runs at 72.3. Apart from this our batting was dismal. Collapses were the standard and experienced batsman (Taylor 0, 5) and new batsman (Broom 2, 10, 0, 5) all struggled to put runs on the board.

Bowling was another concern with our experienced pace trio of Boult, Bracewell and Southee all struggling to pick up wickets. Milne was tried and failed to impress. Munro was the pick of our bowlers taking 8 wickets at 25.25 and McConchie was the best new bowler taking 6 wickets @ 33.7.

It is reported that coach Cardassian is not impressed with his players but is taking it on the chin saying "England are one of the best test teams in the world. We came to do battle on their turf and they showed us why they are rated so high. Hopefully we can learn a lot from this series and use that knowledge to build towards the future."

[cardassian]

New Zealand tour to Bangladesh

Cardassian has announced the same squad to tour Bangladesh as toured England.

R Taylor (c)
K Williamson (V)
H Rutherford
J Raval
B Watling (K)
J Ryder
D Brownlie
N Broom
D Mitchell
C Cachopa (K)
C Munro
T Boult
T Southee
D Bracewell
A Milne
N Wagner
C McConchie
A Patel

He has come under some criticism in the press as McConchie is injured and is definitely not available for the first game and unlikely to be ready for the second. Cardassian replied "It is our hope that McConchie becomes an integral part of our set up. The best way to ensure this is to keep him involved in the set up. Besides we're travelling with 18 players to play 2 tests. It's not like everyone will get a run."

[cardassian]

First test V Bangladesh

Cardassian has decided to go with a relatively experienced side for the first test. However in McConchie's absence Patel gets to make his debut.

Bangladesh	New Zealand
Iqbal	Rutherford
Islam	Watling
Al Hasan	Ryder
Hossain	Williamson
Islam	Taylor
Haque	Munro
Rahim	Brownlie
Mahmudullah	Bracewell
Sunny	Southee
Mahmud	Wagner
Islam	Patel

The last time New Zealand toured Bangladesh they came away with a series win and pressure will be on Cardassian to achieve the same. He has however tried to downplay expectations talking up the Bangladesh team "Bangladesh are a very capable team and their record does not reflect their ability. Touring here is never an easy task. The climate is very foreign, the food is very foreign and most importantly the pitches are very foreign to us. The loss of McConchie is a huge loss for us as he is the premier spinner in our squad. These pitches are likely to turn early and turn sharp. How we deal with this will determine how we do in this series. Whether or not Patel and Williamson can exploit these conditions will be key. How our batsmen deal with this will determine how well we do. It will be anything but an easy series."

[Lanky]

Colin Munro is a great player on this game from what I've experienced

[cardassian]

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat. This is not what we were after as the pitch looks like it will start to turn on day one and we expect it to be a minefield by days 4 & 5.

Wagner made a good start to his test recall snaring Islam early and reducing Bangladesh to 8-1. When we got the wicket of Iqbal before lunch leaving Bangladesh 73-2 we were happy with the morning's play. Definitely not the start Bangladesh wanted when choosing to bat first. A solid 3rd wicket partnership between Al Hasan (102) and Hossain (136) saw Bangladesh through to 204 before losing their 3rd wicket. At this stage I was feeling rather concerned as with the pitch deteriorating and Bangladesh's spin attack I was worried about our ability to put up a good score. Two quick Williamson wickets sparked a mini collapse and we soon had Bangladesh 241-6 with New Zealand back on top. The tail tried to wag and Bangladesh scored a little more than I had hoped for ending their innings at 350 all out. A good score but not a huge one.

We had a horror start to our innings. Rutherford was out early for 11 leaving us 15-1. When Ryder got out for 4 9 runs later we looked like a team in trouble. 24-2 became 149-5 as Williamson, Watling and Munro all fell. However a brilliant partnership between Taylor (175) and Brownlie (151*) saw us through to 415-6. Handy contributions from Bracewell (37) and Southee (27) saw us through to 510-8 declared.

Trailing by 160 Bangladesh were in trouble early losing Islam for 2 and Iqbal for 14. They never really managed to recover losing wickets often and putting together no partnerships of significance. They only managed 170 in this innings meaning we had to go to bat needing just 11 for victory.

Despite losing Rutherford for a duck (and his heroics in England looking like the distant past) we comfortably chased down the 11 winning the match by 9 wickets.

Bangladesh	360 all out
Hossain 136	Southee 4-66
Al Hasan 102	Williamson 2-43
New Zealand	510-8 declared
Taylor 175	Mahmud 3-81
Brownlie 151*	Al Hasan 3-150
Bangladesh	170 all out
Al Hasan 39	Bracewell 5-44
Mahmudullah 33	Southee 2-48
New Zealand	11-1
Watling 6*	Islam 1-8
Ryder 5*

A comfortable 9 wicket victory and a very pleasing result. Interesting that it was our pace bowlers who did most of the damage taking 16 of the wickets. Still a concern over our batting as only 2 of our batsmen put on a decent score and a cameo by Watling. The rest of our top order looked shaky and this is something we're hoping to remedy in future matches. Still it's the first test match win for the new coach and hopefully a sign of things to come.

MOM R Taylor