Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Live from the Export Bear Garden Studios. You're listening to
the BYC and I can tell you where stoke to
be back as we look forward to the summer of
cricket ahead. A shame then, that we should kick it
off with an absolute debarcle that was the Afghanistan Test.
And while we can admire the innovation shown to dry
out what amounted to a swamp, it was a disappointment
(00:28):
that an historic occasion was ruined in such a fashion.
But fear not, there's plenty to come, including Thisra Lankans,
though it seems mother Nature may have something to say
there as well. And fell as it's been an age
Dyllan Cleaver.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
It's been so long that this entire studio has changed.
It has beneath our feet, has very clean lines now
very Swedish, Scandinavian, very yeah, corporate.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yes, I feel quite uncomfortable in it.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I know you keep looking over my shoulder here. I
keep thinking I'm missing something.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Well, I was just trying to remember what the name
of the studio was. Paul Ford your barst how's life?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
It's good, Jason, it's good. Spring is nearly sprung at
Wellington and it's probably about three months away, I think,
and then we'll be ready for cricket season down here.
But good news, we're ripping into it over in Gaul
very soon. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Just on spring. Actually, interesting fact about spring. I don't
know if you know this, Dylan, that spring doesn't officially
start till the twenty third of September. I always thought
it started at the very beginning of September, but it's
actually the twenty third.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
No, it's on the equinox, which is either the twenty
second or the twenty third or the twenty first, depending
on when the right. Okay, the Earth is exactly halfway distant,
and it's access to the sun. But do you know
there's a.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Well this is fascinating.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, there's a very cunning way of getting yourself twenty
one extra days of summer. So you adhere to the
strict calendar interpretation of the seasons. So spring starts on
September first, summer starts on December the first, but then
you switch to the actual technical scientific equinox things, and
(02:03):
you don't go into autumn until March twenty second.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Give you two days this summer fascinating.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Can you just go through it again?
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Now?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
This is what people tune in for totally.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Astronomy season season chat.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Now New Zealanders is Shri Lanka that starts today, right, yes, yeah,
and the weather forecast, as you briefly mentioned there, Paul
Forward not looking great. For God say, let's not have
more Shenanigans.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
No, that's right, but you know, there's always a result
at Gaul, so we shouldn't be too despondent about that.
And there is a slightly bizarre situation with this test
match given the scheduling. First of all in monsoon season,
albeit at the sort of bitter end of it. But
it's a six day test. We've got a rest day
plank on Saturday because it is the Sri Lankan presidential elections,
(02:57):
so there's extra day so everyone can bigger off and
vote than the New Zealand boys can get absolutely steamed
on Friday night, so they to themselves perfect.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, well, I've got a lotit. I'm massively looking forward
to it, and it begs the question, and now that
the BYC is back, of course, where are we at
New Zealand. You know, I was thinking about the end
of last season and it was not a great end
to the sea. It wasn't a great season all round.
We talked often about changes and you know what needs
(03:26):
to happen, because it felt like we were sliding a
little bit. Where are you with the New Zealand side
at the moment, Dylan.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
It felt like a kind of dribbly old season.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yes, it did.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
Never really amounted too much. Well, I can tell you
where we're officially at, if that helps. Sure, we're officially
third on the WTC table, which is the world tiest
championship obviously, but it is a misleading third.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
I'm staggered by that.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yes, so we're at fifty percent, where New Zealand does
really well. And this is something to really be proud of,
Like your chest fills up with this amazing feeling, groundswell
of goodwill and good feeling. We're very good at not
getting any points deductions for slow overrates. That's the strongest
part of our game at the moment. So where you've
(04:12):
got a team like England that has played sixteen tests
one eight of them, they've actually got a better than
fifty percent record, they have a massive nineteen point deduction
for overrates, so well behind US. Australia has big deductions
for overrates but they're still well ahead of us. Really,
we have to win in Sri Lanka to give ourselves
(04:34):
any chance of qualifying for that final, and we've got
two tests at a venue. Gul Paul may correct me
if I'm wrong on this, that we have had no
success at or very little success at Gaul over the
years of I think we do all right in Colombo,
but not so well at the fortified city of Gaul.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
I think that is exactly right when you are talking
about the world example of a Ford city bought. But
as you would know, of course, Jase by the Portuguese
the World Heritage site. Yeah, look, it's going to be tough.
I think you know, Sri Lanka at Homer are bloody tough.
