Three players who make the Black Caps a dark horse

Stephen Fleming recently said in an interview on Hooked on Cricket, that New Zealand, Australia, England and South Africa all have a very good chance to win next year's cricket world cup. New Zealand have never been given much of a chance to win a world cup before. Could it be that they are a dark horse to win next year's? I believe so.

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be held in New Zealand and Australia. The hard, bouncy pitches in these countries will support the fast bowlers, while making it harder for spinners. This will suite the above-mentioned teams, yet pose a challenge to sub-continent teams, which usually rely on their spinners. New Zealand have had a tough couple of years lately but now seem to be getting it right.

Here are some players I love watching in the New Zealand team, and who I believe will pose a threat to their opposition:

Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum. Photo from www.indiatoday.intoday.in

Even if he doesn't keep wickets anymore, he is a match-winning batsman. The 33-year-old once scored 158* in an Indian Premier League T20 match! The aggressive batsman is generally inconsistent, either scoring few or scoring lots of runs. But he has accumulated 5 200 runs in One Day Internationals at an average of 30.05, and at a strike rate of 90.56 (as of 04 December), making him both a dangerous and experienced batsman.

Ross Taylor

Ross Taylor. Photo from www.cricketcountry.com

My favourite Black Cap player to watch. Taylor has been in and out of the squad because of injury, and because of favour, or rather lack of it, with management. Yet he remains indisputably their best batsman. The 30-year-old has been through it all and tempers his world-class skill with patience and innovation. He has scored 4 238 runs in ODIs at an average of 40.07, and at a strike rate of 82.39. This guy has big match temperament (BMT), one to watch out for.

Mitchell McClenaghan

Mitchell McClenaghan. Photo from www.bbc.com

He may not be the most experienced fast bowler in the side, but from what I have seen from him he has what it takes to make a difference in the world cup. The 28-year-old is quick, has a nice action, controls the ball well, and has proven that he can take on the best teams. In his ODI debut he took 4 wickets for 20 runs against South Africa. He has taken 50 ODI wickets at an average of 23.48, with an economy of 5.77. Not the best stats, but he is better than they show, and will be a handful on the fast and bouncy pitches.

Incomparable conclusion

I have been away from the blog due to surgery on my wrist, a bone sticking out where it is not supposed to, coupled with a ganglion (two cists in the wrist), were promptly removed. I am now recovering.

The Proteas' failure against Australia was made up for in our success so far in the T20 World Cup. The four remaining teams should provide an awesome conclusion to the tournament.

India and West Indies have both won T20 World Cups and Sri Lanka is the second best T20 International team in the world, according to ICC rankings (http://www.icc-cricket.com/team-rankings/t20i). Yet against all odds, South Africa, with its questionable limited overs squad and performances, finds itself in the semis.

The semi-final fixtures: 
Sri Lanka vs West Indies, 03 April, 15:00
India vs South Africa, 04 April, 15:00

The final will be held on 06 April at 15:00 and all these games will be played in Mirpur, Bangladesh.

India has classy players. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli can both hit the ball from Bangladesh to Australia with little effort and Ravichandran Ashwin takes wickets while keeping economical.

West Indies, though weaker in Test matches, is more dangerous the shorter the format is. Needless to say teams must watch out for Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, who can both hit the ball to the moon with no effort. Amid the team's mediocre bowling lineup stands Sunil Narine, who is also one of the best spinners in T20s.

Sri Lanka has the legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene (who are both retiring from T20 Internationals after the tournament), but Angelo Mathews is easily one of the best all-rounders in the world.

Last, but hopefully the winners, South Africa's AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir are key.
Interestingly JP Duminy is doing very well for us. But I think if we are to win our most destructive batsman needs to have a good innings. If Quinton de Kock does well at the start of the innings it should motivate the rest of the team to perform really well.

South Africa will hope Quinton de Kock (21) will perform well near the end of the T20 World Cup. Image taken from http://sports.howzit.msn.com/

Glenn McGrath in hall of fame

Glenn McGrath was recently inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Here's the story: http://www.icc-cricket.com/newsdetails.php?newsId=22500_1357282143

Growing up I watched Glenn McGrath bowl. He was incredible. He helped Australia win many tests and ODIs. At the time I believed Shaun Pollock was the only pace bowler of the same calibre in the world. McGrath was always a bit better though. I loved watching him bowl. At the time he was the best pace bowler in the world, and has been the best since.

A legendary bowler. Glenn McGrath, now 42 years old. Picture taken from http://www.skysports.com

Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn and Mohammad Asif are and were all brilliant. But Glenn McGrath was the best. McGrath was accurate, deceived the batsmen, and moved the bowl a lot. The best thing about McGrath though was his confidence. He always backed himself to get the batsman out. He was extremely economical and at the same time took tons of wickets.

He was the leading wicket taker of the 2007 world cup, which Australia won. Picture taken from http://ewr3e.blogspot.com

With his late wife Jane, Glenn co-founded the McGrath Foundation to support Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer and their families through the provision of McGrath Breast Care Nurses. He is now Chairman of the foundation. The foundation's website: http://www.mcgrathfoundation.com.au/ Picture taken from http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au

According to ESPN cricinfo:

His Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	124	243	29248	12186	563	8/24	10/27	21.64	2.49	51.9	28	29	3
ODIs	250	248	12970	8391	381	7/15	7/15	22.02	3.88	34.0	9	7	0
T20Is	2	2	48	79	5	3/31	3/31	15.80	9.87	9.6	0	0	0
First-class	189		41759	17414	835	8/24		20.85	2.50	50.0		42	7
List A	305		15808	10004	463	7/15	7/15	21.60	3.79	34.1	15	7	0
Twenty20	19	19	432	492	20	4/29	4/29	24.60	6.83	21.6	1	0	0

His Batting and fielding averages (less important)

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	124	138	51	641	61	7.36	1570	40.82	0	1	51	1	38	0
ODIs	250	68	38	115	11	3.83	236	48.72	0	0	7	0	37	0
T20Is	2	1	0	5	5	5.00	12	41.66	0	0	0	0	1	0
First-class	189	193	67	977	61	7.75			0	2			54	0
List A	305	80	43	124	11	3.35	270	45.92	0	0			48	0
Twenty20	19	5	2	9	5	3.00	18	50.00	0	0	1	0	5	0