NZ Domestic Cricket by Population base.

Teams NZ Domestic Cricket	Population Base	Population
Northern Districts	Whangarei	58700.00
	Hamilton	241000.00
	Tauranga	141600.00
	Rotorua	59100.00
	Taupo	24700.00
	Total Catchment	525100.00
Auckland	Auckland	1570000.00
Includes Manakau North Shore	Pukekohe	32100.00
	Total Catchment	1602100.00
Central Districts	Napier Hastings	134000.00
	Palmerston North	86600.00
	Nelson	65500.00
	New Plymouth	58300.00
	Gisborne	37200.00
	Total Catchment	381600.00
Wellington	Wellington	418500.00
	Kapiti	42700.00
	Total Catchment	461200.00
Canterbury	Christchurch	404000.00
	Timaru	29100.00
	Total Catchment	433100.00
Otago	Dunedin	122000.00
	Invercargill	51200.00
	Queenstown	21850.00
	Oamaru	13590.00
	Total Catchment	208640.00

  

Added to Wellington as missed Lower and Upper Hutt.  Combined 145900 which bumps Wellies to  617,100

2020 New Zealand Black Caps Going Forward.

With two seemingly inept series (versus Australia and India)  our Blackcaps are struggling badly.  Question has to be Why?

Ok to be fair one of the biggest problems is something they can't change - Injuries.  But that is it, or is it?  Well the major reason that can be aligned to the results is the new Coaching staff.   I was always had a quiet admiration for Mike Hesson and the results since his retirement indicate he was a Quiet Assassinator.  Stead is not working for me (unless he manages to turn the results in the remaining matches versus India)

I don't totally agree with the Hit and Giggle Team.  I think we could go into a match with three Big Hitters at the top.

My suggested team for T20

Martin Guptill
George Worker (bowls slow left arm orthodox)
Colin Munro
Kane Williamson
Ross Taylor
Colin de Grandhomme (A/R)
BJ Watling (see below)
Ajaz Patel
Tim Southee (one last chance)
Matt Henry
Jamieson/Fergusson

I picked BJ based on the recent T20's.  We desperately need someone in the middle order to feed the strike and noodle singles (run a ball).  The bigger hitters have free reign to play for the boundaries.  And if wickets fall around him he holds an end.  Also T20 bowlers will be frustrated with his prowess at the crease and will lose their rhythm.

Test Team -

Tom Latham
George Worker
Kane Williamson
Ross Taylor
Henry Nichols
Colin de Grandhomme
BJ Watling
Todd Astle/William Somerville.
Neil Wagner
Lockie Ferguson/Tim Southee
Trent Boult.

Major question??  When will NZC revise the Coaching?

Seddon Park Tosses.

I have analysed the past 10 tests at Seddon Park.  The figures below speak for themselves.

Team	Year	Tosses Won By	Chose to	Game result
Bangladesh	Feb-10	Bangladesh	Field	Blackcaps
Australia	Mar-10	Australia	Bat	Australia
Pakistan	Jan-11	Pakistan	Field	Blackcaps
South Africa	Mar-12	South Africa	Field	South Africa
West Indies	Dec-13	New Zealand	Field	Blackcaps
Sri Lanka	Dec-15	New Zealand	Field	Blackcaps
Pakistan	Nov-16	Pakistan	Field	Blackcaps
South Africa	Mar-11	South Africa	Bat	Drawn
West Indies	Dec-17	West Indies	Field	Blackcaps
Bangladesh	Mar-19	New Zealand	Field	Blackcaps
England	Dec-19	England	Field	Drawn
Last 11 Test Matches		Tosses Won by Blackcaps
		3
		Choices - Bat
		2
		Choices Field
		8
		Matches Results wins by Blackcaps
		7

NZ Wicketkeepers Stats.

Wicketkeeper stats for our best 4.

Wicketkeeper	Matches	Centuries	Average	Catches	Stumpings	Matches      per Century	Catches      per Matches	Stumpings per matches
Ken Wadsworth	33	0	21.48	92	4	0.0	2.8	0.1
Ian Smith	63	2	25.56	168	8	31.5	2.7	0.1
Brendan McCullum	101	12	38.64	198	11	8.4	2.0	0.1
BJ Watling	61	6	37.3	209	7	10.2	3.4	0.1

The Zander Principle - awarding points in CWC's

I have been mulling this over for some time and raised the issue in Twitter to overwhelming ridicule. 
I have no understanding of NRR and how it is calculated. Feel free to educate me.

As we all know, Duckworth/Lewis is a mathematical formula to tweak a result from games at play.  Mostly D/L is on the money.  So with that in mind I have devised a formula that will bring fairness and good governance to event like the Cricket World Cup .

