Domestic runs not a recipe for New Zealand success
Mark Richardson, writing in the Herald on Sunday , says the dumping of Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair from the England tour shows runs at domestic level are not enough to earn Test selection.
Peter English
25-Feb-2013
Mark Richardson, writing in the Herald on Sunday, says the dumping of Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair from the England tour shows runs at domestic level are not enough to earn Test selection.
In fairness, Sinclair was given every opportunity to regain his early international form but showed he is not the player he was in 1999. So the selectors were able to ignore his good return for Central Districts again and his quite outstanding domestic record.
Bell, on the other hand, would have stimulated more debate. In 1998, Bell was selected on potential then dropped. In 2000 he earned his place back on sheer volume of runs and was dropped again. At the start of this year, he again showed top domestic form and gained re-selection then ended the year being dropped.
In the same paper Paul Lewis looks at Aaron Redmond, New Zealand’s latest addition. Redmond’s father Rodney posted a hundred and a half-century on debut and never played again.
Peter English is former Australasia editor of ESPNcricinfo