Running On Your Toes
Running On Your Toes
Aotearoa loves cricket, Jacqui Hand signs in England, more Wellington Phoenix academy contracts, Kiwi-NRL Power Rankings, Will Young & Jacob Duffy. plus more
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Five Tiers Of Blackcaps Seamers Ahead Of The 2023/24 Home Summer (Cricket)
White Ferns ODI Series Win vs Pakistan And Somehow It All Feels The Same (Cricket)
2023/24 Super Smash Scout: Mitch Hay, Skye Bowden And More From Auckland vs Canterbury (Cricket)
2023/24 Super Smash Scout: Tim Robinson, Georgia Plimmer And More from Wellington vs Otago (Cricket)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Signing Kurt Capewell & Depth Chart (Rugby League)
Six Of The Best Kiwi-NRL Junior Halves In Australia For 2024 (Rugby League)
2023 Women’s National League – Team of the Season (Football)
Flying Kiwis – December 20 (Football)
Exploring The Wellington Phoenix’s Efficiency Boost Under Giancarlo Italiano (Football)
The Long, Confusing Timeline of Steven Adams’ Knee Injury (Basketball)
Scotty’s Word
As we venture deeper into the summer of cricket mangroves, I'm once again reminded that Aotearoa loves cricket. When complaints are warranted, we make them and we have no issues highlighting a stinky smell as is the case with White Ferns or NZ Breakers. Much of the moaning about New Zealand Cricket outside of the White Ferns bubble doesn't feel legit and I have swung around to loving the summer of cricket.
First and foremost, most of the issues that plague bigger nations and smaller nations who endure ongoing turmoil/mediocrity don't apply to Aotearoa. Blackcaps gather big crowds which will be on show in the Test season, but a hearty crowd in Dunedin who battled rain and then a fizzing crowd in Nelson are lovely examples. Remember that there are lots of random T20I matches coming up that I won't learn much from, yet they will serve as entertainment for kiwis who are likely to show up in numbers.
Super Smash cricket is delightful. White Ferns are playing in the women's competition and even without Sophie Devine who takes a wellbeing break (might have been forced upon her?) Super Smash cricket will be a draw for all ages and genders. I'm doing 'Super Smash Scout' breakdowns after as many gamedays as possible and much like our domestic cricket, football and rugby league coverage; there are no excuses for not knowing about young players when we deliver so much content.
One other thing I'm aware of is how cricket is building out more cultural tournaments and celebrating more diversity. An undercover aspect of rugby league's growth in Aotearoa are cultural tournaments and Maori tournaments, both of which are fabulous events themselves for communities but they are also heavily scouted by NRL/NRLW teams. Rugby league is so far ahead of rugby union in this regard that folks should be tapped into the grassroots under-current.
Cricket is growing in this capacity with more Maori tournaments, embracing polynesians and all cultures. It's not perfect and there is a long way to go before cricket reaches rugby league, even basketball which has an abundance of diversity. Cricket is making moves though and this is most evident in the diversity of crowds that have already been seen in Nelson and women's Super Smash in particular.
As we discussed in our latest Niche Cast that can be listened to throughout the festive season, there is no need for thirst about cricketing talent in Aotearoa. Will Young has had a fantastic series vs Bangladesh and folks may no be aware that Young was a phenom as he climbed up the junior grades; Young is currently the leading Gunn & Moore batter in Aotearoa for a reason.
Young’s GM kit is super crispy. Not many kiwis have the GM sponsorship but Young is essentially the poster-boy for GM after Taylor’s retirement. In an early ‘Who’s Using What Bats’ scout, here is a bat kit ranking with some basics…
Gray Nicolls: Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls
Kookaburra: Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, Mark Chapman, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson
New Balance: Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi
Gunn & Moore: Will Young
SS: Devon Conway, Finn Allen
DSC: Rachin Ravindra
Kookaburra dominates White Ferns with Sophie Devine and Maddy Green leading the way, while Lea Tahuhu wins games with her Kookaburra blade. Suzie Bates is team New Balance. The Kerr sisters and Georgia Plimmer are Gray-Nics. Back to Young…
Young is not a domestic plodder who found form an earned a Blackcaps call up. Batting phenoms like this pop up every few years now which is highlights the strength of Aotearoa cricket: Luteru Taylor, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra.
