June 12, 2024 • 9 mins
The Black Caps' T20 World Cup campaign is off to basically the worst start imaginable.
They couldn't get any warm-up games, they lost to minnows Afghanistan, and today they couldn't even practice in the nets because it was too rainy.
Former Black Cap Craig McMillan spoke to D'Arcy Waldegrave on Sportstalk about what the team needs to do to turn things around.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be Greg mc millan on the program. Now, as
we take a look at the ups and downs of
the black Caps at the T twenty World Cup. At
the moment, Craig, it's only been downs tomorrow a chance
to lift and buy. They have to lift now, don't
they and welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello dars here they do. They certainly need to find
a performance. So it was disappointing in that first game
against Afghanistan. I think most people would say that that
was always a danger game, the fact that Afghanistan a
perhaps a better side than what most people appreciate, and
certainly in those conditions they were favorable to the way
that their attack shaped up. So there was surprise that
(00:53):
I guess the margin of victory between the two sides
and the performance of New Zealand. But Afghanistan are a
dangerous side and T twenty cricket they showed that in
that first game. But New Zealand, well, they need to
regroup rather quickly ounce back against the West Indies, who
are obviously are one of the host sides, so that
won't be an easy game either.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
A lot of people talking about the absolute lack of preparation,
the lack of warm up games. The New Zealand camp
were adamant that that was not an issue. These players
needed that rest and they were good with open worket practice.
I'm not entirely sure if that was proven to be
the correct method. They all looked short of a trot,
didn't they crag? I mean, you know, the difference between
open work and practice and actually having a warm up game?
(01:34):
Is it that defined?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, there is a difference, But these are guys who
have played a lot of cricket over recent times. And
saying that though you look at the top three, you
look at Fan Allen, Devin Conway and King Williamson, who
three players that haven't played a lot of cricket in
probably the last three or four months, Allen and Conway
because of injury and Kane just because.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
He wasn't needed in the IPL so much.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So that's probably not ideal when you've got your top
three batterers who you need to fire in the T
twenty World Cup who haven't played a lot of cricket.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
And aren't firing.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So I think you know in high and I know
that there was different challenges for the management group in
terms of getting players there at different times because of
the IPL and a number of other things. So it
wasn't as easy as just saying yes, we'll play those
warm up matches because they just didn't match up.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
So in an ideal world, I think yes.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
In a preparation for a T twenty World Cup, you
would love to play a couple of warm up games.
I think Australia played one with nine players and a
couple of their support stuff, a couple of their coaches
playing as well.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So they just they looked a bit rusty, didn't they have?
We've been honest.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
They looked a little bit rusty, a little bit out
of kilter a few of the players. But they need
to shake that off quickly because this tournament comes fast
and thick, so they have to bounce back with not
only a win against the Western East, but I think
a very good win so that they can put a
bit of a dent back into that net run rate.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Let's talk about the overlap of the IPL and the
T twenty World Cup. Do you look to the ICC
are probably more dominantly the BCCI and go hold on,
you've got to schedule these things better. This is not
ideal and this is one of our premiere events. Does
it greater, look Craig or not?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, the IPO was the premiere T twenty competition in
the world dar see, so that has a standard set
window every year, so there's no changing that. And you
think about a number of the other countries have had
perhaps more players than what New Zealand had involved at
the IPO as well, so it to fects those other
teams as well. So it's just one of those things
(03:34):
that the ever evolving and changing world of international cricket
you just have to deal with and teams do that differently.
But New Zealand were just off their game in all departments.
The fielding and the bowling wasn't too bad to be fair,
but they probably Afghanistan, if we've been critical, probably scored
twenty runs more than what New Zealand would have been
happy with. A couple of catches went down. The fielding
(03:56):
has been so important. There's probably been one area that's
been a little bit disappointing from a New Zealand point
of view over the last twelve months.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Last summer, I remember.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
A number of catches going down at Vital points in
certain matches. I remember a couple against Australia that were crucial.
