Jamie How... my god, HOW bad is that bloke? Doesn't know how to tick the strike over. Guppy was going well, How just kept blocking the cover off it to the mid off/mid on fielders for no runs. HOW is this bloke going to the World Cup? ...LOL... he's back up keeper. The dude hasn't kept at first class level to the best of my knowledge. If they wanted a nonentity option, they might as well have gone with Skippy who at least has kept in one day domestic cricket. The guy that should be going in his place is Peter McGlashan. Can score in unusual parts of the ground and is a good keeper.
Williamson is another who shouldn't be going. Can't score quick enough yet. Decent timer, but his bat speed is quite slow. He's going to be a very good player as soon as he gets out of Jamie How-itis and he too learns to pick the singles up in between the big shots.
Well, I've said it before, one of the key problems is not converting starts to 100s. It's a prolonged, consistent NZ failure. Guppy and Rossco got starts, failed to convert and own the game. Shehzad went on with it. That was the difference (well, that and Jamie god damn How). Our two best performances this season were the first two tests in India, where Ryder, Williamson, McCullum and McIntosh all got hundreds. Its no exact science, but the ratio of wins significantly increases when you have blokes take responsibility and get through to 3 figures. There has been a number of 30s-70s, but I can't recall a Kiwi going onto 3 figures at home this season.
As for Brendon McCullum's role, I'm happier he is down the order. He should be batting 6 or 7. Dude doesn't score enough ODI 100s to warrant the opening spot carte blanche. Plus he's an excellent finisher. I'm not sure what he was doing last night. It seemed like he was doing everything but play cricket sensibly. I guess he was trying to change the momentum, but really, Taylor and Guptill had set a decent platform with their strike rates both moving back up when Guppy went.
Guptill doesn't as such have a problem pulling, its more hooking. If the ball is chest high he's lethal. It's when it gets high he doesn't control it well at all and goes through with it. That said, he is brilliant to watch when he goes back over the bowlers head. Some great sixes this summer. For the form he's in, its mind boggling to think he hasn't help his nerve to go on and get a ton. He should have racked up 3-4 this summer with how well he's been hitting the ball. Mental lapses have cost him time and time again.
