Story A Journey with the Blackcaps **New Zealand vs Australia: 1st Test**

[Highlander999]

A Journey with the Blackcaps​

For too many years, the New Zealand cricket team has been considered a push-over. After the retirement of legends like Stephen Fleming, Scotty Styris and the loss of ace bowler Shane Bond to the ICL, New Zealand have really been in lean times. However, times are changing. Opposition aren't what they were and the New Zealand cricket team is beginning to show signs of talent.

The skipper Daniel Vettori, is one of the best bowling all-rounders in the world. Time and again he has been called in when the New Zealand batsmen have failed, to chip in with a gritty knock. Brendon McCullum is argubly the best keeper in world cricket at the moment. His big-hitting, brash, out-going personality means that a bowling team can only consider themselves safe when he is walking back to the pavillion. It isn't only seasoned veterans that can lead New Zealand to glory. Jesse Ryder is a star in the making. After a very underwhelming start to his International career which saw him get thrown out of the side he has bounced back well and is really looking like he can be a major factor in a New Zealand revival.

Andy Moles took over at the end of 2008 and so far has not done too bad of a job despite having very little International Experience. He started his coaching career at Griqualand West, staying there for five years. In 2003 he was appointed as the national coach of Kenya, but he had a turbulent time due to infighting between the Kenyan Cricket Board and players which led him to quit the job at the end of 2004. He took over as the coach of Scotland in January 2005 but quit the job after less than a year as a result of disagreements with some of the senior players. He was appointed coach of Northern Districts in New Zealand domestic cricket for the 2006-07 season, and in his first season helped guide the team to the State Championship.

In a press statement Andy Moles spoke about New Zealand's next batch of fixtures.

I can confirm that it has today been agreed with the Australian and South African cricketing boards that they will be touring New Zealand. The New Zealand cricket side will play Australia in a three test series. There will then be an ODI tri series, between New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, with their being a three match final between the two top placed teams. I spoke to Daniel this morning about how prepared he feels the team are for this and he seemed to think we have a very good chance of making the final of the tri series and getting a draw in the test series. Overall, we feel the squad are in good shape and that we can put up a good fight against two very strong teams.

New Zealand do certainly have their work cut out. Here are the fixtures of the tour:

South Africa and Australia in New Zealand

Northern Districts vs Australia, 4 Day Match: Click here for match!!!

Canterbury vs South Africa, 50 over match: Click here for match!!!

Canterbury vs Australia, 4 Day Match: Click here for match!!!

Marcus North misses the first test Click here for details!!!


Test Series

1st Test: New Zealand vs Australia in Wellington Click here for start of match!!!

2nd Test: New Zealand vs Australia in Christchurch

3rd Test: New Zealand vs Australia in Auckland


Warm-up Matches

New Zealand "Select XI" vs Australia, 50 over match

New Zealand "Select XI" vs South Africa, 50 over match


ODI Tri-Series

1st ODI: Australia vs South Africa in Napier

2nd ODI: New Zealand vs South Africa in Hamilton

3rd ODI: New Zealand vs Australia in Christchurch

1st Final: TBC vs TBC in Wellington

2nd Final: TBC vs TBC in Dunedin

3rd Final: TBC vs TBC in Auckland

An interesting set of fixtures for the next few weeks. Not too much time for Australia and South Africa to prepare with a total of 5 warm-up matches altogether. The New Zealand players will all be looking to impress with the announcement of the squads due very soon. It does look like it is going to be a tough tour for New Zealand. South Africa and Australia are the two best teams in the world and whilst New Zealand have been impressive recently they still have a long way to go yet...

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Great start Tom..Hoping to see you make this one like your career diary

 

[bladescape]

Oh,Tom's back!!!!

 

[Roofrom50]

Tom's back, haha sick :happy Looking forward to this story mate, keep up the good work

 

[mattfb]

The return of Tom... just a few days after we saw the back of you. Great start mate, kiu!

 

[Funknath]

Tom is back :happy . Nice start mate KUTGW.

 

[saladguy]

Nice to see you back in business mate, nice to see you sticking to C05 too.

 

[Gary123]

Thank God you are writing a story once again and really impressive start:happy

 

[Dr. Pepper]

You're awesome Tom :hpraise Jaz is better, but you ain't too bad.

 

[Highlander999]

You're awesome Tom :hpraise

Thanks Mani and everyone else for the comments Should hopefully have a big update this evening

 

[Dr. Pepper]

No idea what you're talking about .

 

[Highlander999]

Squads Announced and Players to watch out for​

The Australian and New Zealand cricketing boards, today announced the test squads that will be facing up against each other in the National Bank Test series. Both squads have quite a few players who have very little International experience, meaning that this has the potential to be a very unpredictable series. However, don't let lack of International experience fool you. There is a lot of talent in these two teams and other teams will be wanting to keep their eyes on this series. It is going to be a cracker. Without further ado, here is the New Zealand squad:

D. Vettori (C)
B. McCullum (wk)
G. Hopkins (wk)
P. McGlashan (wk)
P. Fulton
J. Oram
K. Mills
A. Redmond
C. Martin
J. Patel
J. How
J. Ryder
D. Flynn
R. Taylor
M. Gillespie
J. Franklin
I. O'Brien
T. Southee
T. McIntosh
M. Guptill​

So there we have the New Zealand squad. A few eyebrows will be raised at the inclusion of three keepers. Obviously McCullum will be the first choice keeper, but recently he has been having a few injuries which have limited his ability to keep. Therefore the media assumed that one of either Hopkins or McGlashan would be picked. It appears though the selectors could not make their mind up and they have decided to go with both of them and cross that bridge if it comes. Chris Martin is also back in the side after a break out of the New Zealand squad. The Kiwi's will need him to be on top form if they are to get a result against the Aussies. Another good sight for the New Zealand fans is the return of James Franklin to the side after a long lay off. His batting abilities should strengthen up a team well known for its collapses and his bowling is not too shabby either.

