**Official** England in New Zealand

[Neil Pickup]

ITSTL, goes up to u19 these days? That certainly means it's changed recently, as I bowled 13 overs off the reel in 2003 at the age of 17.

(Either that or rules were being broken )

Rules were being broken.

That or you weren't being classified as fast.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Just out of interest heathy boy.... what are these clubs? im a playing member of one id like to know if it "floats your boat"?

Well - every cricket club has its fair share of wankers, but some more so than others. I can't stand Wainuiomata. They have a bit of an issue in my opinion with controlling their lower grade players; though their top couple of teams have decent blokes, your club will get a bad name if your lower grade players can't control themselves.

At the higher grades, Upper Valley have a bit of a disruptive image. Their coach will complain about this, that and the other until he's blue in the face if he thinks it'll gain his team a small advantage.

The most enjoyable times I've had at cricket matches in Wellington have been when playing against Brooklyn, Taita, Naenae and Tokelau. Not to say these teams don't have a player or two that you don't get on with, just that the games tend to have less niggle, or the niggle there is tends to be funny rather than vicious.

 

[Richard]

Rules were being broken.

That or you weren't being classified as fast.

Obviously I wasn't, and never have been, but I'm still a seam-up bowler and it's seamers, regardless of their speed (not like anyone's going to be bowling at 140kph at the age of 14 anyway), to whom said rule applies to.

 

[Richard]

These directives only apply to fast bowlers, where "fast" is defined as a bowler whom a wicket keeper of the same age group would usually stand up to. So in a time game, spinners have a big job to do.

Back, surely?

Even Matt Medway never stood up to me, unfortunately. Only wicketkeeper I was ever able to persuade to stand-up to my bowling at that stage was Ryan Keary.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Even Matt Medway never stood up to me, unfortunately. Only wicketkeeper I was ever able to persuade to stand-up to my bowling at that stage was Ryan Keary.

Good old Matty Boy. Also known as "Kentish". Excellent keeper. Not convinced by the glovework of the Kearster though.

Did I tell you about our keeper Rasonowski? No? Well as you all know him so well....

 

[Richard]

Sorry?

You were a Hampshire, not Devon, visitor, no?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Sorry?

You were a Hampshire, not Devon, visitor, no?

It was facetiousness (sic.) on my part by trying to sound familiar about people that I've never heard of.

 

[Smudge]

The most enjoyable times I've had at cricket matches in Wellington have been when playing against Brooklyn, Taita, Naenae and Tokelau.

Geez, that's quite a trip for an away game...

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Geez, that's quite a trip for an away game...

They also have an exceptional scorecard with 6 players with the same surname, as I recall. It takes about a week to get there by boat, and their wicket is more than a little dodgy.

 

[Blakey]

Mills ruled out of third test. Didn't pass test on knee.

 

[NZTailender]

Southee to make his debut I guess. Something that gives me mixed feelings.

 

[Richard]

Damn, I hate seeing 19-year-olds in international cricket. Even the soon-to-be superstars are rarely up to it.

Cannot see this being beneficial to Southee.

 

[_Ed_]

Especially at Napier. He'll get absolutely no help from the pitch.

I would have preferred to see someone like Mason play, far less potential for the future than Southee but he would be more likely to perform the steady, consistent seamer role Kyle Mills played for us in the first two Tests.

 

[Richard]

Mason fit, is he? Had presumed he was still injured. Yeah, if he's fit think it'd be far better for everyone concerned for him to play. Of course, he'd be highly unlikely to get much from the surface either, but I'd presume - at the very least at this stage - his control would be rather better than Southee's.

 

[Craig]

Bring back O'Diren instead!

I'm going to hell...

 

[Flem274*]

Really worried about the debut of Southee TBH. Of course there is the fact that guys like Mason are still better than him at this current point in time then there's the issue that teenagers outside the subcontinent rarely succeed in international cricket an if they do, very rarely do they succeed to their full potential. Crowe debuted too young and when he failed he said he felt humiliated. Rutherford was utterly ruined and whilst Vettori coped mentally, physically he suffered.

Once again the selectors pick someone too early in the hope of instant gratification rather than doing the hard yards now in order to create a great side for the future, not a merely good one.

Piss poor TBH, especially since this is 85% likely to be a draw regardless of who you pick.

 

[Richard]

Bring back O'Diren instead!

I'm going to hell...

No, you're just going to Heath-hate-land.

 

[Richard]

Really worried about the debut of Southee TBH. Of course there is the fact that guys like Mason are still better than him at this current point in time then there's the issue that teenagers outside the subcontinent rarely succeed in international cricket.

Teenagers in the subcontinent rarely succeed in international cricket! One of the biggest urban myths.

What's more, many of those supposedly teenagers on debut aren't, as there's no birth registration system in Pakistan, and that's where most of the supposedly 17\18-year-olds come from. Many of them are thought to be 21 or 22 in actuality.

 

[Prince EWS]

Really worried about the debut of Southee TBH. Of course there is the fact that guys like Mason are still better than him at this current point in time then there's the issue that teenagers outside the subcontinent rarely succeed in international cricket an if they do, very rarely do they succeed to their full potential. Crowe debuted too young and when he failed he said he felt humiliated. Rutherford was utterly ruined and whilst Vettori coped mentally, physically he suffered.

Once again the selectors pick someone too early in the hope of instant gratification rather than doing the hard yards now in order to create a great side for the future, not a merely good one.

Piss poor TBH, especially since this is 85% likely to be a draw regardless of who you pick.

Yeah, AWTA. Pick the best option for each game and then the rest comes along naturally and simply.

Over-focusing on the future can be disastrous, as when the future finally arrives, it ceases to be just that, and a different "future" is being focused on and worked towards. I can see some merits in working to a plan which will see the team playing at full capacity at time X, but working towards a nondescript timeframe all the time will never work, and that seems to be what the selection of Southee is about.

I could be wrong, though - they could genuinely believe he'd do a better job in the next Test than Mason or Patel - but I doubt that.

 

[Flem274*]

Teenagers in the subcontinent rarely succeed in international cricket! One of the biggest urban myths.

What's more, many of those supposedly teenagers on debut aren't, as there's no birth registration system in Pakistan, and that's where most of the supposedly 17\18-year-olds come from. Many of them are thought to be 21 or 22 in actuality.

Yeah they don't succeed much either but their success ratio with teenagers is much better than the rest of the world.

As for the birth registration thing, I'll refrain from comment as there's no way in hell we can know now how old they are (apart from asking them).