ODI's in New Zealand 2017/18 and the Kane/Ross battle

Starting soon are the first of 13 ODI's on our shores.  And inside those ODI's is the pecking order for our 26 ODI 100 getters.

Ross has had 179 innings for his 17 x 100's
Kane has had 111 innings for 9 x 100's

Be nice to see Ross break 20 x 100 and Kane to increase his tally.

Yes will be a great summer.

First up are the Windies following their test series. If their form in the longer form is anything to go by it's gonna be a tough ride for them.  The team is young but it's fair to say their short form records are different and will mean they have a chance.

Next cab off the ramp is the ever competitive Pakistan.  They land on our shores in January with recent ODI form.  And you can always count on Pakistan to rattle the cages.

Will be a tough series (5 ODI's) for Blackcaps but one we should win.

If they are in your city, go and watch them.

England in March - 5 ODI's.  Leading up to the tests are 5 ODI's.  Both teams have played T20 prior to these matches so should be in cracking form.

Time for Blackcaps supporters to deck out in Black (or Beige) to drown out the Balmy Army.





So what do we want to happen in these ODI's?  If there are needs to blood someone then the Windies matches are good. Fair to say form players in top tier be given all the backing they deserve.

Bring on the Calypso Kings - Windies Downunder (And Basin Stats.)

Seems to be a recurring theme these days, Windies on our shores before Christmas. Well seems that way, in reality it's not the case.  With the first test on 1st Dec and 2nd on 9th Dec, plenty for both teams to chase.

So what of this series?  2 tests, 3 ODI's and 3 T20's (which is also the format for the England series in March) is enough for the cricketing purist yes??

Well this is the first time the Windies have played a test in Basin Reserve since 2013, and before that in 2006.  Both times Blackcaps won by a goodly margin. Fair to say back then the Windies were a fractured team and we won't know how they will fare this time there.

If one were to go back in history of Windies teams at The Basin we'd find the test results are even. 7 Windies tests,-  3 won, 4 lost and 2 draws.

In the last 20 tests at The Basin overall, we (Blackcaps) have won 6, lost 8, drawn 6.

There have been 60 tests in all at The Basin - 17 won by us, 26 drawn, and 17 lost.

So what of this West Indies team? As stated earlier, they have been fractured and were sliding down the rankings in all forms.  But over the past 18 months there appears to be a resurgence in the Calypso Kings with some talent starting to shine.  And they played test cricket in August. something the Blackcaps can't attest to doing. I'm thinking this tour will be a watershed for them.  And for us!!

Yes what about us?  Last test cricket was in March so we will go into this series very much underdone.  And if we lose any of the two tests our ranking is likely to slide (Currently at 4, WI 8) and  even more so if series loss (be nice to stay ahead on Australia in test rankings)  I'm picking a drawn series, one test each.

The pajama stuff I don't usually follow too much, but if the Windies come to play, I'll certainly come to watch.

After the Blackcaps finish their T20 duties on the sub-continent I'll add my teams for he three forms of the game to play the Windies (After perusing the Plunket Shield games. There is very much an open palette for all three forms.

Latest Rankings, some slots to play for.'

ICC Test Rankings.
10 October 2017 Team	Matches	Points	Rating
India	36	4493	125
South Africa	34	3767	111
England	43	4497	105
New Zealand	32	3114	97
Australia	34	3294	97
Sri Lanka	39	3658	94
Pakistan	34	2988	88
West Indies	30	2260	75
Bangladesh	23	1651	72
Zimbabwe	10	0	0
ICC ODI Championship
29 October 2017 Team	Matches	Points	Rating
South Africa	53	6386	120
India	53	6379	120
Australia	52	5948	114
England	54	6156	114
New Zealand	49	5432	111
Pakistan	46	4560	99
Bangladesh	34	3114	92
Sri Lanka	64	5322	83
West Indies	40	3077	77
Afghanistan	30	1618	54
Zimbabwe	41	2129	52
Ireland	25	1028	41
ICC Twenty20 Championship
29 October 2017 Team	Matches	Points	Rating
New Zealand	13	1625	125
Pakistan	23	2843	124
West Indies	20	2395	120
England	17	2029	119
India	22	2545	116
South Africa	20	2238	112
Australia	15	1665	111
Sri Lanka	24	2177	91
Afghanistan	25	2157	86
Bangladesh	17	1289	76
Scotland	11	737	67
Zimbabwe	13	842	65
UAE	16	827	52
Netherlands	9	441	49
Hong Kong	13	599	46
PNG	6	235	39
Oman	9	345	38
Ireland	15	534	36