Domestic bliss, international miss
He was name checked by Jimmy Neesham as a key figure in his bowling resurgence, but that’s as close as Hamish Bennett’s got to a Black Caps mention this summer.
The Wellington Firebirds skipper’s omission from the Twenty20 squad to face Sri Lanka caused a few furrowed brows from learned cricket types.
And rightly so, when you consider the 31-year-old’s numbers in domestic white-ball cricket and his dominant role leading the Firebirds to the 50-over title.
More pertinently for the current selection discussions around the pace bowling makeup of the World Cup squad, Bennett’s ability at the death with slower ball bouncers, offspin and legspin variations and knuckle ball, is matched by few, if any, in New Zealand.
His T20 Super Smash figures from the past three seasons tell a story: a bowling average of 18.28, economy rate of 7.15 and strike rate of just over 15.
The two who pipped him in the Black Caps squad for last night’s Sri Lanka match in Auckland – the Knights’ Scott Kuggeleijn and Stags’ Seth Rance – have impressive numbers in that three-year period too, but Bennett takes the points decision.
Kuggeleijn averages 21 with an ER of 8, and SR of 16 in that same three-year period while Rance had the most success with 31 wickets, average 24, ER 8.3 and SR 14.7.
It’s in domestic 50-over cricket where Bennett stands out even more, after his 28 wickets at 14.42 and ER of 4.35 in the Firebirds’ campaign which ended with victory over Otago in the final last month.
Over the past three seasons of Ford Trophy, Bennett has 48 wickets at 17.66 and ER of 4.49. Kuggeleijn and Rance are very similar over that period, both averaging around 30 with an ER of 5.25.
So why has Bennett been overlooked? There’s a compelling argument that Tim Southee could have sat out last night’s match along with Trent Boult and let Bennett, Rance and Kuggeleijn all go at it.
It is understood Kuggeleijn got the final nod over Bennett for his extra pace – he sits behind only Lockie Ferguson and the currently sidelined Adam Milne on that front – and his batting ability which far outweighs Bennett’s. In the field he offers more, too.
That is increasingly a factor for the national selectors; the ability to bowl a heavy ball and provide a point of difference in the middle stages, as well as all-round contribution with bat and in the field.
But such is Bennett’s skill level with new ball and old, consistency and ability to impart his bowling wisdom to the likes of Neesham, he looks very hard done by.
It’s nearly five years since Bennett bowled a superb, hostile spell to Virat Kohli in an ODI at Eden Park, which saw him nick the great batsman off for six. Bennett has played just three ODIs since then, the latest against Bangladesh in Dublin in May, 2017. In 16 career ODIs he has the respectable figures of 27 wickets at 23, ER 5.18.
New Zealand need to find more from Southee and Matt Henry in this five-match India ODI series and have a look at Doug Bracewell, a inferior white ball bowler to Bennett who benefits from being an