Conway hasn't played an ODI since Nov 2023.
So, we (or Stead) are taking it on faith that he his still good at that format. While his test record has plunged, his ODI record has stayed good, but is that just because we haven't played that format while his form gas plunged?
I agree his setup , being legside of the ball is better suited to white ball, so maybe he'll still be able to perform.
But it's a risk, plus he probably misses the warmup tri series. I wouldn't have picked him.
From a Black Caps perspective, Conway's got the downsides of the guys who've opted to take the money for franchise cricket leagues when it suits, and he's got none of the technical upsides of a Kane Williamson.
In Conway's case - I'll still take it in a heart beat if he wins us the final - but at this stage of selections I'd rather we erred on the side of a guy who really wants to be there instead.
@Rapido said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
I agree his setup , being legside of the ball is better suited to white ball, so maybe he'll still be able to perform.
It is not really the bowlers only have to bowl just inside the wide line and his lack of back foot movement leaves him stranded with no balance decent follow through or power in his shots.With lack of balance he is also falling over on his on side shots now.
It could be fixed with some hard work.
@Canes4life I think that to win it all, you've got to have people who can ice the cake once you've had a good start - Williamson, Young and Latham in your middle order seems like one anchor too many and leaves one too few guys who can come in and generate a strike rate in the final 15 overs.
But, more to the point, I'm with the others who think Conway's broken. As well as his plunging test record, his T20 record over the last two years is pretty horrible.
Overall, we're probably a bit lacking in class to win it all - though a burglary could happen. What mitigates against that is Stead's conservatism. Is he going to surprise us with innovations like Deepak opening the bowling? Juggling the batting order to suit the situation? Dropping guys who don't perform?
I very much doubt it, because he's never shown an inclination to do this in the past. He's super-formulaic, so the opposition can pretty much plan minutely for what Dave's going to dish up!
And we'll need to field consistently at a much better level than we've done in the past couple of years - dropped catches will sink us if our other weaknesses don't!
for all that we're still a chance. India aren't flying, Australia have been just as conservative in their selections (and have a couple of real injury concerns). There is the opportunity for a smash and grab job.
At least we have some warmup matches this time! 
Let's see how they perform in those conditions.
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think that to win it all, you've got to have people who can ice the cake once you've had a good start - Williamson, Young and Latham in your middle order seems like one anchor too many and leaves one too few guys who can come in and generate a strike rate in the final 15 overs.
But, more to the point, I'm with the others who think Conway's broken. As well as his plunging test record, his T20 record over the last two years is pretty horrible.
Overall, we're probably a bit lacking in class to win it all - though a burglary could happen. What mitigates against that is Stead's conservatism. Is he going to surprise us with innovations like Deepak opening the bowling? Juggling the batting order to suit the situation? Dropping guys who don't perform?
I very much doubt it, because he's never shown an inclination to do this in the past. He's super-formulaic, so the opposition can pretty much plan minutely for what Dave's going to dish up!
And we'll need to field consistently at a much better level than we've done in the past couple of years - dropped catches will sink us if our other weaknesses don't!
I'm all for Young getting the opening gig over Conway, the other option is to move Conway down the order where he could potentially have more impact later in an innings. It's a hard one because like you say we want to be able to attack later in an innings and if we have too many anchor players like you suggest it could prevent us from getting a good total compared to a great total. Definitely plenty of intrigue at what the selections will be but we need to get the balance right.
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
On form I'd go Conway all day but yeah it will be hard to know if he's in form from the short run of games. Latham isn't exactly in form either so again it will be interesting to see what they do.
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
> On form I'd go Conway all day but yeah it will be hard to know if he's in form from the short run of games. Latham isn't exactly in form either so again it will be interesting to see what they do.
Is this a typo ?
@MN5 said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
> On form I'd go Conway all day but yeah it will be hard to know if he's in form from the short run of games. Latham isn't exactly in form either so again it will be interesting to see what they do.
Is this a typo ?
If he was in form*
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@MN5 said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
> On form I'd go Conway all day but yeah it will be hard to know if he's in form from the short run of games. Latham isn't exactly in form either so again it will be interesting to see what they do.
Is this a typo ?
If he was in form*
Whoever they choose it’s a bit of a sad state of affairs that we’re discussing two out of form test openers to see which one to shoehorn into the ODI team as a keeper !!!
@MN5 said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@MN5 said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Chris-B said in Black Caps vs Sri Lanka:
@Canes4life I think Devon should be competing against Tom Latham to bat at 4 or 5, but I'd start with Tom.
Problem at Champions Trophy is that it's all over quickly, so by the time you figure out someone's out of form it could be too late.
We've got Pakistan, Bangladesh and India in our pool, so we're likely in some trouble if we don't win both of our first two games.
I like our pool more than Australia, England, SA and Afghanistan, though - assuming that we'd swap with either SA or England.
> On form I'd go Conway all day but yeah it will be hard to know if he's in form from the short run of games. Latham isn't exactly in form either so again it will be interesting to see what they do.
Is this a typo ?
If he was in form*
Whoever they choose it’s a bit of a sad state of affairs that we’re discussing two out of form test openers to see which one to shoehorn into the ODI team as a keeper !!!
Yeah it's not ideal is it. The other option could have been Finn Allen who could have been utilised to go for it later in the innings, though his keeping is questionable at times.
The only time Conway has looked like recapturing his form lately is when he plays aggressively, so I hope the plan is for him to go out and play a few shots. Like @Chris I'm concerned about his footwork though, even at his peak he was never a big mover of his feet but these days he seems to be stuck in concrete. You get away with that more in the shorter forms though, and he still has an incredible eye.