And that goal there, I think we're zero and four
(05:15):
something like that. And yeah, Dylan, as you say, in
terms of that World Test Championship cycle, we've only played
six of the fourteen matches that were set to play
and we've got a really, really tough set. We would
have would have had a nice warm up about against
Afghanistan that we can talk about in a minute. Sri
Lanka are really the entre before a very very chewy
main course over in India and so really we need
(05:37):
to probably win you know, five of the next eight
tests really really difficult given tour in Sri Lanka and
then three in India. Jase, you were talking about the
fact that it's been a long time between drinks. It's
about it's one hundred and ninety one days since we
played Test cricket.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That is crazy.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Yeah, And just to bring you down, can I remind
you of what happened the last delivery that New Zealand
played Test cricket. See us to Cummins four runs, the
Captain's done. It opens the face to elect all punches
it through point lets out of raw.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, I'm still spewing about that particular Test match. You're
right then, and we should have won it, you know,
And it isn't concern to me, and I don't know
how you fellas feel about it. We're coming in cold.
You know. Sri Lanka's obviously had this series against England,
a great final Test match victory. That all does not
go well for us in that regard playing in their
(06:37):
conditions as well. It would be fair to say then
I think we are significant underdogs.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, I think you're right. If I can just bring
the mood down even a little bit more. I guess
we'll talk about the probable eleven soon, but these four
players will definitely play it, and that is Conway, Lathan,
Mitchell and Blundell. That is kind of the four of
our top six that Conway's averaging seventeen point seven in
(07:07):
his last Test innings, Latham's averaging twenty four point seven,
that's not great as an opening peer. Blundell, who was
just such a reliable keeper batsman, is just having a
terrible run of it, averaging ten point three to three
in his last Test ten Test innings. And the one
that might have gone under the radar a little bit
is New Zealand's number one ranked cricketer and justifiably so,
(07:29):
but he's just come down to earth a little bit recently,
and that's old Dasid. Mitchell was yes, only averaging thirty
two point four, which is not awful, but it's not
the sort of stratospheric heights that were being used to him.
So really we're only going in with Cain Williamson and
Retch and Revendra have got any kind of recent red
(07:49):
ball form behind them.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Yeah, well, I'll tell you what, Kay Williamson doesn't have,
and that's red ball form in Sri Lanka. Against Sri
Lanka he averages twenty six. Versus Sri Lanka in New
Zealand he averages one hundred and fourteen. So it looks
good on paper, you know, averaging seventy eight overall. But
his record in Srilanka is shiphouse.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, come on, fel let's have a bit of faith.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Yeah, this is miserable, this is terrible. I'so remember the
one hundred that came Williamson got, which was a brilliant
one hundred with Ross Taylor, Russ Taylor's arts tested captain
in a test New Zealand one entry link.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Yeah. Also you want to check into the next too,
just to bring us down again. You know, we're notoriously
bad against spin in the past, so it's going to
be a challenge. But let's look at the likely eleven,
shall we. And I also believe, you know, players such
as Conway, he's got the ability to turn things around,
he's got the experience and we know he's a quality player. Pedigree, pedigree,
(08:50):
thank you, certainties for this eleven Conway, Lathan Williamson, Ravendra, Mitchell, Blundell,
Salviy Yep.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
He will definitely play the first, yes, Skipper. Yeah, and
Tim he might not play all six coming up, but
he will definitely play this one.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah. Yeah. Because there was a bit of chat about
Tim Salvey at the end of that last season. Really
is you know, he's coming towards the end of his
career and I think he played a bit of county cricket,
hasn't he.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Played the hundred? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, and he said he's feeling really good. He acknowledged
actually that he wasn't playing that great at the end
of the season, and you know, he's the sort of
player that knows this game pretty well, so hopefully he
can turn it around.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Good record in Asia too.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yes, yes, your thoughts on this? There are certainties to you, Paul.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yeah, yeah, I think I think that's right. I mean
I'd probably put Phillipson as a certainty as well, and
I think a JS Patel as well as an absolute
certainy to play. But yeah, really it really comes down
for me to you know, who's the extra pace bowler
in which spinnar you want to go with?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah, all the possibilities there, of course, Glenn Phillips, Sant Bracewall,
Mad Henry willow Rat, Michael Sears and a JS battalion.
It's one of those scenarios just looking at it on
the bowling front, because you're in Sri Lanka. Do you
just chuck in and just stack it with spinners? And
is that the way to go about it or is
(10:21):
that a I think so? Yeah, I guess you do.
Really don't two seamers. I think Sow there will be one.
