NZ’s ODI decline
After the loss to South Africa I have been joined in my pessimism by several commentators (though not, notably, by the captain). England’s victory over Sri Lanka may have lowered the barrier to the semi-finals a fraction, but it has opened the dismal possibility of New Zealand finishing last in its group. (Also, it would have been nice to be playing a complacent Sri Lanka tonight.)
Having powered our way into the semifinals of the World Cup just a couple of years back, we’ve fallen quite some way. It all goes back to about a year ago and our loss to Bangladesh in the opening match of the ODI series there. We did go on and win that series and then beat West Indies at home and tie with Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee before going down against India at home, overall not a bad result for the season. However, I feel our results of 08/09 flattered to deceive and the poor results of the last month are just a continuation of a year-long decline.
That one loss against Bangladesh last year should not have happened. Anyone can lose to Bangladesh due to the vagaries of the sport and there were mitigating circumstances around the team being ill-prepared. But the truth is we struggled on that tour despite the weak opposition. The 2-1 win against the West Indies in January disguises the fact that we should have destroyed them as we have done in previous tours (4-1 in 2006, 5-0 in 2000). There were some really good wins in the first two games of the Chapell-Hadlee, with some impressive fighting spirit shown. But letting the Australians back into the series in the next two games is barely excusable. We were then strongly dominated by India in the home series. We have seriously lost our invincibility in ODIs.
This decline is reflected in the ratings as well. This time last year we were sitting on a high of 116 points, on the cusp of 3rd spot. We are presently on 103 points, down in 7th spot.
Okay, there’s my little rant. I hope it has appeased the cricket gods. The match against Sri Lanka is starting right now and hope to all that there is to hope to that I am wrong in my analysis. Go the Black Caps!!
September 28th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Yippee-Kay-Yay. Bring out the sack cloth and ashes. I will recant all the bad things I said the last few days.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:38 am
(Warning: Long reply ahead!)
I would argue that the very nature of one-day cricket makes it very difficult for a side to be consistently brilliant over a long period of time. Australia are really the only ones in recent memory to have accomplished this, and even they have slipped a fair bit. South Africa, India and Sri lanka have all been through bad patches before recovering, so it was almost inevitable that under-performance would eventually catch up with NZ. If they stick with a core group of players who show a desire to improve, they should be alright.
The main difference between the assured side of 2006/07 and the current hesitant lot is one of experience; players of the calibre of Fleming, Astle and McMillan are not easy to replace, and the men who were groomed to take their places (Vincent, Marshall, Fulton, Sinclair) fell away. It also hasn’t helped that guys like Oram and Styris have been in decline. Daryl Tuffey’s performances on his have shown us the value of an old hand, which is why the selectors need to make sure Fulton and Styris remain in the frame.
Even during the Barcewell era in 2005, when NZ were supposedly an excellent one-day side, they were beaten by 5-0 Australia and 4-0 by South Africa. Again, I put it down to the nature of ODIs but this is precisely why the accent on limited-overs cricket at the expense of tests can be fatal.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:48 am
[...] I was totally barking up the wrong tree in my last post, and it never feels better than it does to be wrong in your pessimism. New Zealand defeated Sri [...]
September 29th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I would argue that the very nature of one-day cricket makes it very difficult for a side to be consistently brilliant over a long period of time.
True enough, but my concern is that while we have gone from bad to worse in tests, we have also gone from good to worse in ODIs.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
The one thing that’s been hurting NZ’s consistency as a one-day unit is the lack of a specialist batsman who can be relied upon to send down 10 economical overs – someone like an Astle or a Harris. Ryder and Elliott are supposed to fulfill this role but they seem to lack the necessary control with the ball.
The over-dependence on Oram for the balance of the side is also a problem. It’s meant that in his absence we either end up playing the extra batsman (like Hopkins in the SA game) who adds little to the side, or an extra bowler which seriously lengthens the tail. James Franklin’s return in the ongoing champions trophy has me interested, though.
October 9th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Why is it nobody seems to produce consistant One Day International Performances except the Aussies?
They are not even the force they were 3 years ago, yet they still manage to reach the major finals