Nasser Hussain
There are those who have described Hussain as England’s best captain has since Michael Brearly. Hussain was able to inspire the young players in India to almost match their more experienced counterparts. Whilst not being as strict as some of his predecessors, the England skipper won’t tolerate sub standard behaviour from his players on or off the pitch. After three tough winter series on the sub-continent, a contest in the less hostile environment of New Zealand will be a welcome relief. The effect of captaincy has certainly reduced his effectiveness as a batsman. The 10/1 on offer to top score in the Series looks just about right, as does his Series runs quote of 175-190 (IG)
Michael Vaughan
It will be considered a minor miracle, if Vaughan can go through the whole Test series without injury. Every time it seems Vaughan finds some decent form with the bat – he succumbs to an injury. After scoring a century of huge quality it will now be very hard for the selectors not to select him for the first couple of Tests at least.
Should the Yorkshire player stay fit, he looks an excellent bet to be the top batsman (10/1) of the series. His captain described his big century in the previous tour match as a beautiful innings. The fact that Vaughan has not played as much Test cricket as some of his colleagues should be considered an advantage.
Marcus Trescothick
Has been complaining of fatigue after a gruelling past year. His previous 5 one-day scores have produced an average of less than 10 if to emphasis his complaints. The Somerset opener was, however, given some time off by the England management in the early part of this tour. As the New Zealand attack is lacking Shane Bond, it should be possible for Trescothick to score some useful runs at the top of the order.
SportingOdds rate the England opener at 5/1 to be the top batsman of the series. For a player who has been complaining of tiredness only a couple of weeks ago, this seems fairly poor value. With back-to-back Tests to play, there has to be a doubt about how he will perform in the latter part of the series. The Spread Betting firms are generally quoting him to score between 185 and 200 runs in the series.
Best of the Rest
Graham Thorpe has suffered personal problems and has not looked in great form on Tour. It would be too risky to bet on him top scoring in the series at 13/2 after his recent problems. McMillan is a solid middle order batsman who has scored nearly 400 runs in 6 home Tests against Australia and South Africa. A buy at his runs quote of 170-185 runs would most likely yield a small profit. Nathan Astle hit a superb century to win the final match in the recent one-day series against England. However, a total of 7 runs last year against Pakistan in 3 Tests puts me off betting on him in any form. The New Zealand captain, Fleming, is a classy left-hander, although like Hussain the captaincy may have reduced his effectiveness to score heavily. He has been known to struggle against spin in the past.
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