Posted December 14, 2025 06:14
· last edited December 14, 2025 06:16
martinb
mjp2
AucklandPhoenix
I’m still struggling to think who on earth is the injured Williamson?
Surely we are not elevating Payne to his level?Rock Hopper
martinb
I mean Bazball had Baz. Human proof you can ramp a six. That’s lazy shorthand. Chief never ramped a six in football equivalent. Newcastle are more like that than us! Milligan scored from halfway maybe iirc. Hence having a bench full of attackers to bring on.
We’re just NZ cricket with an injured Williamson, but without any first or second generation African reinforcements. We don’t have Stokes or Crowe, though maybe Rufer is a Roger Twose equivalent. Or perhaps even Fleming. We’ve got James Franklin. And Shayne O’Connor. Perhaps even Chris Martin.
There’s no one guiding it home like Grant Elliot or Watling. There’s no angry ambition, composure matched with skill and desire, no Cairns, no Hadlee, no Baz, no Kane, no Lucas. No one top of the league. No one opposition fear…yet at least.
We’re the poorer cousins. Maybe not the poorest. But middling. Maybe we can get an Astle or perhaps a fit James and Eze might be that. We don’t have Jimmy Anderson or Starc or anyone top drawer. No Steve Smith, no Ross Taylor, no one averaging over 45 and possibly no one averaging over 40.
I think for this metaphor
Rufer = second half of career Vettori where he had to learn how to score centuries and self-promote up the order to a proper all rounder role. In this case Rufer has had to learn how to score goals.
Rest of the team = the ever rotating cast of nowhere near the required standard plunket shield battlers who all got a turn at trying and failing to plug the top order gap - Matt Horne, Matthew Bell, Craig Cumming, Daniel Flynn, James Marshall, Rob Nicol, Michael Papps, Shannon Stewart, Gareth Hopkins, Peter Ingram and many more take your pick...
In terms of if they were to do the unprecedented and unthinkable sacking of Chiefy, who steps in? Well Paul Ifill just finished up with Olympic and is a passionate club man that will n doubt he hurting to see the Nix in the current state they are in...
I think the loss of Ishige combined with the season long absences of Mileusnic and Retre and the only recent return from injury of Najjarine kinda covers the missing Williamson thing.
Moneyball- 3 players with strengths but limitations aggregate to one great of the game!
Very generous of you.
Yeh, well in the absence of a Chico or prodigal Rojas ya gotta go with your best combo. (And even those two don't match up with the Kane level).
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Unknown editoredited December 14, 2025 06:16
martinb
mjp2
AucklandPhoenix
I’m still struggling to think who on earth is the injured Williamson?
Surely we are not elevating Payne to his level?Rock Hopper
martinb
I mean Bazball had Baz. Human proof you can ramp a six. That’s lazy shorthand. Chief never ramped a six in football equivalent. Newcastle are more like that than us! Milligan scored from halfway maybe iirc. Hence having a bench full of attackers to bring on.
We’re just NZ cricket with an injured Williamson, but without any first or second generation African reinforcements. We don’t have Stokes or Crowe, though maybe Rufer is a Roger Twose equivalent. Or perhaps even Fleming. We’ve got James Franklin. And Shayne O’Connor. Perhaps even Chris Martin.
There’s no one guiding it home like Grant Elliot or Watling. There’s no angry ambition, composure matched with skill and desire, no Cairns, no Hadlee, no Baz, no Kane, no Lucas. No one top of the league. No one opposition fear…yet at least.
We’re the poorer cousins. Maybe not the poorest. But middling. Maybe we can get an Astle or perhaps a fit James and Eze might be that. We don’t have Jimmy Anderson or Starc or anyone top drawer. No Steve Smith, no Ross Taylor, no one averaging over 45 and possibly no one averaging over 40.
I think for this metaphor
Rufer = second half of career Vettori where he had to learn how to score centuries and self-promote up the order to a proper all rounder role. In this case Rufer has had to learn how to score goals.
Rest of the team = the ever rotating cast of nowhere near the required standard plunket shield battlers who all got a turn at trying and failing to plug the top order gap - Matt Horne, Matthew Bell, Craig Cumming, Daniel Flynn, James Marshall, Rob Nicol, Michael Papps, Shannon Stewart, Gareth Hopkins, Peter Ingram and many more take your pick...
In terms of if they were to do the unprecedented and unthinkable sacking of Chiefy, who steps in? Well Paul Ifill just finished up with Olympic and is a passionate club man that will n doubt he hurting to see the Nix in the current state they are in...
I think the loss of Ishige combined with the season long absences of Mileusnic and Retre and the only recent return from injury of Najjarine kinda covers the missing Williamson thing.
Moneyball- 3 players with strengths but limitations aggregate to one great of the game!
Very generous of you.
Yeh, well in the absence of a Chico or prodigal Rojas ya gotta go with your best combo.