You're choosing between Raw, Henry and.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Sears. I think probably for the first yest they go
with the experience.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Yeah, you've got to go Henry, I think.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
But man of the Series against Australia, so you know,
good form six and a half months ago.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah, and I definitely think you do have to do
that though having said that, jeez, I was tremendously excited
by willow Raw before he got injured. I thought, yeah,
he's he's got something about him. But yeah, I think
in this scenario you go experience, you get Henry in there,
and you're just chuck in as many spinners as you can.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Yeah, throwing spinners against the wall really and seeing which
one stick. So I'm pleased that pulses. He think that
Agaz is a definite. I would love to see him
in there. I just know they just do funny things
with spinners. They tend to pick the guy they think
we'll get them more runs rather than the guy that
get your wickets, get them wickets.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Yeah. The other thing on that is that you know,
with Ranganahirath obviously in there as the spin bowling coach,
you would expect that they're drilling in some some left
arm spin there. So you know, stating there is probably
the great beneficiary of that. You would assume that there
that's a bit of a project that's been happening behind
the scenes as well.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
My information when they went to do their rankings for
this latest Central Contract list, my understanding is that they
rated virtual Santner as the number one red Bull spinner
in the country. So there you have it.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Yeah, I but in Gaul, Yeah, I think that, you know,
I don't have a massive issue with that because I
think Santaer did bowl well last last season, apart from
against the Australians in that T twenty series where I
thought he bowled like he was shipping his pants quite frankly,
(12:17):
and it annoyed the crap out of me. And he's
and you know, and in terms of you know, adding
the runs to that requirement, you know, he's he's never
done that enough. Yeah, he's a handy batsman. But yeah,
who do who do we ultimately think they're going to
go with from the bowling stocks.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I think he's right. I think Phillips will get that
screen all around her ahead of Michael Bracewell. I think
he's probably a better uption with both bat and ball
and in the field, so I think he's got the
edge of the year, Henry. I think you're right. I
think they'll go with him. I've got a funny feeling
they will go Santa, I really do. Yeah, room one
(13:00):
will spin. I've lost track.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
No, I think we're all right because you ended up
with Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravendra, Mitchell, Blundell, Phillips, and then Santna,
Henry South and ajs Okay and so Bracewill misses out
and well Young of course miss out. I think krick
Info had that Henry Nichols was going to be bearing
down on some statistical milestones and this selected. But he's
(13:22):
actually not in the squad. So I'm going to be
betting that that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Yeah, I mean I'm pretty comfortable with that side. I
think that's relatively solid. And let's not forget in terms
of Phillips too, as a bit of a rando that
performance in the second Test against Australia. Didn't he get
a five.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
For first Test of the basin I was at.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
The first Test? Yeah, yeah, yeah, and he gives it
a bit of a rip he does, so, you know,
and as we know, he's buddy great in the field
and he's more than handy and as we previously mentioned too,
by the way, Dylan a great Sri Lanka coming off
a great victory against the English.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, that was an amazing Test. It was much a
bit of it on ICC TV actually, and yeah, hell
of a surprise. I mean everything about that series looks
like it was just going to be in England Waltz
the victory. But there's some good players in that Sri
Lanka team and they've got the guy who did didn't
feature really over there about the guy pro Bath js Arara,
(14:18):
I think the left arm spinner has got a phenomenal
just like a Bonker's record a bowling in Sri Lanka,
and they've got this t twenty convert that they've turned
into a test better whose name has scapes me now.
But it's Camindu Mendus, is it.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Yes, yes, Pascual, which is a great name, Pasqual.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So he's just burst onto the scene and is scoring
runs for fun. So it is not going to be easy.
Can I just sorry? Can I just mention one thing
about our spinners and our development?
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Sure, I just got this.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
It's this weird thing that we seem to be better
at developing bits and pieces battery Bowldery type of spinners,
your brace Wolves, your Phillips, your s then we are
of actually developing our specialist spinners like our issues and
our Eddie air Sharks, and I think you can go
back to Nethula and those sort of guys. I think
(15:11):
there's something a little bit broken in our system that
we are valuing these kind of all roundery converts. Yes,
I mean Phillips was a wicket keeper. Michael Bracewell was
a wicket keeper, and Center's obviously talent. He could do anything.
You could go to the Olympics for badminton, He's that talented.
But I think our development has missed a trick with
(15:33):
some of our specialist spinners, great stuff.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it's an interesting point. I guess
it's just those New Zealand conditions again. You know, when
do you get to bowl? If you're a specialist spinner
that can't bat, you're just you're never going to be
doing anything in a game. So you probably get melded
into the into these the into that type of player
through the conditions that we have in domestic cricket. Just
going back to Pisul, come into Mendos just to make
(15:58):
you love him a little bit more. Dylan as well,
well he bowls left orthodox and right offspin. That's not
a bad combination when you're a batting all rounder. Yeah,
there are some bloody good players in the in the
Sri Lankan team, as you say, for bath jas Area
fifty three wickets in twelve innings at Gaul. That's scary.
