Should Franklin bat ahead of Vettori?

[sittingduck]

Should James Franklin and Daniel Vettori swap batting spots. So far this season Franklin has scored 251 runs in 21 games at an average of 27.88 while Vettori has 237 from 25 games at 19.75

For me its a no brainer especially when the NZ media keep saying Bracewell picks him ahead of the likes of Martin and Gillespie due to his batting ability.

[arsalan660]

I think thats this is right franklin plays better than vettori in past games

[Andy Mellon]

Depends on the situation IMO. Franklin is a much better hitter of the ball than Vettori, but Vettori is a much better 'orthodox' player with the bat. Franklin could score a quick thirty, or an even quicker first ball duck. Vettori is more likely to accumulate 20 off 20. For example, when England played Bangladesh and were six wickets down, I'd be a lot happier with a 'Vettori' coming out to bat than a 'Franklin'. Conversely, if you were 250 - 6, and trying to set a tough target, a 'Franklin' should come out. If he's out for 0, you've lost nothing, if he scores 30 off 20, you've gained 10 runs over a 'Vettori'

[Nostromo]

Funny that you should ask the very thing that I was wondering. Yes, I think Franklin, if he plays, should bat ahead of Vettori. I was impressed with Franklin's batting, though I cannot say the same thing about his bowling so far. I think he should come in at No:8 ahead of Vettori while batting; also, I don't think he should bowl so early in the Powerplays. Bond, Oram and maybe Gillespie should share the bulk of the first 15 overs and then come back later for the third PP session with Franklin and the others bolwing in between. That still allows Bond and Oram (who I belive should be tried as a death bowler) 2 overs each at the end.

[Karthik]

I think he shouldn't.Vettori is a much better and experienced batsman and it's just now that Vettori isn't in his best form.Even if we go by the figures,Franklin should come below because Vettori can pick up a few singles and even if he gets out,there's no problem with Franklin still to come.So Vettori,being a steady player,would really be better off knowing that there's still a batsman left to come.

[*Vettori*]

I don't he should to be honest. I'm not a fan of tinkering with the batting line up, and when they moved Franklin up to 6 against Australia on Saturday, it didn't work. Plus when Vettori is in form, he is a very useful batsman.

[Aurelius]

I think a better question would be, "should Franklin be in the team?" And I think that the answer is a long, loud NO.

[Andy Mellon]

I disagree with you entirely Aurelius.

Franklin is a much better bowler than Kyle Mills, who is now NZ's number two and offers some variety to the right arm fast-medium bowling line up of Martin/Mills/Mason/O'Brien/Gillespie - which to my mind is pretty one-dimensional.

[Aurelius]

"Much better" than Kyle Mills? In ODIs, Franklin isn't as economical as Mills, and not nearly as penetrative. He does a better job in Tests, but his economy of 3.6 is far too high, whereas Mills only goes at 3.1, which is much healthier, and his strike rate of 55, while not as good as Franklin's, is still plenty good enough. I can accept that Franklin might be better than, say, O'Brien or Gillespie, but he definitely shouldn't get in at Mills' expense.

[Andy Mellon]

He definately should as there is no variety in a pace attack of Martin/Mills/Mason etc. etc. Franklin is to my mind a much better bowler than Mills. Where Mills is better than Franklin is in consistency. Mills will never win you a test match, whereas Franklin at his best can.