So that's an area that they're going to have to
sharpen up on rather quickly.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
But they've got the potential.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I've got the players that can bounce back and beat
the Westerners, I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
But they're going to have to bring their a game.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The whole catching situation, You're right about that. What's happened,
and it had been bizarre because New Zealand for such
a long time were just the pre eminent fielding team
in world cricket. Is this just a case of hours
spent catching? How do you actually remedy that problem.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It's a good question because I know that the time
that the New Zealand team will be putting into fielding,
so they won't be taking any shortcuts with it. Sometimes
as players, you just have bad nights. You should just
put down catches that you would catch nine times out
of ten. Sometimes that happens. I'm sure the intensity is
still high at training. I think fielding wise, you have
(04:56):
to keep the intensity high training that's the crucial part.
Train hard, play easy. Is sort of a bit of
a cliche that I used to use with the Black
Caps at times when I was part of the setup.
Part of that sort of fielding unit is that you
work hard, You do it for a short time, but
you get the intensity high. So I'm sure that they've
put the work in over the last couple of days. Occasionally, Dars,
(05:17):
there's no rhyme or reason. Sometimes players just drop catches
and they don't mean to. It's the worst feeling in
the world when you do drop a catch, so no
one does it on purpose.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Sometimes it just happens.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
And all the Americans watching your gays should really be
wearing a glove. Then you'd never do this.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
How easy would it be with the glove?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Haha, wouldn't be quite as entertaining. I'd say on that
coming back from a big defeat Craig McMillan, their headspace
required the ability to chop back and in essence leave
that behind because you can't carry that through, can you.
You've got to have that block I'm presuming you do anyway.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, No, I totally agree. You have to flush it
down the toilet. You have to review it, Dars. And
you have to say, these are the areas that we
were in Graton. Why was that right. We need improvement
and this is how we're going to do it. But
you also have to when you're playing the game twill
or three days later, you have to have the ability
to shut it off and ProView and move on to
the next game. Otherwise, if you hold onto that baggage,
then it will affect the performance in the next game.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
So that's really important.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
That's one of the great things about T twenty cricket
because there's always another game coming up. There's always another
performance just around the corner. So fingers crossed that New
Zealand get it together. That was the one bad game
of the tournament. They know that they can still qualify
for the Super Eights. That's still in their still in
their hands. They're going to win three from three and
if they can beat the Western these then they'll go
(06:38):
a long way to qualifying.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, just by hammering Papua New Guinea and you Gander
into the ground and that'll get their net run rate up.
First thing though, tomorrow versus the Western the changes in
the team, we know how stable. I suppose you say
the lineup is under Gary Stead, would you be inclined
to I suppose everyone played poorly you can't drop all of.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Them, can you.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
But what kind of changes would you make and what
does that do to the to the team when suddenly
you've lost a few players because everyone had an average performance.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, well, quite often you want to give those players
a chance to redeem themselves when you've had a poor
performance like that to us. So I don't think you
came Williamson and Gary Stead are probably on the conservative
side you were saying in terms of selection, but the
consistency has been one of New Zealand's strengths in terms
of their selection over a period of time, where they
give players the opportunity to perform at the highest level.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
So I don't think there'll be a knee jute reaction.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I wouldn't be surprised if maybe there was a couple
of changes in terms of selection each Sodie is one
the league spinner that they'll probably look at.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
He's had success against the West Indies.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I can think back on a number of occasions, so
he could well come into the equation. I was a
little bit surprised that Jimmy Nisham wasn't used that batting
around it.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
He doesn't do a lot of bowling.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
But he has the ability to play as a third
seema and also add some batting power. So he's sort
of certainly one that they'll look at, I think, But
like I said, by and large, I think they're pretty
consistent with their selections Caine and Gary, so I don't think.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
There'll be a knee jute reaction to that first up loss.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And there's always drums for retin Revenger, and we understand
why because he's a very gifted, very talented player. That
must be tempting to throw a young guy in the
furnace and see what happens, because he's had quite a
good record at World Cups, isn't he not on the
short version he has.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Yeah, that certainly is tempting, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I'm trying to work to me, if you were going
to play Raction Revenge of you play them at the
top of the order. He's obviously had experience at the
top in the fifty over format and I would throw
him at the top, probably to open for a finale
and if you were going to make that decision. And
he also has the ability on the pictures that are
playing on Guyana in the Western Neis and the Caribbean
where the ball was turning as well to boy left
(08:43):
arm's spin, which is also helpful. So I guess there'll
be a number of conversations between the selectors on tour
and that's a good thing. There's a lot of depth
in that New Zealand squad, so if they do want
to make some changes, certainly doesn't weaken the side if
they make those changes. So that's something that we'll have
to work out the right balance of the side for
that game against the Western News.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
For more from sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talks.