But weirdly they're a little bit like New Zealand. They've
(16:20):
actually got a bunch of really good seamers at the moment.
They've got a Setha Fernando, they've got Laharu Kumara, they've
got Vishua Fernando, they've got Milan Rath Nayaka, they've got
a whole bunch of guys and they've got to do
the same as New Zealand. They've got to gall and gone,
oh geez, We've just had a pretty decent finish to
a tour in England and there's a couple of guys
that are just not going to be selected because the
conditions just don't suit them in Sri Lanka. So yeah, interesting.
(16:44):
The other guy to keep an eye out is keep
an eye on is of course the wicket keeper. Kusal
Mendus will be blazing away probably at number seven, and
a couple of the opening batter is of course very
familiar with Frank Dimoth, Karuna Ratna and Pethandsunka, the guy
who added magnificently in that third Test match. So yeah,
they're going to be They have got a lot of
(17:05):
guys that bowl a lot of spin and bat very
similar to us. And let's not forget Angela. Matthews has
a spectacular record against Zealand. I think he everage is
better than fifty, very very good record against.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
That formidable Well, let's laid on the table then fellas
the scores. Please, how do you see this turning out?
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I think we're going to cling on for a drawing
this first, Yes, where they're assisted Ford.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Yeah, I reckon. I think it'll be a result. I
think we'll win one and lose one. I reckon it's
going to be one. All yeah, I'm not sure which
way around?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Okay to zip to Sri Lanka?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
All right, geez, well about the length of the days.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I'm not mucking around here, fellows. Um, all right, well
tell you what we're going to do. We'll take a
short break and then we'll come back and talk about
the debacle that was the Afghanistan Test. Yes, welcome back
to the b YC. Well, the cricket seasons actually started
Dylan Clever against the Afghanistan's side, and what an absolute
(18:08):
bloody shambles.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Yeah, not much happened in great annoyed way. Actually plenty
happened in great annoyed Yes, nothing in terms of actual cricket.
At times it was unintentionally hilarious, it was very funny.
But then theadre for me for conditions was in terms
of hosting will always be them running kiddy letter onto
(18:30):
university overall in Dunedin to try and drive that ground out.
But this will take some betting. The site of fans
been held, your table fans, table fans been held horizontally.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Then well one of them was not being held. It
was literally just plugged and plugged into an extension cord
out from the dressing room, plugged into a four plug
and then the fans are literally laying directly on the grass.
It's just unbelieve evable.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
It didn't work. I loved it when they just cut
a whole bunch of turf out of out of a net. Yes,
and for the mine and tried to stitch it together
in less than ideal conditions on the field.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
It was. It was the good news. It was free
to go and watch that game. So there were three
thousand people in the stands on the first day, three thousand.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, well I would have been quite entertaining to watch. Yeah,
you know what I mean, because it was such It
was such a debarkle, you know. And you're right about
them cutting out, you know, if the game did go ahead,
one of the players on the outfield could have been
running and then disappearing into a hole somewhere. But it
is my understanding though there's never been a test match
(19:44):
played on that ground, has there No?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
So, and it probably never should be.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
It never should have been.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
So there was a worry beforehand. There was a talk
of unseasonable monsoon like conditions.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
It rained for twenty three to twenty three.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Days solid, right, it did. But I also read somewhere
it might have even been on crick Info the Bible.
I read a preview where the writer expressed serious doubt
whether there'd be a bull bowled in that test. So like,
this was a couple of days before the game, that's
how poor the ground was. And you just shouldn't be
(20:21):
playing test cricket on those sort of grounds. No, they
can't handle rain. I mean, in this day and age,
you should literally be able to have a ground flooded, drained,
dried within a couple of hours and ready for cricket.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Well you remember the debacle down in New Zealand. What's
that ground there? McLean park, same thing and no drainage,
get a bit of rain. It's like, oh, sorry, fellas,
it's off, We're going to have to call it. But
it was a shame on many levels Paul Forward. And
also you know the New Zealanders would have been very
(20:55):
keen to get some sort of head out before Sri
Lanka and that never happened.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yeah, look, it is an interesting one and I know
that Dylan has talked about this a bit in the Bounce,
But you know, there's the fact of the factors New
Zealand would have loved to have played just at a
purely practical cricketing level, yes, but I do think that
the horrendous satirical conditions, comedic conditions that are greater noida,
(21:21):
have saved them from a bit of quite a lot
of controversy which didn't kind of emerge because the game
didn't really get underway. And that is whether New Zealand
should have been playing Afghanistan in the first place at
all from a I guess a political standpoint, and you know,
(21:42):
it's a deep and meaningful issue. Probably you know, we
don't need to get into it a nauseum, but there
is a sense of karma around this. You know, this
match was going to go ahead kind of no matter
what India doing some favors for Afghanistan. You know, you
read into that what you're will New Zealander kind of
(22:05):
minions in this situation, so kind of going along with it.
