**Official** England in New Zealand

[Flem274*]

The problem with taking Southee for experience is that if we get a horrific run of injuries we'll have to use him vs England. 19 years old, away from home against a good side. Sharma managed it but not many would. Lets give him an A tour first then debut him next year.

Fair enough on Ryder and Franklin, if they don't play then Hay in, Mason in, Gillespie and Nicol/Broom/Elliot to enter the squad.

WRT Elliot, where does he bat for Wellington and where does he bat best?

 

[Tim]

Hmm yes, Michael Mason is a name I forgot. He was bowling well before he got injured.

Elliott bats about 5 or 6 for Wellington I think. His own words are that he's a batsman who can bowl a bit.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Hmm yes, Michael Mason is a name I forgot. He was bowling well before he got injured.

Elliott bats about 5 or 6 for Wellington I think. His own words are that he's a batsman who can bowl a bit.

Would certainly prefer to take Mason over 'Obber'

 

[Athlai]

If Franklin's fit he should come. He excells versus England and in their conditions so it would be the ideal comeback for him, if he's not fit he shouldn't come, simple as that.

O'Dire could do potentially well in English conditions so I have no real problem if he gets in the team though I would want, (Franklin) Southee, Mason and Gillespie in the squad ahead of him in that order). Give the guy a break guys, he's a handy bowler and failed against the Saffies despite generating a half dozen chances, certainly no world beater but not the worst we've ever (or England) have put on the field.

The batting front seems rather solid, we have Taylor, How, McCullum all looking great. Oram an easy choice even though he is out of form at 6. Fulton ready to come back into the team, a Sinclair who can be hot or cold, with Hay, Elliot and Ryder all trying to get into the Test team. My biggest concern is Bell, our cover at the top of the order appears to be Papps and he often does awfully, though hopefully Bell will impress and earn his spot.

Patel is the 12th man without question so he's gotta be in the squad hopefully though Elliot will be able to take up that extra seamers role and allow Patel to get some game time as they (Dan and Dave) looked great in that last match.


On a completely different note, any ideas for a good sign to take to the cricket in Wellington?

 

[FBU]

Franklin won't be ready until May/June. He said he will be out for six months after his operation. I have a feeling Ryder might be ready though.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Apparently, southee may be called into 2nd test squad to cover Gillespie.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

O'Dire could do potentially well in English conditions so I have no real problem if he gets in the team though I would want,

Richard-esque. That's all I'll say.

 

[Somerset]

Apparently, southee may be called into 2nd test squad to cover Gillespie.

Firstly, whats happened to Gillespie?

As much as I like the look of Southee, I'm not so sure selecting him at 19 years old for a crucial test match against England is the best way to introduce him to test cricket. I'm inclined to think that the selectors would go for two spinners if he was to be the 13th man in the side.

 

[Mixmasterreece]

Firstly, whats happened to Gillespie?

As much as I like the look of Southee, I'm not so sure selecting him at 19 years old for a crucial test match against England is the best way to introduce him to test cricket. I'm inclined to think that the selectors would go for two spinners if he was to be the 13th man in the side.

Theres no way he would play, he would be behind patel and possibly Elliot. Would be more of an experience thing i suppose.

Not sure whats up with Gillespie, but Bracewell was just interviewed and there is some sort of injury cloud surrounding Gillespie but they arent fully aware of whats going on right now. But if he is out, then apparently southee will be considered.

 

[Smudge]

Patel is the 12th man without question so he's gotta be in the squad hopefully though Elliot will be able to take up that extra seamers role and allow Patel to get some game time as they (Dan and Dave) looked great in that last match.


On a completely different note, any ideas for a good sign to take to the cricket in Wellington?

"Bring back Heath Davis.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooossssssssssh!"

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

"Bring back Heath Davis.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooossssssssssh!"

Heath Davis ate my Typewriter

Clickety-clackety-WHOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH

or, more topically:

It took me ages to get to the Basin today. Put a motorway through it, It'll cut travel times in half!

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

It took me ages to get to the Basin today. Put a motorway through it, It'll cut travel times in half!

lollipops

 

[NZTailender]

Don't think Sinclair should be dropped yet. Indeed, he performed poorly in the 1st test but Collingwood's catch was pretty damn good and in the second innings quite a number of batsman failed. He deserves another chance - he gets ****ed around so much that if he were to be dropped after this test it would simply ruin him for good and he'll give up and goto the ICL.
I still think he has a bit to offer the test team. I don't think we need another bits and pieces player like Elliott, who (despite a hundred in his last match) has been fairly poor with both bat and ball this season in FC cricket, and in general if you look at his record. We certainly need someone with experience when Fleming retires (and I think Fulton will be the man to replace him) and I think Sinclair needs to be that person now that Styris has retired from test cricket.

As far as Southee goes - I hope he doesn't play in the 2nd test, or the third if the series is alive. However, if we do win the 2nd test thus making the 3rd match a dead rubber, I wouldn't have any qualms with him making his test debut.