There'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildergrave
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be Greg mc millan on the program. Now, as
we take a look at the ups and downs of
the black Caps at the T twenty World Cup. At
the moment, Craig, it's only been downs tomorrow a chance
to lift and buy. They have to lift now, don't
they and welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Hello dars here they do. They certainly need to find
a performance. So it was disappointing in that first game
against Afghanistan. I think most people would say that that
was always a danger game, the fact that Afghanistan a
perhaps a better side than what most people appreciate, and
certainly in those conditions they were favorable to the way
that their attack shaped up. So there was surprise that
(00:53):
I guess the margin of victory between the two sides
and the performance of New Zealand. But Afghanistan are a
dangerous side and T twenty cricket they showed that in
that first game. But New Zealand, well, they need to
regroup rather quickly ounce back against the West Indies, who
are obviously are one of the host sides, so that
won't be an easy game either.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
A lot of people talking about the absolute lack of preparation,
the lack of warm up games. The New Zealand camp
were adamant that that was not an issue. These players
needed that rest and they were good with open worket practice.
I'm not entirely sure if that was proven to be
the correct method. They all looked short of a trot,
didn't they crag? I mean, you know, the difference between
open work and practice and actually having a warm up game?
(01:34):
Is it that defined?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah, there is a difference, But these are guys who
have played a lot of cricket over recent times. And
saying that though you look at the top three, you
look at Fan Allen, Devin Conway and King Williamson, who
three players that haven't played a lot of cricket in
probably the last three or four months, Allen and Conway
because of injury and Kane just because.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
He wasn't needed in the IPL so much.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
So that's probably not ideal when you've got your top
three batterers who you need to fire in the T
twenty World Cup who haven't played a lot of cricket.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
And aren't firing.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
So I think you know in high and I know
that there was different challenges for the management group in
terms of getting players there at different times because of
the IPL and a number of other things. So it
wasn't as easy as just saying yes, we'll play those
warm up matches because they just didn't match up.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
So in an ideal world, I think yes.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
In a preparation for a T twenty World Cup, you
would love to play a couple of warm up games.
I think Australia played one with nine players and a
couple of their support stuff, a couple of their coaches
playing as well.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
So they just they looked a bit rusty, didn't they have?
We've been honest.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
They looked a little bit rusty, a little bit out
of kilter a few of the players. But they need
to shake that off quickly because this tournament comes fast
and thick, so they have to bounce back with not
only a win against the Western East, but I think
a very good win so that they can put a
bit of a dent back into that net run rate.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Let's talk about the overlap of the IPL and the
T twenty World Cup. Do you look to the ICC
are probably more dominantly the BCCI and go hold on,
you've got to schedule these things better. This is not
ideal and this is one of our premiere events. Does
it greater, look Craig or not?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Well, the IPO was the premiere T twenty competition in
the world dar see, so that has a standard set
window every year, so there's no changing that. And you
think about a number of the other countries have had
perhaps more players than what New Zealand had involved at
the IPO as well, so it to fects those other
teams as well. So it's just one of those things
(03:34):
that the ever evolving and changing world of international cricket
you just have to deal with and teams do that differently.
But New Zealand were just off their game in all departments.
The fielding and the bowling wasn't too bad to be fair,
but they probably Afghanistan, if we've been critical, probably scored
twenty runs more than what New Zealand would have been
happy with. A couple of catches went down. The fielding
(03:56):
has been so important. There's probably been one area that's
been a little bit disappointing from a New Zealand point
of view over the last twelve months.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
Last summer, I remember.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
A number of catches going down at Vital points in
certain matches. I remember a couple against Australia that were crucial.
So that's an area that they're going to have to
sharpen up on rather quickly.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
But they've got the potential.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
I've got the players that can bounce back and beat
the Westerners, I have no doubt about that.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
But they're going to have to bring their a game.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The whole catching situation, You're right about that. What's happened,
and it had been bizarre because New Zealand for such
a long time were just the pre eminent fielding team
in world cricket. Is this just a case of hours
spent catching? How do you actually remedy that problem.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
It's a good question because I know that the time
that the New Zealand team will be putting into fielding,
so they won't be taking any shortcuts with it. Sometimes
as players, you just have bad nights. You should just
put down catches that you would catch nine times out
of ten. Sometimes that happens. I'm sure the intensity is
still high at training. I think fielding wise, you have
(04:56):
to keep the intensity high training that's the crucial part.