It's been deafening the silence from the team around this.
I think tim so out they say something like, you know,
we just do what the boards tell us to do
on the situation. Kind of fair enough in a way,
But there are players around the world that I suspect
would not have played this game. You know, I can't
(22:26):
imagine that Usman Kawaja would be playing this test match,
for example. So, yeah, it's an interesting one and an
interesting conundrum, a really difficult situation. And I know that
there's been comparisons made with South Africa and the Glen
Eagles Agreement and all that kind of stuff. DC You've
probably got some interesting insights on this one too.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
Yeah. The only problem with the South Africa comparison, well,
there's a few problems with it. It's not a particularly
elegant comparison in some ways. In other ways it's perfect.
You know, it's apparent regimes, and this is a way
for the world to stand up against parent regimes is
to boycott them, to not give them a chance to,
(23:04):
I guess be part of the normal cycle of the
world in terms of sport and politics and trade and
that kind of thing. So, but the problem is that
in South Africa you had a very a situation where
every other African nation made it very clear they didn't
want anyone having anything to do with South Africa. It's
(23:24):
almost the opposite. Yeah, all the Asian cricket nations want
the world to embrace Afghanistan cricket. So it's it is
the same, same, but hellishly different as well.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
And let's not forget the ICC gave Afghanistan seventeen million
dollars US to promote men's a women's cricket in the country.
I mean, the whole thing is a shambles. Let's be honest.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
Yeah, it's a really tricky one. Yes, we'll leave it there.
We'll leave it there now. The White Fans Fellas three
match tea series against Australia starts tomorrow in McKay, a
town named after John McKay, who invented the spring loaded stapler.
(24:09):
Is it McKay or McKay mackay. Yeah, yeah, I don't
have huge expectations here given how we were last season, Fells.
Should we just call it now?
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I can tell you some of this is the White
fan This is going to sound like a real burn,
but there is a deeper issue at play here. The
White Fans have played sixteen internationals in twenty twenty four.
To date they have played ten to twenty eyes. They
have won one and lost nine. They have wo six
oly eyes. They have won one and lost five. Now
(24:44):
all of them have been against England. They're about to
go to Australia. I suspect they're going to get a
handed to them there as well in this three match.
But then they have to go on to the UAE
for the Wealthy twenty. They get two warm up matches
I believe, then they're into it on October against India.
They in such poor form that really is there's just
(25:11):
no depth there. I mean, they are playing players and
it sounds like you're picking on them. But Georgia Plimer,
Maddie Green is he gaze who just don't score runs
and yet don't get dropped. They occupy their places almost
as of right. It's just a really difficult position at
the moment. I know Sophie Divine has announced that this
(25:34):
will be her last tournament, has Skip or standing down.
It feels like they're in a vortex of bad juju
that they just cannot get out of, and I really
can't see a way out of them out for them
anytime soon. That's how negatively I feel about it, which
is a shame because I mean, I'll watch the World
(25:56):
T twenty, but I'm just not expecting any great things
from New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Well on that Paul Ford, should it be coach Tom
Sawyer's last chance too? I mean, but can you blame
him with you know, Galan has just been talking about
the fact that where's the depth? You've shipped me again?
Haven you what's his name?
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Huckleberry fins mate? You love you love a bit of
Mark Twain. You're very literary, sons of ches. I'm going
to have that deleted one. Look, I think it does
feel like there's bigger things at play than you know,
changing the coach and she'll be right, you know, he
(26:39):
can only do what he's He can only do what
he can with the resources that are available to him.
And to be fair, the build up for this looks
pretty decent. You know, they're off to the T twenty
World Cup in the UAE. It's going to be about
forty degrees, it's going to be spin friendly and so
heading up to the upper northern reaches of Australia is
not the stupidest thing in the world, but a really,
(27:00):
really tough group they've got India, Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
You know, in spinning conditions in thirty nine degree heat.
