Black Caps captain Tim Southee and teammates during their loss to England in the first test. Photo / Photosport
Black Caps captain Tim Southee and teammates during their loss to England in the first test. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Chris Rattue lists the winners and losers from the sporting weekend.
LOSER: New Zealand Cricket
The current series against England should be a sporting highlight.
But it is tucked away on an outlier platform, and to make matters so much worse, the Black Caps conspired not to select TrentBoult, one of our greatest bowlers.
New Zealand’s woeful first test performance feels like a death knell for test cricket in this country, rather than the highlight it should have been.
By not selecting the off-contract Boult, cricket is going down the All Blacks’ dangerous “no overseas” path, of turning the national side into a regime team, rather than being a national team.
If our cricket bosses could argue that Boult was not ready for the first test, after playing T20 overseas, they don’t have a leg to stand on in relation to the next test in Wellington this week.
Get serious. Get desperate. Bring back Trent Boult for the second test — that’s my advice to coach Gary Stead and co.
My earliest recollections of cricket involved Ken Wadsworth’s brave batting helping New Zealand draw a five-match series in the West Indies.
We’ve had a line of top batting glovemen in the years since, with the vastly different styles of Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling among the standouts. It looks as though Tom Blundell — a shining light at Mt Maunganui — is poised to join the pantheon.
Tom Blundell in action. Photo / Photosport
WINNER: Brendon McCullum
His influence on English cricket has been remarkable. It includes helping mastermind a crushing first-test win over New Zealand in Mt Maunganui.
Veteran fast bowling great Stuart Broad says the positive atmosphere McCullum and New Zealand-born skipper Ben Stokes generate in the England camp is amazing.
LOSERS/POSSIBLE WINNER: Football Ferns/World Cup rescue move
Be careful what you wish for.
New Zealand women’s football is being exposed for its frailties in ways unimaginable when this country won the co-hosting rights for the Fifa World Cup.
We all knew the national side was not up to facing the very best on the world stage.
But after a run of poor results, the full-strength squad’s 5-0 defeat in a friendly against world No 22 Portugal was still a shock, given that the Ferns are ranked at 24.
National coach Jitka Klimková has outlined the path forward, of aligning the national sides and developing players with greater technical skill and sophistication.
But that is far easier said than done, and the plan to fast-track women’s football by attracting lots of young talent could be hurt if the Ferns are embarrassed in the mid-year tournament.
Klimková also pinpointed a serious hurdle to success — women’s football is racing ahead around the world, and it seems New Zealand is actually getting left further behind.
Most of us have not seen enough women’s football to have a clue as to what the immediate remedy could be.
There is one obvious path to try though — see again if star veteran defender Abby Erceg will change her seemingly intractable mind, and make herself available for the World Cup. The situation is that serious.
Abby Erceg — your country desperately needs you.
New Zealand defender Abby Erceg. Photo / Photosport
WINNERS: The Breakers
The New Zealand basketball side has covered itself in semifinal glory, completing a series win over Tasmania with Barry Brown Jr leading the way.
It is seven years since the former NBL powerhouse was in the final, and the Auckland club has endured incredibly tough times of late.
Mody Maor’s Miracles face the table-topping Sydney Kings in next month’s finals series, meaning they are three victories away from one of the greatest turnaround stories in the history of New Zealand sport.
WINNER: Lydia Ko
The world number one took home the trophy and a lot of Saudi cash. Ko is also a great comeback story.
WINNER/LOSER: Will Warbrick/New Zealand Rugby
The Melbourne Storm have a potential superstar on their hands, judging by glimpses of the former All Blacks Sevens player in the NRL trial against the Warriors in Christchurch.
Wing Warbrick’s family has a proud place in the history of New Zealand rugby. It’s a history that might have been continued.
New Zealand rugby, and the Warriors, can’t see the raw potential that leads to great wings it seems.
Or to put it another way — why can’t we produce another X-factor like Jonah Lomu or John Kirwan of Manu Vatuvei?
The NRL is full of sensational wings. On that note, Storm wing Xavier Coates’ try from a bomb was the standout moment from the Christchurch game. It involved a remarkable catch and stretch for the score.
Will Warbrick of the Storm in action against the Warriors. Photo / Photosport
LOSER: Sport with China
The All Whites have arranged matches against China next month.
This, at a time when the United States claims the Chinese are about to support Russia’s disgusting, brutal invasion of Ukraine with lethal weapons and ammunition.
Russia is, without doubt, guilty of war crimes including the targeting of civilians. Russia’s allies must be seen as culpable.
Like Russia, China has fallen under the command of an evil dictator. It represents a threat to our freedoms.
We should be doing anything we can to support Ukraine, even if there is little concrete support such a small country like ours can offer.
I don’t think the weaponry claims against the Chinese are proven, although a Chinese company has long supplied Russia (and anyone else) with potentially deadly drones.
The time has already arrived when we should consider banning bilateral sports fixtures against China on moral grounds, to at least make some kind of stand.
The US says China has already given Russia non-lethal support. China may well become, or already be, complicit in war crimes.
WINNER: Chris Wood
Any goal in the English Premier League is precious. Wood has struggled for opportunities since joining Nottingham Forrest but he was in the right place to score the leveller against mighty Manchester City, a huge moment in the title race.
Nottingham Forest players celebrate after Chris Wood scored his side's equaliser. Photo / AP
LOSER: Tiger Woods
What an idiot. His misogynist tampon “prank” during a tournament was pathetic.
What was the guy thinking?
And as American Olympic track legend Michael Johnson said, an “if I offended” apology hardly even ranks as an apology.
Woods handed playing partner Justin Thomas a tampon, after Woods outdrove him.
He seemed to be saying “you drove like a girl”.
And by carrying a tampon with him, Woods had planned it that way.
LOSER: The Super Bowl coverage
We got the B-grade Australasian coverage with boring, annoying interruptions and asides along with lacklustre commentary. It was so bad it just about wrecked the experience. The Super Bowl doesn’t work unless you get the full American blast. Sky TV, please, please, please sort it out next year.
WINNER: Resurgent Manchester United
Brilliant. The EPL is always better off with the Red Devils in full flight. Erik ten Hag has them firmly in the title hunt, their latest 3-0 win over Leicester confirming that.
