None of these things apply for sure anymore, including certainty that he will captain New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup. The sad thing about Read from the romantic viewpoint is that the magic has gone, so is this by deterioration or design? Read used to pop up everywhere. Judging Read has become an exercise for the aficionados and number crunchers, whereas he used to paint glorious pictures you couldn't miss. Read turns 34 during the next World Cup in Japan, and is looking so battle weary he might not make it that far.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 16, 2016 02:17 UTC