One of these teams is not like the other. So
you know, it's a bloody difficult assignment. As you say,
all the all the media leading into this one that's
been focused on Sophie Divine and Susie Bates playing nine
consecutive World Cups or whatever it is, and good on them,
(27:24):
But yes, it does feel like we're good at we're
good at the moment and we're about to fall off
a cliff, which is a frightening prospect.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
Yeah, and it can't be all about Susie and Sophie, No, No,
you know, we've got to eventually be talking about your
George's and your Rosemaries and your Lareen's and your Brooks
and that. But you know, it just feels like every
single hope for this team is tied up in those
three names and it just doesn't change.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, it's pretty grim, but who knows. They may surprise us,
you know, I hope so you never do. Hey, more
contraction and again, since our last broadcast, players who have
chosen to forego central contracts for twenty twenty four to
twenty five season, in order of importance, Kane Williamson, Devin Conway,
(28:13):
Lucky Ferguson, Adam Milne, Finn Allen, James Nisham.
Speaker 2 (28:18):
I thought you're a messive James Neshen Fan, I am,
You've relegated into the bottom of that list, So.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
I didn't write the list. What's what's the what's the
thinking behind it?
Speaker 2 (28:31):
Are they just they're hunting themselves open a It's it's money.
They've got opportunities to play in South Africa or the
T twenty up and the David White T twenty up
in the UAE.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
It's yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
I mean we've we talked about this a lot. When
Cain Williamson made his announcement, his seems fairly innocent that
it's an opportunity to play one summer in South Africa
to miss the Super Smash.
Speaker 1 (28:54):
Who are you talking about this?
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Sorry, Kane Williamson. Yes, but then it was kind of interesting,
so Caanan, Lucky Ferguson and Adam kind of made themselves
unavadable contracts quite early. Was that second trunch was quite
interesting really with with Devon Conway and he's been given
a casual contract. So you either get given a casual
(29:16):
contract in the blessing of New Zealand cricket or you don't.
And he got given a casual contract, Fanellen didn't. And
you could make an argument that has Devon actually done
enough for New Zealand cricket. I mean, I know he's
a very fine player and he started off with a
his and auror in all three formats, but has he
(29:37):
done enough to warrant a casual contract That kind of
only came Williamson's get.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
It's murkhy what you have to do to qualify for
that casual contract too?
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Right? I wonder it's needless?
Speaker 3 (29:51):
Yeah? Does he did he want one? And Finellen didn't.
He wanted more flexibility. You know, I don't know the
answer to that. Can I add another couple of aims
on the list for you as well? Tim Seifert is
on a casual contract with Northern Districts, so is Scott Kogerline.
So you know, the interesting thing is that it's the
(30:12):
big guns, the medium sized guns and some of the
smaller guns are actually all moving to this this new
new mode of payment which basically just frees them up.
But I mean if you're going to argue against it,
where does it end? When When do the rock stars
come back and build the next generation of cricketers? I
(30:32):
think is a question that you know, where does this
send up? I'm not sure, And we're obviously got our
hands tied behind our back of it here in New
Zealand because we don't pay players as much as what
they can get elsewhere. So you know, simple economics will
win the day on that one. But also structurally, having
a high paying super smash is just not realistic given
(30:53):
the level of competition from other competitions around the world,
and also the fact that we're in a really shitty
time zone for India as well, so really really tricky situation.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
But yeah, it it opened it up for a cricketer.
I've been very keen on for a couple of seasons now.
Nathan Smith has waltst into one of those twenty Central contracts,
which is great. I think he's he's been playing County
Create yep and doing pretty well. I think so Silver Linings.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Yeah, I saw I saw on a I can't remember
who said it, but I saw it somewhere where it
was a It was a crystal ball gazing piece off
the back of the contracts. And you know, we've talked
about cricket made moving to this football type contract where
you know players play all year, potentially for different teams,
but effectively tied into the same franchise. And someone made
(31:48):
the point, you know, the next Kame Williamson could be
like Steven Adams, you know, effectively found early by an
Indian scout and then never plays for New Zealand because
has always got bigger fish to overseas. And that gosh,
that landed heavy for me. I was like, that's a
grim thought. I really hope that doesn't happen.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, yeah, Hey, it's been a while since I've said this,
but it's time for Paul Ford's News or ruse. Yes
it is.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
There will be three bits of news, there'll be something
off piece blatantly incorrect, and the Eihuel Trophy will be
avoided awarded. Each week Ranfilly Shields Dolls will either be
heading off to Jason's mansion out west or to Dylan's
castle on the North Shore, or it'll be staying in
my humble bungalow in Carrori. So well, let's see what happens.
