Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Well it's not like Prior's batting was bad by any means. If he can bat like Prior and keep like a keeper, he'll be a fine player.
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**Official** England in New Zealand
- Thread starter James
- Start date
SpaceMonkey
International Debutant
Well the Test is still finely balanced (Especially as england could easily lose the last 5 wickets for about 20). But when you win the toss and put a team in, you expect to have them more than 5 down for 300 odd at the end of the days play. Played Colly and Ambrose. 
Nervy night for him id imagine.
Nervy night for him id imagine.
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
Hmm... He did make 55 in the first test, is a decent FC batsman. I thought that he might make some runs after he started off so positively. Great stuff from the lad...
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
Only saw the first session so its a little shock seeing that Eng were 136-5. Thats a pretty poor collapse.
On paper, looks a gem of an innings by Ambrose though. Hope he can convert and become the 2nd English keeper in a row to score a ton on Test debut.
Anyone see his innings. Was it as good as it looks or was it scratchy and lucky in places?
On paper, looks a gem of an innings by Ambrose though. Hope he can convert and become the 2nd English keeper in a row to score a ton on Test debut.
Anyone see his innings. Was it as good as it looks or was it scratchy and lucky in places?
sideshowtim
Banned
He debuted in the Test before this mate.
He isn't the cleanest striker of the ball, but he got the job done. It was a good positive innings, but he looks to me to be the kind of guy who'd get sorted out pretty quickly.
lol, straight after gilys retirement we see what impact he has done to this game already
Ambrose
cant wait to see highlights..... and PC is always great at making big partnerships... sorta makes me with we had that sort of player in the Aussie team (a dogged batsman who pays a price for his wicket)
Englands day for mine.. if they had crumbled then it would've done their confidence so **** with a totally diff attack... but now their new attack will be less under pressure with a biggish or better than avg score they are defending
don't know what the pitch is like so dunno what is par, but id say 400 should be what Eng is targetting at and then they shouldn't lose
Ambrose
cant wait to see highlights..... and PC is always great at making big partnerships... sorta makes me with we had that sort of player in the Aussie team (a dogged batsman who pays a price for his wicket)Englands day for mine.. if they had crumbled then it would've done their confidence so **** with a totally diff attack... but now their new attack will be less under pressure with a biggish or better than avg score they are defending
don't know what the pitch is like so dunno what is par, but id say 400 should be what Eng is targetting at and then they shouldn't lose
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Err.. Hussey?Ambrose
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
There was a Test before this one? I dont recall it. Did we win?
true
i think it would be good to have one more though
or maybe im just worried Symo will be a walking wicket on spinning tracks in India
sideshowtim
Banned
I know it's a different format, but he completely and utterly destroyed the Indians in the ODI series there. All kinds of bowling.
pasag
RTDAS
Was talking about anyone on England standing up and making a score once the collpase started tbh.Hmm... He did make 55 in the first test, is a decent FC batsman. I thought that he might make some runs after he started off so positively. Great stuff from the lad...
TT Boy
Hall of Fame Member
He looked pretty scratchy at the start of his knock, got pinged on one occasion and then went flirting for a few overs but after that he cashed in nicely after the New Zealander’s lines went rather haywire. Good knock and refreshingly upbeat.
Cevno
Hall of Fame Member
That's ponting.
His record is abysmal in india.Lat time one of the reasons austrlalia won was that he was injured just at the right time.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Nah, don't think so TBH. Ambrose has been around for ages, and started playing cricket long before Gilchrist made his international debut. Don't think Ambrose's career would've been any different if Gilchrist had never played really.
And he's an Aussie, to boot.
Either way, brilliant to see such an innings. He was kinda fortunate in that not long after he came to the crease, the swing stopped. I don't think it's right to say the batsmen higher in the order should have played the strokes he did - he was able to play them because the movement had stopped, and full credit to him he played his way through the early part of his innings cautiously when there was still something happening, then cashing-in when the bowlers tired and there were more balls there to hit than there had been earlier.
I'm fully well aware Prior started his Test career in almost exactly the same way, but 1) this was a much, much better innings than Prior's against WI and 2) I've always rated Ambrose as (at least potentially) a better batsman than Prior. Better still, he's always seemed to be able to keep and hopefully he'll continue to keep well in Tests. If he starts next season well again in the OD format, hopefully we'll see him in ODIs soon as well.
I was always fully confident Ambrose had this sort of innings in him and I'm delighted he's produced it so quickly, and will be even more delighted if it helps turn a Test (and who knows, maybe a series) around. He still needs to kick-on tomorrow, though. (And, obviously, continue to play well for the rest of his career, but that's something we'll only worry about when it comes. There's still things to work on but already he's made it pretty obvious he's a better batsman than Geraint Jones for those who weren't already aware.) If he can turn this into 150 or so, then we're hopefully in a strong position.
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Which pratt promised you that?
Pratters
Cricket, Lovely Cricket
I am not saying that batsmen above him should have played the shots Ambrose did, just that they should have been more positive. Did the swing really demand a score as follows:
Strauss 8 off 33 balls
Bell 11 off 38 balls
It didn't according to me. As David Lloyd said during commentary, Oram was bowling well but not that well. Did Oram really bowl that well to have figures of 22-10-25-2? Not really imo.
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Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Yes, I thought Bumble was talking out of his aess TBH. Oram bowled brilliantly, nothing less, for my money. He was getting bounce, seam, and was dropping it on a sixpence. Pietersen did try to attack him, but even he found it impossible and resorted to trying to play him out (then went after Gillespie, and played around one that swung in which he might have kept-out had he played it more circumspectly...) which he just about managed.
The rest of the bowlers weren't, for the most part, anywhere near as good, though they all got batsmen to play-and-miss. But Oram was fantastic, there wasn't that much in the surface but he was extracting every last thing it offered him. Trying to attack him would, IMO, have been foolhardy, and if they had tried he might have gone for 19 or 20 off his first 9 overs rather than 4, but I reckon he could've had 4 or 5 wickets (and he should've had 3 anyway). Even trying to pinch singles (which involves opening the face, closing the face, playing slightly accross the line and the like) would not have been wise. For mine, the caution earlier allowed Ambrose to come in and play the innings he did.
Look around, you'll see scores like Strauss' and Bell's really aren't that unusual. Plenty of batsmen play 30-odd balls for not-that-many. The thing is, good batsmen (better batsmen than Strauss has been of late
) stay in beyond this then up their strike-rates as they start to get their eyes in and the bowling becomes less threatening.
The rest of the bowlers weren't, for the most part, anywhere near as good, though they all got batsmen to play-and-miss. But Oram was fantastic, there wasn't that much in the surface but he was extracting every last thing it offered him. Trying to attack him would, IMO, have been foolhardy, and if they had tried he might have gone for 19 or 20 off his first 9 overs rather than 4, but I reckon he could've had 4 or 5 wickets (and he should've had 3 anyway). Even trying to pinch singles (which involves opening the face, closing the face, playing slightly accross the line and the like) would not have been wise. For mine, the caution earlier allowed Ambrose to come in and play the innings he did.
Look around, you'll see scores like Strauss' and Bell's really aren't that unusual. Plenty of batsmen play 30-odd balls for not-that-many. The thing is, good batsmen (better batsmen than Strauss has been of late
) stay in beyond this then up their strike-rates as they start to get their eyes in and the bowling becomes less threatening.