Kent vs NewZealand Day -2 at Canterbury

New Zealand reached 92 for one shortly after tea in a rain affected 3-day warmup match against kent. The Skipper Jamie How & James Marshall were at the crease when the rain poured in.

The Scores:

Kent (for 1 wkt, 90 overs) 324 declared
R Key not out 178
J Tredwell not out 123

New Zealand (for 1 wkt, 38.2 overs) 92
J How not out 53
A Redmond c Jones b McLaren 14
J Marshall not out 20

Security First! Play Next for Blackcaps

New Zealand Cricket will assess the security situation in Pakistan before It confirms to play in Pakistan before the Champions Trophy 2008. Pakistan Cricket Board announced yesterday that NZCB accepted to tour Pakistan for 3 ODI's. New Zealand Confirmed that it had accepted subjected security check clearance.

The last time Blackcaps toured Pakistan was in December 2003 ( When I was studying my 12th). PCB turned to NZCB after West Indies Cricket Board turned down the offer as they need to abide to Canada Commitments.

Brendon McCullum Scores Highest Twenty20 Score ever - 158*

Blackcap Brendon McCullum Sizzles in the IPL T20 Opener with a score of unbeaten 158* . The moment I reached my home, I saw him hitting six over third man region of Zaheer. Many more followed after that. That was one of the greatest T20 innings I had ever seen.

13 Sixes! whoosh Unthinkable...

At the end I felt pity for him as he lost all his strength after batting for 72 balls with non-stop action. Kudos to you young man! Blackcaps will be proud to have one like you.

Mathew Sinclair says "I will not give away Cricket"

Mathew Sinclair is pretty much confident that he would be back to the Blackcaps Team as he is not giving away Cricket because he was not selected for the England Tour.
He feels the timing of the NZC contract announcements was odd as national performance reviews are to be conducted later this week.

Jesse Ryder, Daniel Flynn, James Marshall, and Aaron Redmond were the preferred batting options selected in the 20 contracts.

The rumour is that he might consider playing cricket overseas as the other kiwis are doing in India playing ICL.

Sinclair is keeping an open mind about where his future lies and he will go to Central Districts first to see what they can offer, given he could go overseas.

NZC Announces Contracted Players' List

Four new players are included to the Contracted Players' list for this year. The new faces are: Daniel Flynn, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ryder and Tim Southee.

Blackcaps Contracted Playerss' List:

NZC contracted players: Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Michael Mason, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Redmond, Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daniel Vettori

Mills & Oram Cleared to Play in IPL

Mills & Oram are fit enough to go and play in IPL for their respected teams. The IPL Starts from April 18 2008. Other Blackcaps who would be playing in this tourney are:

Daniel Vettori
Brendon McCullum
Scott Styris
Ross Taylor
Stephen Fleming

All the Kiwi IPL players would go to England by May 1st to participate in Eng-NZ Test Series.

Ryder's Hand Recovering Slowly

Good News to New Zealand & Ryder Fans!

Ryder is recovering slowly from his hand injury and is well expected to be playing in England if all goes well. Jesse Ryder is in Auckland and will be playing Club Cricket Championships.

If Ryder is not ready or unfit to play in England for ODI's , Peter Fulton will take his place.

Bell, Sinclair Omitted for English Tour

Matthew Bell and Mathew Sinclair's international cricket careers appear over after they were both ignored for the tour of England when test and one-day squads were named today.

Otago's Aaron Redmond has been selected as New Zealand's latest opener while Daniel Flynn has been cast as a middle order option following Sinclair's demise.
Redmond, who averages 31.66 from 66 first class matches is the only new face in the 16-man test squad while left hander Flynn has been earmarked since his was briefly included in the Twenty20 and ODI series against England.

James Marshall, who played the last of his five tests in Zimbabwe in 2005, earns a recall while Peter Fulton is also predictably back in the frame as a potential first drop after Stephen Fleming's retirement.

Captain Daniel Vettori, his deputy Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram, Ross Taylor and Kyle Mills have been given permission to join the tour on May 1 to enable them to cash in on their lucrative Twenty20 deals.

Daniel Flynn was capped earlier this season in ODIs and his excellent form throughout the New Zealand summer in State Shield and State Championship is rewarded with inclusion in both teams.

The squads also includes wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins, who will provide back-up for Brendon McCullum.

The Black Caps play three test matches, two Twenty20 games and five one-dayers against England.

They then travel to Scotland for a tri-series against the hosts and Ireland in Aberdeen.

Test side
Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum (vice-captain), Daniel Flynn, Peter Fulton, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, James Marshall, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills, Iain O'Brien, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Aaron Redmond, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Mark Gillespie or Michael Mason to be added.

One-day side
Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum (vice-captain), Daniel Flynn, Mark Gillespie, Gareth Hopkins, Jamie How, Jacob Oram, Michael Mason, James Marshall, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel, Jeese Ryder, Scott Styris, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

Short term replacements for Indian Premier League players (until May 1): Michael Mason, Mark Gillespie, Grant Elliott.

Team Selection for Blackcaps Tour of England Today!

With all the fuss around the IPL and ICL, some International Cricket boards are worst hit with the Player attrition rate from the team.

England came to NZ in January 08. They won the test series 2-1 but could not win the ODI series. Blackcaps will try to even this with good performance from their players. The team selection for the series will take place today. Lets wait and see who gets the chance.

Franklin May be back for England Tour

A positive prognosis for Black Caps' left-armer James Franklin.

Its really great to hear this news about one of the finest Blackcap left-armer 'James Franklin' is all set to be selected if provided he comes out of his knee problem. Its really disgusting to see him miss the Blackcaps season this year. However, he told he would be back for England tour positively as his knee is responding well to the treatment.

Franklin has been closely following the advice of his doctor, who told him that while he would make a full recovery he just needs to wait until his body tells him it is ready to play.

Franklin said it has been a long wait, but he is almost ready to start testing out the knee and is hoping to start bowling in the next few days.

Franklin is not expected to be named when the test squad for the upcoming series in England is announced later this week but he is hoping to be in line for a spot later in the tour.

All the best Franklin!