Number one Nottingham Shay have signed Lunsdon's finest Jacob Duffy,
(32:37):
as they battle to avoid relegation from Division one of
the County Championship. The thirty year old, with fourteen T
twenty and six One day international caps for New Zealand,
has taken two hundred and ninety three first class wickets
in a twelve year long professional career. He joins knots
for their final two red ball matches this season, with
the East Midland side third from bottom. He actually had
(32:59):
his made his debut four knots overnight against his former side.
He didn't bat and he didn't bowl, but he's next
man in and they are about four hundred for six
something like that. The Peter Moores is the coach there
and he said Duffy has experienced under his belt and
skill set and time spent in England previously means he
(33:21):
has the ability to make a difference. Intriguingly, I did
look up interesting people from Lumsdon. Darryl Gibson is one
and current resident lou Vincent is another. There we go
number two. Sky has renewed it to BCCI Home International rights.
It's an announcement of a four year renewal of its
broadcast partnership with Indian Crickets Stars. The deal runs through
(33:44):
to twenty and twenty eight and it covers all Indian
men's national team cricket matches taking place in India, including
New Zealand's upcoming tour, which will be three Test matches
that kick off mid October. There will be seventy two
fixtures in all, and of course just a reminder that
domestic New Zealand cricket rights are still held by TV
and Z through until twenty twenty five I think anyway,
(34:08):
the next three years anyway from twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
So there you go.
Speaker 3 (34:11):
And number three, Big Bad bat Essex have described English
Cricket Chiefs as absolutely stupid for docking the county twelve
points because one of their players used a bat that
was ruled too wide by a millimeter or two. The
club slim hopes of winning the County Championship First Division
of all but evaporated after a bat used by Farose
Cushy in April's match against nottingham Shire was found to
(34:32):
have exceeded the permitted dimensions. Cushi made one hundred and
twenty one in his second innings when the bat was
ruled to have breached the regulations when tested by the
match umpires England. Former Essex president and former England captain
Keith Fletcher said, I assume the SEB thought this was
cheating and the appeal panel is trying to flex its
m its muscles a bit. Parrose does not believe he
(34:54):
did anything wrong. The whole size being penalized, not just
one player. It's only a few millimeters and I think
the e c B have been absolutely stupid. There you go,
there's the three.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
What was Well, I think I know what it is.
It's the last story I believe. And the bat wasn't
too wide. The gauge on it was too high. Ah,
And yes, everything else about that story was dead right.
I remember reading it very interested inly, wondering if it
(35:25):
was a wide bet. But it wasn't a wide bet.
It was a two what's the what's the opposite of
broad vertical?
Speaker 3 (35:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (35:33):
The anyway, the gauge on it was slightly out. They
couldn't get it through the whole right right.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, I'll go story three too and say they were
doped sex points.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Well I don't. I'm gonna have to chick. I'm going
to fact check your one, Dylan, because I don't know
about that, but because she only made twenty one, that
was an extra hundred runs.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
Yeah, it wasn't too wide though, But I look, I'll
be very big Menimus about this and I'll take the
trophy this week.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Wow, Holy jeez, audacious.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Hey Pull Forwards Cricket Violence Corner, Paul Forwards Cricket Violence Corner.
Speaker 3 (36:17):
A thirty year old cow vigilante from klim And the
Thane district was kidnapped and brutally as solved by two
men and two cricket bats on Wednesday. The attackers verbally
abused their victim as well, accusing him of informing the
police about a pickup truck transporting a hall of illegal beef,
which led to the vehicle seizure. The incident occurred before
the start of playing nine to thirty am on Tuesday,
when the victim was forcibly taken from his car and
(36:39):
placed into an auto rickshaw, transported to a location on
the bypass road, then severely beaten with two unbranded cricket bats.
After the assault, the victim was moved to another vehicle
and dropped near a flower market that is the only
rosy thing about this story. Aslam Muller and I have
been apprehended on smagas board of charges, including my absolute favorite,
(37:03):
a criminal act done in furtherance of a common intention.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
There we go. It was the verbal abuse that heard
the most of I mean, the beating was bad, but yeah,
it was a name calling that really got.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
To Hey, tell you we're going to do We'll take
another break and come back with your correspondents. Welcome back
to the BYC and let's get to your correspondence. Incidentally,
pull forward. If people want to get in touch with us,
what do they do? Mate?
Speaker 3 (37:30):
Flick us an email to BYC at Baserigade dot code
or NZ, or slide into the DMS on Instagram or
Facebook for the Alternative Commentary Collective or the.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
Base Regade Great staff. This is from Simon h the
longest run up in history. Do you want me to
read it?
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Right?
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Evening Chaps from a gray and gloomy nant witch in England.
