Cricket: This could be the Black Caps' time to shine

Corey Anderson made headlines after belting a 36-ball ODI century.
Corey Anderson made headlines after belting a 36-ball ODI century.
Having made six semifinal appearances in 10 tournaments, the Black Caps are overdue to make a final. Cricket writer Adrian Seconi outlines five reasons why he believes they can improve on previous efforts.

POWER
The Black Caps have it in abundance.

Corey Anderson made headlines the world over for his 36-ball ODI century in Queenstown on New Year's Day.

Brendon McCullum's hitting power is well documented and feared by all.

And if they can find it in their hearts to bring Jesse Ryder back into the fold, the Black Caps will field three of the most destructive power hitters in the game.

Otago's Jimmy Neesham could find himself opening the batting in a pinch-hitting role.

Gloveman Luke Ronchi is a shot-a-ball guy and there is always Ross Taylor's slog sweep.

 

BOWLING DEPTH
After years of lamenting a lack of bowling depth, the Black Caps have some real selection dilemmas to negotiate.

Mitchell McClenaghan has pace and an incredible strike rate. Kyle Mills is a vastly experienced campaigner with a proven record.

Matt Henry was extremely impressive in his one outing for the Black Caps.

Not to mention Tim Southee or Trent Boult?

What a year those two have had.

 

SUMMER OF 1992
If we have to watch re-runs of the Young Guns' 1992 World Cup campaign for another four years, it will just about kill us.

It is time history had a new chapter. We might not have a Martin Crowe to call on this time around but, man for man, the class of 2014 might almost be as strong.

We decided to pick a combined team to illustrate the point.

We went with Brendon McCullum and Mark Greatbatch at the top. Kane Williamson got the nod ahead of Andrew Jones.

Crowe was the first pick in this team but there was room for Ross Taylor at No 5.

He takes Ken Rutherford's spot.

Chris Harris' miserly bowling and fabulous fielding got the nod ahead of Corey Anderson at No 6.

Ian Smith takes the gloves. Dipak Patel would get the spinner's spot ahead of Nathan McCullum but not a fit Daniel Vettori.

Gavin Larsen, Danny Morrison and Tim Southee are our seamers. That's 6-5 to the 1992 side.

 

HOME ADVANTAGE
The country embraced the 1992 tournament and swung in behind the national team.

A surprise win first up against Australia further galvanised the fans.

New Zealand used its knowledge of the conditions to employ an attack tailor-made for the slow surfaces.

Offspinner Dipak Patel opened the bowling and, with trundlers Gavin Larsen, Willie Watson, Chris Harris and even Rod Latham, New Zealand was able to restrict the flow of runs and build scoreboard pressure.

New Zealand's pitches are quicker these days but our bowlers are still well-placed to exploit every blade of grass and our batsmen know all the angles of some of our most peculiar venues.

 

BAZ
He is at the top of his game. Enough said.

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