**Official** New Zealand in England

[Magrat Garlick]

Haha, ten Doeschate with two wickets.

On an England note, it'd be nice to see James Marshall selected on the back of this score.

 

[Pratters]

Haha, ten Doeschate with two wickets.

On an England note, it'd be nice to see James Marshall selected on the back of this score.

Hamish not doing too bad for Gloucs.

 

[Richard]

On an England note, it'd be nice to see James Marshall selected on the back of this score.

Honestly wouldn't be surprised.

 

[GIMH]

Deary deary me... well, we can but cross the fingers then.

Sounds like, barring further mishap, we're now near enough certain of:
Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Bell
Collingwood
Flintoff
Ambrose
Broad
Sidebottom
MSP

Disappointing that it sounds like Flintoff will bat above Ambrose too TBH. Ambrose comfortably the better batsman IMO.

In theory a lot of people would agree but I think we all know that we will never see Flintoff drop to 8. We should be happy that there is talk of him batting at 7.

 

[Richard]

If Alec Stewart was still around instead of Tim Ambrose - or, better, if Tim Ambrose was as good as Alec Stewart - I'd probably be forced to kill anyone who contemplated batting Flintoff ahead of said wicketkeeper.

 

[GIMH]

If Stewart was still playing he could bat at 6 though, in this team, in theory

 

[Richard]

Well, yeah - in fact TBH I'd have him ahead of Bell as well as Collingwood. But for some inexplicable reason he was batting as low as seven sometimes in his last stint, below all the rest of the batsmen.

I honestly did worry that they were going to start putting Flintoff ahead of him too, at some points in 2002 and 2003.

 

[Leslie1]

Deary deary me... well, we can but cross the fingers then.

Sounds like, barring further mishap, we're now near enough certain of:
Strauss
Cook
Vaughan
Pietersen
Bell
Collingwood
Flintoff
Ambrose
Broad
Sidebottom
MSP

Disappointing that it sounds like Flintoff will bat above Ambrose too TBH. Ambrose comfortably the better batsman IMO.

Is Key a chance? He loves batting against New Zealand.

On an England note, it'd be nice to see James Marshall selected on the back of this score.

Let's see how he goes in the Lions game, he's being seen by the selectors as the latest candidate for the troublesome number 3 spot (aside from the Fulton) in this squad. Despite being used as a makeshift opener early on in his career, I still think he's being unduly criticized because he's Hamish's brother.

Having said that, I hope Marshall will be 'swapped' for Fulton for the Lions game, just to see what Fulton can do in the number 3 position. Fulton in form would benefit our batting lineup to no end.

Good to see Flynn getting in amongst the runs on fairly tricky bowling conditions.

Good stuff tailenders :P

I think New Zealand won't waver from the 'ODI mode from Vettori onwards' theory, check out the strike rates! They go up from top to bottom.

 

[Richard]

Is Key a chance? He loves batting against New Zealand.

Nope, not at the current time. The only way he'll get in is if (when?) Strauss fails.

Had Strauss scored, say, 38 in that last innings in New Zealand instead of 173, I'm near enough sure he'd now be in, however.

 

[GIMH]

Hard to be sure. They might have been more inclined to go with Flintoff at 6 if Strauss had failed.

 

[Pratters]

Cook's injury scare or some thing like it and you never know.

 

[Prince EWS]

I still think he's being unduly criticized because he's Hamish's brother.

TBH I actually agree. He wasn't given much of a chance in his Test career and his domestic record over the last season or two is really good. That said, he's looked awful whenever I've seen him and his overall First Class career is poor - something I don't think a good season or two over-rides.

He definitely does get a lot more criticism than he would if his name was James Cairns though. I actually support his selection more than I support Flynn's (or rather, am against it less than I'm against Flynn's...)

 

[GIMH]

Hey EWS, sorry if I've asked this before, but I get mixed up sometimes, do you support New Zealand? Or just take a keen interest in their affairs, you do seem keen on all cricketing selections now I think of it.

 

[GIMH]

Nevermind, just checked and see you do support your homeland. Interesting, maybe it's just the threads I read but I hardly ever see you posting about Aussies unless they are Symonds or Watson

 

[Prince EWS]

Hey EWS, sorry if I've asked this before, but I get mixed up sometimes, do you support New Zealand?

Not officially, no.

I'd probably be found guilty of it by a jury of my peers though.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

He definitely does get a lot more criticism than he would if his name was James Cairns though. I actually support his selection more than I support Flynn's (or rather, am against it less than I'm against Flynn's...)

Conversely, my problem with James Marshall is that he's received more opportunities because he's the brother of Hamish then he would have got otherwise.

I would not be so pissed off with James' selection if his first foray into the international arena had been deserved. Maybe by now his selection would have been deserved, but its hard to support the guy when every time I've seen him at international level he's looked incredibly out of his depth.

 

[Athlai]

I don't like it but right now he seems like a better option than Fulton. Still reckon Taylor would be gun at 3 though.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I see that according to the BBC he's "Justin Marshall" anyway.

I wonder if Millmow's moved to another media outlet??

Ten Doeschate (5-57) made the Kiwis struggle but Justin Marshall hit 128 as they made 348-9 by the end of the day.

 

[Athlai]

350 is by no means a poor total.

 

[Natman20]

The Hamish Marshall days are over. We moved on from that. James was selected because of his similarities to Hamish who was succesful for a wee bit. James however did not even perform once. James now however deserves his selection and does not deserve to be compared with his brother because he has now earned his right to be there by playing well domestically.

The selections for this match I don't like. In particular Flynn and O'brien. I would rather chuck in Elliott and Southee. Flynn hasn't really proved himself at domestic level and a couple centuries in the season doesn't make up for his inconsistency the rest of the time. The same can be said of Elliot I guess but I believe Elliott has more of a future in our squad. I think hes more of a sturdy test selection and Flynn an ODI player. O'brien has been tried and he is not penetrative at international level. He is more than likely to get figures of 1-95 off 15 overs every innings. Southee has to be the choice because he has talent. He doesn't look like mason, gillespie, martin, o'brien etc. He looks as if his technique will improve and imo he looks quite classy, he just needs to get a little more accurate but i'm sure that will come with more game time. Hopefully they use this squad imo:

J How
A Redmond
J Marshall
R Taylor
P Fulton (I want but it will be one of the new ones I think)
B McCullum
J Oram
D Vettori
T Southee (or batsman depending on pitch)
K Mills
C Martin

12th - Mason/Patel/Flynn/Elliott

If I selected touring Party Hay would be straight in there