In spite of it being midsummer here, i'mn't sure as
to when you were back on air. Nevertheless, I thought
this would be an interesting piece of cricket related news
to fill the void during the winter hiatus, adding what
must now be considered are considered the longest run up
in history. As a pretext, Tom is in our fantasy
(38:07):
football group and I caught a snippet that he was
running fifteen kilometers in full cricket whites through the streets
of London, complete with ball. This got me thinking about
this potentially being a long run up, and I was
mulling over if this might be some kind of record.
Fast forward a few days and it seems like he
smashed the previous skinness world record by some distance and
(38:30):
raised some decent money for charity in the process. I
hadn't realized it had actually run in and bowled the
opening delivery of an actual match in the process. He
told me that it was full and straight, which is
just as well, and that is one ball you wouldn't
want to have to bowl again if it had gone
down the leg's side for four wides. Bravo Tom, and
(38:52):
I'm sure you will agree that fundraising for minds UK
feels quite poignant about helping bring wider awareness about men's
mental health and sport, given that we recently lost the
great Graham Thorpe. I hope this finds you are well
and I look forward to more BYC episodes on my
drives around the northwest of England in the very near future.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
All the best Simon, good stuff, Simon. And yeah it
did right. That was a shocking piece of news, wasn't it.
Graham Thorpe, Yes, it was very would you call him gritty?
He wasn't quite classical, but he wasn't really gritty here.
He was just a very very fine left hand tough
tough yeah, yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (39:36):
Can I just a little piece of just a little
a correction if you will, Tom Dunn, this is the
guy that Simon has written to us about, So bethnal Green.
It wasn't fifteen it wasn't fifteen kilometers. It was fifteen
miles that he ran in, so twenty four point five
kilometers sensational. And they've got a cricket team called the
Dell Boys Cricket Club and the game was at Wan'sworth Common,
(39:59):
So yeah, absolutely brilliant. Like re ran past the Tower Bridge,
Big ben Batasy power Station, London Eye, kind of along
the banks of the Thames there, So absolutely sensational. It
did make me think about the longest run up that
I've ever seen, and for me it was Michael Holding
at I think it was Ash Burton playing for Canterbury.
(40:21):
My god, it was long and it was scary and
it was silky and it was smooth and it was frightening.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
Yes, I was going to say Michael Holding he was terrifying.
Speaker 2 (40:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
And he had a real glide, didn't It was a glide.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Beautiful sprinter's kind of action. And Bob Willis was probably
the longest I saw a poky park and you put
him with playing for England. He really had to start
as run up off the bank, very small ground poker park,
but it was it blew me away. I was just
a young kid at the time. I thought, wow, that's
and he was bustling. He was kind of all arms
(40:53):
and yes, yahoun around that weird action that he had
so good.
Speaker 3 (40:59):
Dylan and Free Truman famously said about Bob Willis's run
up that he said, christ, I don't go that far
in my holidays.
Speaker 1 (41:07):
It's interesting in terms of the run up because it
just seems a little bit over the top of you.
If you had got a massive one, it seems like
you know. Of course, with the controversy with Richard Hadley
and his long run up and everyone you know, and
then he played county cricket and went, oh geez, I
can't carry on with us for everyone when to shortened
my run up until he got back to New Zealand
and even went, oh no, you can't do that, and
(41:30):
he knew better, but he went back to it at
the end, didn't he.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
It was part of the guess, the bristling mckismo of
fast bowling back in those days. I mean, yes, Lily's
original run up was extraordinary long as well. And yeah,
I mean YouTube is just an incredible, incredibly rich place
for old cricket videos at the moment. I've been watching
(41:53):
highlights of series from the sixties and seventies in England
and watch how cricket has changed. I mean, it is fantastic.
In fact, I should bring a few links along to
our subscriber.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
I've got one for everyone to google, including you guys,
The eight Z of New Zealand Fast Bowlers. But obviously
it was only up to about the mid nineteen nineties,
so it's got Willie Watson and Studio Z of their
run ups. Very very good, highly recommend it.
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Yeah, hey, well listen everyone, thanks for taking the time
to listen to our podcast. Hopefully we'll be well. We
will be back the same time, same place next week
with some good news fellas. Hey, fingers crossed.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Yeah, till then you kind of put a downer on
it for me. Oh, I remain optimistic.
Speaker 3 (42:39):
Yeah, I think Jason meant about the seasons, some good
news about the seasons.
Speaker 2 (42:43):
Oh yeah, yeah, of course we've switched over to spring
in a couple of days.
Speaker 1 (42:46):
Yeah, we do, we do. Hey, it's been a pleasure.
We'll see you soon.