Styris can give England a run for their money

Twenty20 / Dean Roulston / 04 February 2008 / Leave a Comment

Betfair's resident Kiwi Dean Roulston tells us why the experience of Styris and Oram coupled with the fireworks of Fulton and McCullum can lead the Black Caps to victory

While this week's two Twenty20 internationals between the Black Caps and England are probably considered a lower priority in relation to the ODI and Test series, there is no doubt that both sides will be keen to get off to a flyer and inflict a few early mental scars. The kiwis will be hoping that there is plenty of rust in the England team given that they've only had a couple of one-day matches against a weak Canterbury side since their tour of Sri Lanka last November. England in return will be looking to expose a relatively inexperienced side which only has a whitewash against a pitiful Bangladesh side to crow about for the last few months.

The Black Caps will themselves be confident given their impressive recent record in limited overs cricket against the Poms. The cricketing public back home is not so sure however due to some indifferent form and interesting selections in the Kiwi side.

Perhaps the most controversial issue has been the inclusion of Jesse Ryder in the National side for the first time, as whilst still only 23, his career has already been full of intrigue. Widely regarded as a bit of a party boy, last season while contracted to play for Ireland in the Friends Provident Trophy, he didn't show up to a fixture at the Oval and his contract was terminated. He's had disputes with NZ cricket in the past as well, at one stage claiming he'd turned his back on NZ for not picking him for international duty. Finally, he's quite a beefy chap, an issue which has led ex-NZ wicketkeeper Adam Parore to label him as too fat for International cricket.

The main area of weakness for the Black Caps is definitely the top order. Brendon McCullum, leading the side in the absence of Daniel Vettori, is an entertainment machine and should provide some early fireworks. Samoan descendant Ross Taylor has been in fine fettle in domestic cricket, scoring a 60-odd ball hundred recently so will be keen to continue this form against England. However they'll need some help from the aforementioned Ryder, 'two-metre' Peter Fulton, Scotty 'too hotty' Styris and Big Jake 'the snake' Oram if the Black Caps are to build competitive totals.

The bowling cupboard is looking a little bare now that Shane Bond and Daniel Vettori have both been ruled out. Chris Martin leads the attack and has really grown in stature since the early days of his international career when he used to arrive at training on a clapped out pushbike. He'll be supported well by Kyle 'Jerky' Mills with the new ball, but it's after these two where things look a bit shaky. Paul Hitchcock could be best described as a journeyman and with his medium pace and no one really knows too much about raw 19 year old Tim Southee.

England would be unwise to underestimate the Black Caps, but on paper, they should hold the edge and are probably rightful [1.92] favourites in the match odds for the first 20/20 slogafest.

However I've got a feeling about this side, they have certainly improved over the last few months, and the basis is there for a pretty exciting team.

I'll be steaming into any other batsmen on the Top NZ Batsmen market, as I fancy Ryder to make an immediate impression and expect Big Jake Oram to provide some lower order pyrotechnics. Between the two of them, I think the [4.0] on offer represents a pretty sound investment.