NZ v OZ 3rd ODI

[Voltman]

That makes no sense, because he'd have a maximum of five overs to wreak havoc, rather than the 10 he has at his disposal at the moment at the top of the order (although that's mitigated by the potential movement of the new ball).

[Cyclops]

That makes no sense, because he'd have a maximum of five overs to wreak havoc, rather than the 10 he has at his disposal at the moment at the top of the order (although that's mitigated by the potential movement of the new ball).

He only has 6 in T20. Plus theoretically we have Ryder at the top of the order, and Guptill and Taylor can score quickly too. We have a batting powerplay to use, we need to find a way that a) gives us the best chance of utilising it well (so get a guy who specialises in coming out and right away batting under fielding restrictions) and b) maximises the disruption to the opposition bowling attack. Typically, your strike bowlers are used at the death, by taking the batting powerplay at 30ish and sending out a psuedo-opener, you mix things up. Do they bowl strike bowlers and look to stem the flow? That means that at the death your 4/5th bowlers have to be used. Or do they let McCullum tuck into the part-timers? Obviously, it won't work every time but I think the pay off would be spectacular. His stats as an opener since the 2007 world cup are gilchristesque, and that is typically using 20-30 overs, so why not start him late?

Yes, he could do much better batting at the start of the innings because he has longer to do damage, but we don't want to put all our eggs in one basket, having McCullum as a 'third opener' means we have a trick up our sleeve if we lose momentum. And yes, this is all premised on a top order of Ryder/Guptill/Taylor being almost as effective as McCullum/Ryder/Guptill.