**Official** England in New Zealand

[KiWiNiNjA]

James Marshall?
Daniel Flynn?
Aaron Redmond?
Jeetan Patel?
Paul Hitchcock?

What have these commentators been smoking. Yes, thats right people. All these names have been suggested to replace Peter Fulton.

ffs, Hitchcock is a bowler first, and he can't even do that very well. Why you would wanna move him up the order in place of Fulton, I do not know.

England gonna coast home here.

 

[stumpski]

First ball of Hitchcock's new spell settles it. No-ball hit for 6.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

First ball of Hitchcock's new spell settles it. No-ball hit for 6.

And Simon Doull wants him to have a bigger role in the side at the place of Fulton?

Crazy.

 

[Natman20]

First ball of Hitchcock's new spell settles it. No-ball hit for 6.

followed by a couple boundaries

 

[Prince EWS]

James Marshall?
Daniel Flynn?
Aaron Redmond?
Jeetan Patel?
Paul Hitchcock?

What have these commentators been smoking. Yes, thats right people. All these names have been suggested to replace Peter Fulton.

ffs, Hitchcock is a bowler first, and he can't even do that very well. Why you would wanna move him up the order in place of Fulton, I do not know.

England gonna coast home here.

Haha yeah. Playing the extra bowling wasn't that bad an idea, but why on earth do you have bat Hitchcock at 6? Why can't you just move everyone up one?

On Hitchcock's bowling, it's absolutely village. I could see some merit in his selection if the rest of the bowlers you were picking were rabbits and hence you needed him to bat #8.. but Vettori and Mills are in the team so he bats #10 anyway, so it makes no sense. That said, with O'Brien seemingly next in line, it'd probably be best if he kept his spot....

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I rest my case with regards to Hitchcock. They really should have let his international career rest in peace. Now he's just getting ripped to pieces.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

That said, with O'Brien seemingly next in line, it'd probably be best if he kept his spot....

That's just bollocks. O'Brien could bowl better than Hitchcock running in backwards. People's prejudice against O'Brien is unbelievable. O'Brien may not be international class, but Hitchcock isn't even first class class.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

ffs, these NZ commentators are horrible.

And what the **** is up with all this HERO bull****, sounds so gay.
Collingwood is their HERO? Surely its gotta be Bell.

 

[stumpski]

Colly took three wickets as well. But would be happy to see either get MoM.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Colly took three wickets as well. But would be happy to see either get MoM.

Ahhh, too true.

 

[Natman20]

Well done England.

NZ need to win one more, England need to win the next 2. Now the series has got more intersting.

 

[atisha_ro]

first cricket contest I've seen in a long time.. Vettori man of the match for NZ, batted alright and kept them in the game while bowling, after he was gone the bowling crashed.
good one anyway, should be a fine match on Wednesday.

 

[Flem274*]

Disappointed but not surprised. It seems for the sake of having Ryder open we've ****ed up the rest of our line up. How can you expect Fulton to score runs at number 6? We need a reshuffle, bringing in Marshall or Sinclair will just make things worse. I also want to see Oram take responsibility as a number six batsman.

As for the bowling well Martin and Hitchcock are not ODI standard and I wish I'd never mentioned Hitchcocks OK record of a few years ago because it seems the selectors browse CW once in a while.

I don't think O'Brien should come in, he's already proven he's useless. There's not much in domestic cricket because the other bits and pieces allrounder Andre Adams is gone and Harris and Tuffey are rebel players as well. I suppose we could take a punt with someone like J. McMillan or Thompson but really thats just a punt, I'd prefer Mason and Patel to enter the fray. I don't want a knee jerk selection of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Hamish Bennet or Richard Sherlock because then we'd run the real risk of ruining them.

Really all I'm asking for is for the selectors to pick good selections and have a bit of a reshuffle, not follow any brainless knee-jerk stuff.

 

[sportychic33]

Disappointed but not surprised. It seems for the sake of having Ryder open we've ****ed up the rest of our line up. How can you expect Fulton to score runs at number 6? We need a reshuffle, bringing in Marshall or Sinclair will just make things worse. I also want to see Oram take responsibility as a number six batsman.

As for the bowling well Martin and Hitchcock are not ODI standard and I wish I'd never mentioned Hitchcocks OK record of a few years ago because it seems the selectors browse CW once in a while.

I don't think O'Brien should come in, he's already proven he's useless. There's not much in domestic cricket because the other bits and pieces allrounder Andre Adams is gone and Harris and Tuffey are rebel players as well. I suppose we could take a punt with someone like J. McMillan or Thompson but really thats just a punt, I'd prefer Mason and Patel to enter the fray. I don't want a knee jerk selection of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Hamish Bennet or Richard Sherlock because then we'd run the real risk of ruining them.

Really all I'm asking for is for the selectors to pick good selections and have a bit of a reshuffle, not follow any brainless knee-jerk stuff.

