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Sport Nation
Live sport on SN this weekendCatching woes mask Blackcaps' batters struggles
Sport Nation • December 2nd, 2024 11:00 am
Photo: Photosport
The Blackcaps' miserable catching has understandably dominated the post-mortem of their crushing first Test defeat to England in Christchurch.
The hosts fumbled no fewer than eight catches across the 3.5 days, including a trio off Harry brook, who went on to punish them with a match-defining knock of 171.
But according to Sport Nation's Scotty Stevenson, those fielding woes have merely masked the ongoing issues with the Blackcaps batters.
Only Rachin Ravindra has reached triple figures in his last 10 innings, while the likes of Tom Latham (33) and Devon Conway (28) have been among the lengthiest of the dry spells among the NZ bats.
It's that lack of heavy duty scoring that Stevenson believes will be the team's downfall against the swashbuckling English, whose trademark aggressive approach means they're undaunted facing the paltry totals put on the board by the Blackcaps.
"I think runs are the biggest issue for this team," Stevenson said on Sport Nation's Scotty & Izzy.
"Genuine Test runs. Not 300-odd. Not 250. I mean a genuine big total on home decks is really what this team misses.
"England are just not scared of chasing 300."
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Those struggles with the bat have seen the drums that were already well and truly beating for Will Young's inclusion after his heroics in India reach deafening levels, providing - at least on the face of it - a quick fix for their batting woes.
But Stevenson isn't convinced that Young, who is relatively unproven on home soil, is the solution the team is searching for.
"I don't think it is the answer," he noted."Purely by virtue of the fact that Will Young has not produced enough evidence to say that he's in there as a matter of course.
"Yes, a good series in India. We get that. A deserved player of the series award.
"But he's 32 completed innings in a Test match for the Blackcaps and not a century to his name. We're not exactly talking about a Test-match run machine there.
"(The poor catching) certainly did not help but I still think this is a New Zealand side that would love to see a score on the board of 500-plus.
"I think that's a very different statement against an England side that will go and chase anything down that you put in front of them, and they prove it time and time again."
Listen to the full 'Deep Dive' here:
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Sport Nation has live ball-by-ball commentary of all three Test matches between the Blackcaps and England - available on all NZ frequencies and the new Sport Nation app - available on App Store and Google Play.