I don't even know the criteria for these batting phenoms so there will be plenty of holes to poke in this list. Generally, these lads generated buzz in junior cricket and that buzz flowed into domestic cricket runs. We all know that most junior phenoms take different paths in life and that's all good, sometimes those phenoms become the best sports people of a generation. The presence of Phillips and Ravindra in a similar cycle amplifies the talent of Aotearoa’s youth.
Unlike the others, Young had to wait for his opportunity. This slow-cooked process allowed him to score runs in all three formats, captain Central Districts and fine-tune his mahi. Young now has an ODI batting average of 45.11 and the only lads from Aotearoa with higher ODI batting averages are Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson, Glenn Turner and Luteru Taylor.
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Young only averages 26.45 in Test cricket but he has six 50+ scores in 13 Tests, plus he averages 40.12 in 115 First-Class games. Young has a T20 strike-rate of 133 which is higher than Ravindra (122sr) and less than Phillips (141sr).
Young has benefitted from the domestic grind like Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Tom Blundell, Jacob Duffy etc. Mitchell was the big winner of the IPL auction and folks around the world might be puzzled, yet Mitchell is now second behind Williamson in my best batter rankings for Aotearoa. Mitchell averages 40 in FC and List-A batting, while his Test and ODI averages are legit legendary at this point...
Test: 53.77 - 2nd behind Williamson (54.36)
ODI: 52.56 - 1st for NZ as noted above
Here's my top-10 best Aotearoa batters as we end 2023 which captures all formats and is a culmination of many ideas delivered in recent weeks...
Kane Williamson
Daryl Mitchell
Devon Conway
Tom Latham
Will Young
Glenn Phillips
Rachin Ravindra
Tom Blundell
Mark Chapman
Henry Nicholls
Jacob Duffy has apparently picked up pace by running on his toes, which has seen him give 138-40km/h a nudge against Bangladesh. Will O'Rourke hype included stuff about him hitting 140km/h but he has hovered around the early 130s. Both these lads have 4w averaging early 20s vs Bangladesh.
O'Rourke doesn't need the extra pace but he could find it with more time in the Blackcaps environment where fitness guru Chris Donaldson works wonders and all players pick new skills. O'Rourke, Jamieson and Henry Shipley have enough height/movement to be effective at 130-35km/h. Duffy can be more gentle though with his traditional out-swing to righties suited to nibbly Aotearoa conditions - Duffy is like the many medium-paced kiwi seamers of previous decades.
Duffy bowling a bit faster changes his package. His bouncer has looked menacing against Bangladesh and as long as his action doesn't change much, Duffy will keep swinging the ball. This is funky because Duffy was in the 'curious' zone of my Blackcaps bowling tiers alongside Blair Tickner; Tickner isn't in any Blackcaps squads and Duffy's suddenly running on his toes.
Here's the link to the Blackcaps seam bowling tiers for a deeper dive, otherwise the basic tiers are below...
Big Donnies: Tim Southee, Matt Henry
Overlapping Excellence: Kyle Jamieson, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne
Veteran Plug and Play: Neil Wagner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Doug Bracewell
Curious Zone: Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner
Emerging Frothers: Henry Shipley, Ben Lister, Ben Sears, Will O'Rourke
The Kiwi-NRL Power Rankings are in the hangi pit being cooked to be published on Christmas Day. Last year's rankings are listed first followed by this year which includes Dolphins entering the NRL, as well as a big improvements for NZ Warriors, Broncos and Knights. NRL performance and Kiwi-NRL recruitment throughout all grades are factors here so Dragons again sit at the bottom of the ladder with minimal love for Aotearoa...
Penrith Panthers | Penrith Panthers
Sydney Roosters | NZ Warriors
Melbourne Storm | Brisbane Broncos
Parramatta Eels | Melbourne Storm
Cronulla Sharks | Sydney Roosters
Canberra Raiders | Newcastle Knights
NZ Warriors | Cronulla Sharks
North Queensland Cowboys | Parramatta Eels
Brisbane Broncos | Canberra Raiders
South Sydney Rabbitohs | Gold Coast Titans
Gold Coast Titans | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
Manly Sea Eagles | Redcliffe Dolphins
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Manly Sea Eagles
Newcastle Knights | North Queensland Cowboys
Wests Tigers | Wests Tigers
St George Illawara Dragons | South Sydney Rabbitohs
St George Dragons
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
The first major move of Flying Kiwis Transfer Season has already happened and, mate, it was a doozy. Off the back of two successful years in the Finnish top division (including winning a cup title in 2022 and getting nominated for Forward of the Year in 2023), not to mention a very bright World Cup campaign, Jacqui Hand has signed on with Lewes in the English Championship for the rest of this season. Subject to international clearance, to be official in January. You know how these technicalities go. But it’s a done deal.
