Cunis - he's neither one thing, nor the other

I have just finished reading Harry Ricketts' "How to Catch a Cricket Match". The book covers the second day of the second test between the West Indies and New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in 2006. I was of course there on this day, giving me a slightly different perspective.

Ricketts book is a great read for anyone with a passing interest in the great game. He shares stories of how he came to love the game, and how he would analyse the game and machinations of what could happen with his friends - just like every cricket follower does. He also talks of how cricket lovers can at times talk in code, for example how a line like Flemming cuts Edwards through backward point for four would be meaningless to most people, yet cricket followers know exactly what you mean.

The title of this article of course is a line from the book, in reference to the NZ player of the 1960s Bob Cunis, Ricketts recalls how the line was delivered dryly by the BBC commentators of the day - fantastic.

To finish Ricketts names his all time New Zealand XI, and his all time World XI. These are often pointless exercises, but fun all the same so here's mine. (I dont honestly expect anyone reading this to actually pick their own as well!)

New Zealand Test XI
1. Stewie Dempster, 2. John Wright, 3. Bert Sutcliffe, 4. Martin Crowe (captain), 5.Glenn Turner, 6. John Reid, 7. Chris Cairns, 8. Sir Richard Hadlee, 9. Adam Parore, 10. Daniel Vettori, 11. Shane Bond

World Test XI
1. Viv Richards (WI), 2. Michael Slater (AUS), 3. Sir Donald Bradman (AUS), 4. Ricky Ponting (AUS), 5. Sachin Tendulkar (IND), 6. Sir Garfield Sobers (WI), 7. Adam Gilchrist (AUS), 8. Shane Warne (AUS), 9. Sir Richard Hadlee (NZ), 10. Courtney Walsh (WI), 11. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

and while im at it, ill pick a one-day team too

New Zealand One Day XI
1. Mark Greatbatch, 2. Nathan Astle, 3. Andrew Jones, 4. Martin Crowe, 5. Stephen Fleming, 6. Chris Cairns, 7. Chris Harris, 8. Brendon McCullum, 9. Gavin Larsen, 10. Daniel Vettori, 11. Shane Bond.