I'm sure Oram would take responsibility if he was given the opportunity to constantly bat at number 6, but at the moment I can see no problem with any of his efforts.
The batsmen you should be asking to take responsibility are Fulton and Styris they have been so disappointing.
A reshuffle would be good, but I don't see that possible with these selectors as they have decided where they want players to bat so it will be a straight swap with whoever they pick for Fulton.
You are way to quick to elect to drop Martin as you seem to be making emotive reactions and not considering his performance through out the Bangladesh Series and the first games of this current series.
No way should McMillian J, be anywhere near the team go in search of his effforts for this year and you will see why. Thompson could be a good choice as I think he is a left arm bowler for the variation (not sure on this. Can't pick the young guys yet as they aren't in the country except for Bennett.
Hopefully Mason pulls through fitness wise as he has good control and is a good bowler unlike the washed up Hitchcock. Based on averages another option is Elliott, but am unsure whether he qualifies for NZ Selection yet.

 

[Flem274*]

I'm sure Oram would take responsibility if he was given the opportunity to constantly bat at number 6, but at the moment I can see no problem with any of his efforts.
The batsmen you should be asking to take responsibility are Fulton and Styris they have been so disappointing.
A reshuffle would be good, but I don't see that possible with these selectors as they have decided where they want players to bat so it will be a straight swap with whoever they pick for Fulton.
No way should McMillian J, be anywhere near the team go in search of his effforts for this year and you will see why. Thompson could be a good choice as I think he is a left arm bowler for the variation (not sure on this. Can't pick the young guys yet as they aren't in the country except for Bennett.
Hopefully Mason pulls through fitness wise as he has good control and is a good bowler unlike the washed up Hitchcock. Based on averages another option is Elliott, but am unsure whether he qualifies for NZ Selection yet.

Was more meaning he should be given the opportunity. He needs time to get in. Hell he could almost bat five if the middle order died or something.

EDIT: WRT Martin, I've never rated him as a one day bowler. Sure in SA he was OK, in Aus he was average and against Bangladesh he didn't take wickets despite being a "strike bowler." If you can't knock over at least some bangladeshi wickets even if you're economical then you're not much to write home about. I'd have mason over Martin in an ODI any day of the week. Improving test bowler though but he's still poor in ODIs.

 

[sportychic33]

Was more meaning he should be given the opportunity. He needs time to get in. Hell he could almost bat five if the middle order died or something.

I can see that happening now with the exodus of the middle order players such as Styris. I wouldn't be suprised if Oram managed to move his way up to 5, especially as he is a time based player and is becoming more consistent. However the issue comes that we need people to fill the spaces below him in the middle order, although this will mean a reshuffle which probably won't come under this reign of selectors.

 

[sportychic33]

Was more meaning he should be given the opportunity. He needs time to get in. Hell he could almost bat five if the middle order died or something.

EDIT: WRT Martin, I've never rated him as a one day bowler. Sure in SA he was OK, in Aus he was average and against Bangladesh he didn't take wickets despite being a "strike bowler." If you can't knock over at least some bangladeshi wickets even if you're economical then you're not much to write home about. I'd have mason over Martin in an ODI any day of the week. Improving test bowler though but he's still poor in ODIs.

However if you extract Martin from the line up who are you going to replace him with? I agree that he isn't really striking but if we were bowling correctly in partnerships, he can create pressure at the other end for a more strike bowler, or the other bowler at the other end can create pressure for him to take more wickets.
I would also have Mason, so with current resources I would have Mason, Martin, Mills as my 3 "pronged" pace attack.
Ideally I would have more variation with a Left Armer in there but we are awfully low in the bowling stocks at the moment.

 

[Prince EWS]

However if you extract Martin from the line up who are you going to replace him with? I agree that he isn't really striking but if we were bowling correctly in partnerships, he can create pressure at the other end for a more strike bowler, or the other bowler at the other end can create pressure for him to take more wickets.
I would also have Mason, so with current resources I would have Mason, Martin, Mills as my 3 "pronged" pace attack.
Ideally I would have more variation with a Left Armer in there but we are awfully low in the bowling stocks at the moment.

You could bring Mason in for Martin and then, when fit, Franklin could come in as an allrounder with Oram pushing up to 6. Franklin certainly isn't a good OD bowler but as an allrounder batting #7, I think his bowling is useful enough and his lower order hitting in ODIs was really coming on before his injury.

 

[sportychic33]

Was more meaning he should be given the opportunity. He needs time to get in. Hell he could almost bat five if the middle order died or something.

EDIT: WRT Martin, I've never rated him as a one day bowler. Sure in SA he was OK, in Aus he was average and against Bangladesh he didn't take wickets despite being a "strike bowler." If you can't knock over at least some bangladeshi wickets even if you're economical then you're not much to write home about. I'd have mason over Martin in an ODI any day of the week. Improving test bowler though but he's still poor in ODIs.

You could bring Mason in for Martin and then, when fit, Franklin could come in as an allrounder with Oram pushing up to 6. Franklin certainly isn't a good OD bowler but as an allrounder batting #7, I think his bowling is useful enough and his lower order hitting in ODIs was really coming on before his injury.

yes that would be even better, however we need to see how Franklin comes back from injury and how his knees hold up.
Would go for Mason, Martin and Mills for the next ODI on the proviso that Mason is fit.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

The Guardain also suggested Tredwell for Swann, but that strikes me as harsh on the latter, given he's hardly bowled in the two games so far. He got a bit of tap, but he was far from alone in that and his decent comeback tour in SL should give him a little credit in the bank.

Grauniad, surely.