Lewes manager Scott Booth: “It’s fantastic to finally get Jacqui onboard. She’s a player I have admired for some time now. Her ability to play anywhere across the front line, offering pace, intelligence and an eye for goal will prove vital in the 2nd half of the season.”
If you’ve been reading Flying Kiwis then you had a few clues this was coming. The Finnish media had pretty much said she was leaving Aland United (14 goals in 29 league games and no shortage of assists along the way) after this year, weeks before she confirmed it herself on Insta. Then just last week in this very email there was a note about how she was already training with an unnamed English Championship club. Pretty sure we can safely assume which club that was now.
Lewes are second-to-last in the Championship at the Christmas break, having only just jumped ahead of Watford after winning their most recent game (and Watford blowing a 3-0 lead after seven minutes to draw 3-3 against London City Lionesses... with Grace Neville scoring for LCL). They are the lowest scoring team in the division and they desperately need some help. Jacqui Hand will give them that. This is the same level as Grace Neville, Paige Satchell (London City), Katie Kitching (Sunderland), and Olivia Page (Sheffield United) currently play. Based on Hand’s international stuff she should be able to make an instant impact in this division.
To be honest, I think she’s got WSL quality... but it’s hard to get a gig like that mid-season and this way she can hopefully settle into English footy with some goals and assists for half a season in the Champo and then see what comes around mid-2024. Hand initially only signed a short-term deal with Aland with the intention of heading to England. That didn’t happen then but things worked out fine anyway.
Lewes is a former club of Katie Rood. It’s also the club that Natalie Lawrence now works at (as an assistant) having left the Wellington Phoenix and returned to England. Whenever a coach with kiwi connections gets a decent job overseas there’s always a hope they’ll use their platform to raise up a few NZers. Lovely to see an instance where that’s actually happened. Your turn next, Des Buckingham.
But as we slide on into Flying Kiwis transfer season, there’s another trend going down at the moment. Specifically with All Whites players. Specifically to do with their club coaches. Overnight, Crvena zvezda’s manager Barak Bakhar got sacked on the back of losing 2-1 in the so-called Eternal Derby (Red Star vs Partizan) a day earlier. The latest frustrating result in a season that’s increasingly become full of them. They started so well but the Champions League campaign was a failure taking only one point from six games and this derby loss means they drop to second place heading into the winter break.
It’s not only that they’ve dropped points (they’re still well in the title race, as well as into the cup quarterfinals), it’s the manner in which they’ve done so with so many games in which they’ve struggled to convert possession into goals and requiring far too many close wins and comebacks for a club of their dominant stature. It’s also true that as Bakhar has slipped, he’s played Marko Stamenic less. Stam was an unused sub in the Eternal Derby loss and, frankly, that’s a sackable offence in and of itself.
Marko Stamenic thus joins a surprisingly long list of All Whites whose club coaches have left or been sacked lately. Literally just in the last two weeks we’ve had each of these lads lose their current gaffers:
Marko Stamenic (Crvena zvezda)
Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest)
Sarpreet Singh (Hansa Rostock)
Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle)
Max Crocombe (Burton Albion)
Plus Bill Tuiloma (Charlotte FC) and Michael Boxall (Minnesota United) will each have new coaches when they return next year in MLS. A very good thing for Tui, probably inconsequential for Boxy who was already a key player and leader for his side. Similarly, Max Crocombe’s been in top form for Burton so he should be all good, while Sarpreet Singh’s team have actually hired his old Regensburg manager so that’s a huge boost for him given he was barely playing under the last bloke.
Chris Wood and Ben Waine could find themselves either helped or hindered for their situations... though Waine should get a chance to plead his case under the interim boss with both the other main strikers in the squad out injured leading into a spell of four games in ten days. Chris Wood’s Premier League hat-trick came against his new managed Nuno Espirito Santo which will hopefully count in his favour.