My 15 to tour England:
1. Bell
2. How
3. Fulton
4. Sinclair
5. Taylor
6. Oram
7. McCullum
8. Franklin/Mason
9. Vettori
10. Mills
11. Martin
12. Patel
13. Gillespie
14. Nicol
15. Broom

 

[Prince EWS]

Franklin won't be ready until May/June. He said he will be out for six months after his operation. I have a feeling Ryder might be ready though.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/newzealand/content/story/331327.html

 

[Dick Rockett]

Invisible Big Rig that just got cut off on the motorway and the pissed off driver is swearing obscenities and pulling the air horn?

Behold, teh first ever lolmills:

 

[sportychic33]

If Franklin's fit he should come. He excells versus England and in their conditions so it would be the ideal comeback for him, if he's not fit he shouldn't come, simple as that.

O'Dire could do potentially well in English conditions so I have no real problem if he gets in the team though I would want, (Franklin) Southee, Mason and Gillespie in the squad ahead of him in that order). Give the guy a break guys, he's a handy bowler and failed against the Saffies despite generating a half dozen chances, certainly no world beater but not the worst we've ever (or England) have put on the field.

The batting front seems rather solid, we have Taylor, How, McCullum all looking great. Oram an easy choice even though he is out of form at 6. Fulton ready to come back into the team, a Sinclair who can be hot or cold, with Hay, Elliot and Ryder all trying to get into the Test team. My biggest concern is Bell, our cover at the top of the order appears to be Papps and he often does awfully, though hopefully Bell will impress and earn his spot.

Patel is the 12th man without question so he's gotta be in the squad hopefully though Elliot will be able to take up that extra seamers role and allow Patel to get some game time as they (Dan and Dave) looked great in that last match.


On a completely different note, any ideas for a good sign to take to the cricket in Wellington?

What the heck? How can you say a guy is out of form when he had the scored the most recent test century before Taylor scored his in this test match?? Yes, he hasn't been that convincing in scoring since then but he had a dubious decision in the 2nd test against Bangladesh, played an awful shot in the First Innings in this game and came out to a brilliantly bowled hat-trick ball in the Second Innings.
Main problem is foot work early on - not a form issue!

 

[wpdavid]

I can't bring myself to say anything apart from that was the most disgraceful cricketing performance I have ever endured from an international side. Some heads need banging together fersure, the slide that we have been on since the summer of 2006 has been shocking. Obviously we miss the cricketing ability of Trescothick and Flintoff, but we also seem to miss their general presence in the team. There's no doubt Bell, Cook etc are talented players, but they seem to go missing when they're really needed, which really epitomises the England team at the moment. We seem spineless, lacking confidence and severely disorganised and undercooked.

How on earth Steve Harmison is still in the side is beyond me. The man clearly needs to consider whether his body and mind can withstand the pressures of international cricket, be brutally honest with himself, and then act accordingly. If that means dropping out of the serious game and dropping by every year in the IPL to collect a fat cheque for him and his young family then so be it, but I cannot take another wretched performance from him in England colours.

Credit to Sidebottom and that's about it really. Unfortunately, we seem to be missing a generation of fast bowlers, only Broad around to step into the side, with several years to see whether the likes of Harris and Finn will make the grade.

It's certainly the worst England performance, catching aside, that I've come across for a very long time indeed. By that, I mean taking into account the supposed quality of players available, standard of opposition and playing conditions. I ca't be arsed to check the last few pages, but I hope no-one's gone down the 'lets blame the selctors for chopping &chaging the side' line. Apart from Ambrose, the guys who didn't perform have played a heck of a lot of test cricket and have virtually been fixtures in the side. As ever with English cricket, compacency begat underperformance, which in turn begat abject surrender, and now we're looking well and truly stuffed yet again.

Astonishly, there are still people with any sort of faith in Harmison. The one good thing to come out of his particular horror show is that it should immediately bring about his departure from the side rather than continuing to hold up the development of someone who actually wants to be there. Surely the fact that Vaughan only gave him four overs as 2nd change in the 2nd innings says it all, despite the captain's vaguely supportive noises in the post match interview.

 

[Somerset]

What the heck? How can you say a guy is out of form when he had the scored the most recent test century before Taylor scored his in this test match?? Yes, he hasn't been that convincing in scoring since then but he had a dubious decision in the 2nd test against Bangladesh, played an awful shot in the First Innings in this game and came out to a brilliantly bowled hat-trick ball in the Second Innings.
Main problem is foot work early on - not a form issue!

IMO he did look a little out of touch during the match though tend to agree with some of the points there - also worth considering he scored a 50 in the 20-20 and 90-odd in the 3rd ODI.

 

[_Ed_]

Behold, teh first ever lolmills:

 

[NZTailender]

Behold, teh first ever lolmills:

Love it.