One of the biggest drawback from events such as CWC is weather affectedness.  At the moment there is CWC19 running in England and Wales and fair to say a few no results due to rain.  And there will be more.  What this does is unbalance the Table as only one point is given for a No Result.  That's well and good if all teams suffer and there is a balance.  My concern is that a few teams might suffer accordingly on the wrong side of table and tip the results.

My proposal is that a win scores 5 points, a Draw/Tie is 3 points and No Result 2 points. 

The next proposal is about awarding NRR as calculated as such (currently only done for Win/Draw)  It means both teams involved have movement accordingly on the table, critical if it comes to sorting play off matches.  Say if the West Indies have 3 matches rained off, they still have fluidity on the table, compared say if New Zealand or others have who have had no rain issues.  I see it all as a fair and just way to run the competition.

The formula for NRR is this.

At time of Rained Out match - New Zealand has a NRR of 0.250,  West Indies have a NRR of 0.06.  Add both and attain an average (0.250+0.06) /2 = 0.155 This score is factored in the current NRR calculation.

As I stated - I seek fairness for all. 

Tale of the Captaincy Tape - Taylor vs Williamson

It's been a given, Since becoming Blackcaps captain Kane Williamson has flourished under his own captaincy so what are the comparisons of our two leading Test cricket batsmen?? 

Taylor under his own captaincy (2011 - 2013), under BMac's (2013 - 2016) and under Kane Williamson (2016 - now)

Runs per Captaincy	Under Own Captaincy	Under Bmac	Under Kano
Ross Taylor Captain Blackcaps 2011 – 2013	6	60	173
	8	0	124
	78	6	67
	82	70	2
	76	28	0
	76	54	0
	14	5	17
	0	217	36
	6	16	4
	56	129	0
	122	131	32
	44	2	11
	17	3	17
	18	45	102
	48	51	40
	21	0	60
	60	45	77
	0	36	15
	2	45	93
	7	6	16
	113	0	107
	45	8	20
	9	23	2
	18	104	13
	142	50	2
	74	7	2
	37	39	19
	0	32	0
	41	0	82
	19	60	0
	3	8	22
	66	20
		48
		0
		26
		290
		36
		21
		32
		8
		15
		0
		35
Runs per tenure	1308	1300	1155
Averages	43.6	43.3	38.5

And in comparison, Kane under the same three Captains??

Runs per Captaincy	Under Ross	Under Bmac	Under Own Captaincy
Kane Williamson Captain Blackcaps 2016 – now	4	0	15
	69	77	13
	0	39	4
	8	102	11
	50	19	24
	1	2	42
	15	22	55
	49	8	91
	69	37	60
	19	52	6
	19	17	13
	0	13	3
	19	8	114
	34	0	74
	4	10	62
	11	135	48
		8	55
			56
Runs	371	549	113
Average	23.2	34.3	3
			47
			7
			113
			2
			42
			52
			43
			161
			3
			23
			32
			11
			192
			54
			38
			69
			242
			5
			75
			25
			8
			27
			4
			61
			13
			42
			53
			104
			2
			130
			2
			1
			176
			1
			43
			54
			102
			22
			0
			63
			132
			27
			0
			140
			59
			166
			32
			22
			9
			88
			77
			1
			108
			16
			22
			7
			97
			91
			113
			68
			2
			77
			37
			28
			30
			89
			139
Runs			4683
Average			61.6

Warming up for the Race for 18 Centuries

As we are well aware, both Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson are poised to surpass our legend Martin Crowe.  First off I will post Martin's Eden Park records.

I missed Martin's memorial on 3rd March (2 years ago)  RIP

Martin Crowes Eden Park Records	Runs	Years	Not Out
	2	1982
	16	1984
	84	1985
	0	1986
	23	1986	1
	10	1987
	104	1987
	78	1988
	9	1988	1
	24	1990
	113	1990
	45	1992
	56	1992
	31	1993
	25	1993
	16	1995
	14	1995
Runs	650
Average	38.24

 And now Ross Taylor's last 10 innings and Eden Park records.

Player	Last 10 Innings	Not Out	Eden Park Record	Year
Ross Taylor	11		19 and 3	2013
	37		3 and 41	2014
	102	1
	40
	60
	77
	15	1
	93
	16
	107	1
Runs Total	558	3
Innings - NO	7
Average	79.71

 And now Kane Williamson (Captain Terrific)

Player	Last 10 Innings	Not Out	Eden Park Record	Year
Kane Williamson	53		91 and 1	2013
	104	1	113 and 3	2014
	2
	130
	1
	176
	42
	1
	43
	54	1
Runs Total	606	2
Innings minus NO	8
Average	75.75

Pretty much self explanatory, a neck to neck race to 18 100's.  Based on Kane's 2 high scores at Eden Park (one ton) I'm plumping for him to get there before Ross.

Kane odds (from me)  1.80
Ross 1.90

A Surprise memory from Martin Crowe. Enjoy.