The Wellington Phoenix lads got up to some business this week with Matt Sheridan and Alby Kelly-Heald given scholarship contracts. Two more academy prospects boosted up into the first team – both have already made matchday squads this year with Sheridan getting an A-League debut late in the win against Melbourne City.
Alby Kelly-Heald is the twin brother of Lukas, who’s started eight games at left back. He’s just as tall as his brother but, more befitting the cliche of someone that size, he’s a goalkeeper. When Jack Duncan missed two games out sick, it was AKH who stepped up to sit on the bench so he was already established as the third-choice gloveman and was an easy bet for one of the scholarship deals that Chiefy had said would be awarded after the National League (to give those reserves dudes something extra to play for).
AKH started every game in goal for the ressies and was really sharp. Looked like he’d taken a serious step forward in his development from last year. He’ll be one of the keepers in contention for the Olympic squad next year, especially having achieved this new milestone. Given how well his brother has adapted to the professional stuff, seems like we can have similar expectations for the other bro. Let’s also not overlook the idea that Alex Paulsen will find his way to Europe at some stage. Italiano is already talking about fending off interest for the fella which, frankly, means we’re ahead of schedule. Genuinely incredible how well AP has been playing these past few months.
Matt Sheridan is a utility player. Probably a midfielder by preference but has spent much of his time as a right back for the reserve team. He’s 19 years old, so slightly older than AKH, and I actually included him in a Top Five Nix Prospects of 2022 article I did at the start of the year (random memory: I recall writing that one in the Whangarei Library after the cyclone knocked power out at my house for a week lol). Sheridan was signed from Selwyn United in Christchurch a few years back – just a few months before the Nix went back to that well to pick up Finn Surman.
Expect attacking energy from Sheridan. He’s been able to get regular goals and assists at National League level so that’s his strength. Solid technical player with a great engine. With both of these lads it’s a case of rewarding academy guys who’ve been going good... but it’s also a case of picking the guys in positions where the team most needs more depth. There’s no reason to think they’re done with two scholars though. The women’s team have four (McMeeken, Brazendale, Ingham & Elliott) so there are potentially a couple more to follow. A few possible suggestions include...
Dan McKay – An excellent passing midfielder who spent a lot of time being upskilled at centre-back during the MNL.
Marco Lorenz – Very good centre-back who did play some Aussie Cup last year before going on an extended trial with Werder Bremen. Only played a couple of games in MNL so we’ll see what the future holds.
Josh Tollervey – Versatile forward who found some lovely form in the second half of the MNL season with three goals and an assist.
Josh Rudland – A goal-scoring striker who you may recall scoring in the Aussie Cup a few months back. Got four goals and three assists in a quietly excellent National League campaign.
Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues – The fella that Oskar Zawada said was the most talented lad in the academy. Very skilful winger who got a run of ressies games prior to the U17 World Cup.
Jackson Manuel – Defensive midfielder who can play fullback. Has already played A-League, getting a few games the year before last.
Ben Wallace – Wicked winger who scored a banger goal at the U20 World Cup, seems to have a tendency for doing special stuff. Always love a bit of x-factor.
In case you’ve not spotted them yet, I managed to polish off my National League Teams of the Season this week. Blokes one just went up. Check the links at the top of the page. Here are the First XIs for each...
WNL First XI
GK – Aimee Hall (Auckland United)
RB – Talisha Green (Auckland United)
CB – Marissa Porteous (Southern United)
CB – Hannah Mackay-Wright (Southern United)
LB – Arisa Takeda (Western Springs)
CM – Yume Harashima (Auckland United)
CM – Kendrah Smith (Southern United)
CM – Lara Colpi (Western Springs)
FW – Charlotte Lancaster (Eastern Suburbs)
FW – Amy Hislop (Southern United)
FW – Kaley Ward (Waterside Karori)
MNL First XI
GK – Scott Morris (Christchurch United)
RB – Hideto Takahashi (Auckland United)
CB – Aaron O’Driscoll (Christchurch United)
CB – Ben Mata (Wellington Olympic)
LB – Tino Contratti (Manurewa)
CM – Cam Howieson (Auckland City)
CM – Gavin Hoy (Wellington Olympic)
CM – Luis Toomey (Eastern Suburbs)
FW – Joel Stevens (Wellington Olympic)
FW – Garbhan Coughlan (Cashmere Technical)
FW – Gianni Bouzoukis (Wellington Olympic)
Rightio, happy holidays and all that. Good on ya.