John Wright wants changes at the top of the batting order for Pakistan ODI series
New Zealand cricket coach John Wright is mulling on making some changes in his team’s batting order on the eve of the ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
The six match series starts in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wellington-c864 tomorrow and Wright stated that he would consult with team captain Daniel Vettori before implementing his plans in the opening match.
The most significant change is likely to be at the top of the batting order; the two opening slots with Jessie Ryder and Brendon McCullum who are both attacking batsmen, Wright feels that the hosts need to redo their strategy and see if they need to bring
one or both of them down the order.
"There may be only one of them at the top of the order. We really need to look at the way we have been playing and to consider where we have our firepower, particularly our impact batsmen.”
Wright feels that the batting order needs to strike a balance, he added that the top six slots should have a combination of attacking and solid batsmen who would help the team adjust to any challenges that the team faces in a match situation.
The former opening batsman who also captained the national team, besides coaching http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 for 5 years, is urging the rest of the team management to re-think their strategy especially with the bat.
Wright stated that adding depth to the batting line-up was important for the team especially as they look to stall their losing sequence in the format which is now 11 games.
"The one thing about http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 one-day sides is that they always appear to be at their strongest when you had great batting depth around Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8," Wright said. "When you played against New Zealand they were just a hard side to break down. We will
be looking to bat as deep and with as much quality as we can around those areas."
Wright has many options of shuffling their batting line-up with the likes of Martin Guptill expected to offer an alternate to the two openers. Guptill had a decent run with the bat in the two match test series, he scored a half-century in each of the two
games and Wright is impressed by his development.
Although the hosts lost the series Wright is happy with the way the team played in the second test where they had the upper-hand on the last day before the seasoned Pakistani pair of Younis Khan and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 bailed their team out of trouble, and ensured
that they draw the match and win the series 1-0.
Wright was clearly disappointed not to be able to get out a win from the test match, and believed that had his team broken the partnership, they would have had a great chance of leveling the series.
Pakistan, on the other hand, seemed pleased with the result even though they could have gone on to win the match. Their negative play just suggested lack of mental strength, something the Pakistani team is famous for, and the lack of will on part of their
captain, Misbah-ul-Haq - who just seems to be cementing his place in the team and never looks half as ambitious as he should be. On the bright side though, the resilient, and gutless, play of the Misbah led pakistan, saw the men in green win a series almost
after 4 years.
John Wright, understandably was pleased with the performance of his team on the last they and hailed the team's fighting spirit as the Kiwis at least showed the drive and determination to win the match.
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