Here is the squad that will be looking to thwart the New Zealanders:

R. Ponting (C)
B. Haddin (wk)
M. Clarke
S. Clark
S. Katich
D. Bollinger
P. Jaques
C. White
B. Lee
B. McGain
D. Hussey
M. Hussey
M. Johnson
S. Watson
P. Siddle
A. McDonald
P. Hughes
B. Hilfenhaus
M. North
J. Hopes​

Too look at that Australian side it is one that looks very different to the side that participated in the white-wash of England in the last Ashes. No Warne. No McGrath. No Gilchrist. No Hayden. A lot of big names there who are missing. However, the Australian youth have shown that they are up to the task after getting revenge against South Africa who beat them in Australia. Mitchell Johnson has been the biggest discovery for Australia and is argubly the best seam bowler in the world. Phil Hughes is also making a big impact on the Internatinal scene along with Marcus North. However, Ricky Ponting is still there, leading from the front. One of the best ever number three batsmen, he will be looking to feast on an inexperienced New Zealand bowling attack this series.

As part of Sky Sports plan to constantly strive towards providing the viewer the best viewing experience, they have managed to grab hold of England legends, Geoffery Boycott and David Lloyd to discuss who they think are the important players for this series.

Australia


Mitchell Johnson

DAVID LLOYD: For me, Mitchell Johnson is one of the most exciting bowlers in cricket at this moment. To have someone of Graeme Smith's experience in all sort's of trouble like he has in the past two encounters between them, shows that he has something special. With him recently having developed the in-swinger to the right hander, he is now incredibly dangerous. I can see him picking up lots of wickets here and I think the only other bowler who can come close to being as dangerous as him, in this series, will be Daniel Vettori. If Mitchell Johnson can get a seaming wicket with overcast conditions.....well all I can say is that I would not want to be down there at the other end.


Ricky Ponting

GEOFFERY BOYCOTT: I personally feel that Ricky Ponting is still the most important man in the Australian camp. Whilst there is a lot of young players coming through who have grabbed the spot light, Ponting is going to be fundamental if Australia are to win this series. He is the most experienced player in the Australian side and his captaincy will be an important factor for Australia. When it gets tough for the bowlers and they are struggling to break a deep-set partnership, it'll be up to Ponting to rally his men and go for that extra push. He is a well respected player amongst his team mates and hopefully his wisdom and experience will filter down to the younger players like Phil Hughes, Marcus North and Mitchell Johnson. I haven't even mentioned his batting yet. Whilst he may have suffered a slight loss of form recently, it only takes one innings for it to come flooding back. I honestly think on these New Zealand pitches, we are going to see Ricky Ponting play some of the best innings of his career. It is going to be very exciting.


New Zealand


Jesse Ryder

DAVID LLOYD: For New Zealand I have decided to go with another young star. Jesse Ryder did have a rather under-whelming start to his international career and has not had a meteoric rise like Mitchell Johnson has. However, these past few months, he really has settled into International cricket. I think the turning point for him was when India were in New Zealand and he hit that double century. It was one of the best innings by a New Zealander I have seen for quite a few years. It was agressive and technically a joy to watch. Many have said that he could be as good as Stephen Flemming. I think he can be better than him. In a New Zealand side which is constantly improving he will have players like Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum to lean on for support, which is something Flemming never had. Of course, having survived against the likes of Sharma, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, he now faces a new test against Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. If Ryder can perform well in this series, there should be no holding him back.


Daniel Vettori

GEOFFERY BOYCOTT: I have once again decided to go with the captain of the side for my player to watch out for. There are quite a few world class spinners going around these days and Daniel Vettori is one of those. However, not only is he a gifted spin bowler, he is also pretty handy with the bat. I suppose you have to get good with the bat when you have played for New Zealand these past few years. Far too many times, Vettori has to come to the rescue with bat and ball to try and get New Zealand out of a mess. He has had a few years to settle down as captain after Flemming's resignation and he has done a pretty good job. The team does look to be coming along nicely and he is popular guy who the younger members of the team always go to for advice. His captaincy has improved vastly and although he still does make a mistake here and there he generally knows what he is doing. This series with the home support I expect to see him really perform with the ball. With one of the strongest New Zealand batting line-ups for a long time, he might hopefully get some time bowling on a four/five day old pitch which he seems to rarely get to do, due to batting collapses. I think the key battle this series, will be between the two captains. I can't wait to see Vettori bowling to Ponting.

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So there we have it. Two legends of the game and they seem pretty excited about this series. Whilst the New Zealand camp settle down to lots of training, Australia need to prepare for their first tour match against Northern Districts. It will be interesting to see what side they name, although it is expected that Brett Lee will be rested so that there is no chance of his injury flaring up again.

 

[Roofrom50]

Mitch Johnson is fastly becoming one of the best bowlers in Test Cricket, and it should be a good tussle with him opening the bowling for Australia. But don't forget about the quick Lee, as his still another great bowler that can take wicket.

Wonderful update mate

 

[King Cricket]

Tom is back :happy Good update Tom. A really good start to the story.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Wow Great update there Tom. Both the sides looking really strong and I hope the Kiwis can win against these Aussies. KUTGW :hpraise