New Zealand ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 profile
As part of our lead up to the ICC World Cup 2019 hosted by England and Wales, Expat Sport will bring you in depth profiles of all ten qualifying teams set to put bat to ball when cricket’s premier competition begins next May. We look at the players, coaches, the highs and lows of form and make a nod to those we believe will make a success of their bid to be crowned champions of the World.
Black Caps, blue skies? How might New Zealand fair in the ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup?
It’s no understatement to say that, since the ECB first introduced T20 cricket professionally in 2013, the impact it has had on the one day international game has been enormous. There was a time before the advent of the twenty over format, when a first innings score of 230 would almost guarantee you a win. Now a score of 230 can almost guarantee you a loss. There has been a tectonic shift in power from fielding team to the batting lineup. It is now commonplace to rack up 350 plus and England currently stand as record holders with an almost unfathomable 481 in the 50 over game. It will only be a matter of time before the 500 run glass ceiling is smashed into tiny shards by a rocketing white ball disappearing out of the grounds.
And this batting supremacy could well be the key that plays beautifully into the New Zealand team’s hands. Runners up to an ultimately victorious Australia in the last ICC Cricket World Cup back in 2015, the Kiwis have rightly earned their reputation as genuine contenders. And if they are to triumph this time around it will be their fearsome top order batsmen that drag them over the line. A fact not lost on former international one day player Mitchell McClenaghan. Last playing for the Black Caps in 2016, he has seen the rise of their extreme batting lineup and knows that it is crucial to the ODI side’s World Cup chances. His eye has been on the likes of Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor as he explains:
“I’ve been watching how New Zealand have progressed over this last year and I think they’re starting to build nicely towards the World Cup,”
“I think Colin Munroe has fitted in well at the top, taking Baz’s [Brendon McCullum] spot with that aggressive opening role and Tom [Latham] is doing well in the middle.
“Think back to the last World Cup and Guptill’s innings of 237. If you’ve got guys in your side who can do that you’re a long way to putting yourself in a position to be able to take down a World Cup.
“I think batting is going to be incredibly important. I think there are going to be some big targets that are going to have to be chased down.
“I think we saw in the Champions Trophy the ball didn’t swing as much as most sides expected it to and there was a lot of runs scored, and I think that’s going to be the key going forward.”
But he, like many other pundits around the world, is sanguine about New Zealand’s realistic prospects as he expects that England, on home turf, will be the side to beat. As evidenced by their recent series loss, going down 3-2 to England in New Zealand.
McClenaghan says:
“I think you saw last year in the Champions Trophy Pakistan adapted well to these conditions at the same time of the year that the World Cup is going to be played. I think they always turn up to the big events and play incredibly well.
“India I think will be there and England are rightful number ones at the moment. Since the last World Cup they’ve played the most aggressive brand of cricket. They’ve got the most aggressive players and when you’re playing against them at no point do you feel like the game’s won.”
New Zealand have taken the opportunity to blood a number of youngsters over the past couple of years and McClenaghan expects them to be pushing hard for inclusion in the side:
“I think there are some fantastic young cricketers coming out of New Zealand. The likes of Tim Seifert had a good debut and played well when he came into the side in the T20 format.
“I think Glenn Phillips as well is a dangerous opening batsman if he gets the opportunity, a guy who can score you a hundred off 50-60 balls – he’s an aggressive player. Mark Chapman as well is one of those power hitter guys who can come in at the end. They’re probably the most exciting prospects going around at the moment.”
At 70%, the Black Caps currently have the third best win to loss ratio in ODIs in 2018 behind England and India, despite having played only half the number of matches that England have. Even so this indicates a decent platform from which to build over the winter and into the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 tournament starting next May.
Next up for the team will be a testing series against Pakistan in the U.A.E in November, where conditions will strongly favour the South Asian side, at what have effectively been their home grounds for the past decade. After that they return home for a 3 match series against Sri Lanka in January, a team, whom on recent form, should be eminently beatable. Then, also in January and on home soil a much sterner test in India. Finally following up with a three match series against Bangladesh in March, once again slated to take place in New Zealand.
Nobody could accuse Kiwis of not taking every step to get their team in tip top condition for their first 2019 ICC World Cup round-robin match against Sri Lanka on the first of June. The key will be whether this rigorous schedule builds momentum and confidence or dents it. A string of wins, especially against India, will fill their team with the belief that they can go one step further than runner-up as they did back in 2015. A few flops along the way however and that possibility may start to seem less achievable.
Expat Sport’s cricket correspondent, Dan McTiernan investigates the key to New Zealand success in CWC19 to be held in England and Wales next year.
Expat Sport’s cricket correspondent, Dan McTiernan investigates the key to New Zealand success in CWC19 to be held in England and Wales next year.