Train hard, play easy. Is sort of a bit of
a cliche that I used to use with the Black
Caps at times when I was part of the setup.
Part of that sort of fielding unit is that you
work hard, You do it for a short time, but
you get the intensity high. So I'm sure that they've
put the work in over the last couple of days. Occasionally, Dars,
(05:17):
there's no rhyme or reason. Sometimes players just drop catches
and they don't mean to. It's the worst feeling in
the world when you do drop a catch, so no
one does it on purpose.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Sometimes it just happens.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
And all the Americans watching your gays should really be
wearing a glove. Then you'd never do this.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
How easy would it be with the glove?
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Haha, wouldn't be quite as entertaining. I'd say on that
coming back from a big defeat Craig McMillan, their headspace
required the ability to chop back and in essence leave
that behind because you can't carry that through, can you.
You've got to have that block I'm presuming you do anyway.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, No, I totally agree. You have to flush it
down the toilet. You have to review it, Dars. And
you have to say, these are the areas that we
were in Graton. Why was that right. We need improvement
and this is how we're going to do it. But
you also have to when you're playing the game twill
or three days later, you have to have the ability
to shut it off and ProView and move on to
the next game. Otherwise, if you hold onto that baggage,
then it will affect the performance in the next game.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
So that's really important.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
That's one of the great things about T twenty cricket
because there's always another game coming up. There's always another
performance just around the corner. So fingers crossed that New
Zealand get it together. That was the one bad game
of the tournament. They know that they can still qualify
for the Super Eights. That's still in their still in
their hands. They're going to win three from three and
if they can beat the Western these then they'll go
(06:38):
a long way to qualifying.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, just by hammering Papua New Guinea and you Gander
into the ground and that'll get their net run rate up.
First thing though, tomorrow versus the Western the changes in
the team, we know how stable. I suppose you say
the lineup is under Gary Stead, would you be inclined
to I suppose everyone played poorly you can't drop all of.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Them, can you.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
But what kind of changes would you make and what
does that do to the to the team when suddenly
you've lost a few players because everyone had an average performance.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Yeah, well, quite often you want to give those players
a chance to redeem themselves when you've had a poor
performance like that to us. So I don't think you
came Williamson and Gary Stead are probably on the conservative
side you were saying in terms of selection, but the
consistency has been one of New Zealand's strengths in terms
of their selection over a period of time, where they
give players the opportunity to perform at the highest level.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
So I don't think there'll be a knee jute reaction.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I wouldn't be surprised if maybe there was a couple
of changes in terms of selection each Sodie is one
the league spinner that they'll probably look at.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
He's had success against the West Indies.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I can think back on a number of occasions, so
he could well come into the equation. I was a
little bit surprised that Jimmy Nisham wasn't used that batting
around it.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
He doesn't do a lot of bowling.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
But he has the ability to play as a third
seema and also add some batting power. So he's sort
of certainly one that they'll look at, I think, But
like I said, by and large, I think they're pretty
consistent with their selections Caine and Gary, so I don't think.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
There'll be a knee jute reaction to that first up loss.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And there's always drums for retin Revenger, and we understand
why because he's a very gifted, very talented player. That
must be tempting to throw a young guy in the
furnace and see what happens, because he's had quite a
good record at World Cups, isn't he not on the
short version he has.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Yeah, that certainly is tempting, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I'm trying to work to me, if you were going
to play Raction Revenge of you play them at the
top of the order. He's obviously had experience at the
top in the fifty over format and I would throw
him at the top, probably to open for a finale
and if you were going to make that decision. And
he also has the ability on the pictures that are
playing on Guyana in the Western Neis and the Caribbean
where the ball was turning as well to boy left
(08:43):
arm's spin, which is also helpful. So I guess there'll
be a number of conversations between the selectors on tour
and that's a good thing. There's a lot of depth
in that New Zealand squad, so if they do want
to make some changes, certainly doesn't weaken the side if
they make those changes. So that's something that we'll have
to work out the right balance of the side for
that game against the Western News.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
For more from sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talks.
There'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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