BoyBrumby
Englishman
Grant Elliott....Pissed off fans, Australians, Cantabrians, Scaly, Francis...
Grant Elliott....Pissed off fans, Australians, Cantabrians, Scaly, Francis...
You might be onto something there.Grant Elliott....
Muscle tear, in his bowling arm. 2nd testThat is a perfect option. He hasn't injured his left knee in his international career yet.
I'm going 3rd test - Side Strain (left hand side).
Redmond is looking good in all the innings he has played for New Zealand till now except for one. He along with How would make a good pair. Good sign before the first test begins.A good solid start from the NZ openers.
Could we finally have a decent opening pair?
(Doubt it but...)
Well, you got your wish.I'd rather see us 250-2 or so at stumps tbh.
Last season when he had been at the wicket for a while I noticed he had trouble breathing when running between the wickets. You can carry weight and still be fit. It was holding him back from being picked for a Lions tour, maybe he has worked on his fitness since then.Never hurt Warney, Taylor, Boon, Gatting and many others. Its not like he is Mark Cosgrove and his performances are being compromised due to weight.
i'm waiting for Oram to get injured. Really we should place bets on when it will happen and how serious it will be. My money is on that it will be something to do with his Left Hand Side (inside word).
2nd test. Left knee.
Mills won't make it through the series either.
That is a perfect option. He hasn't injured his left knee in his international career yet.
I'm going 3rd test - Side Strain (left hand side).
Good pick. Was going to guesstimate he'd be shot by someone but he has to stay on the field long enough for that to happen.
however he could possibly break a finger - don't think he has done that this year.
Commentator's curse apply?Muscle tear, in his bowling arm. 2nd test
Really, Lords is where we have to step up. England consistantly underperform here, and if the attack gets used to the slope early on, then the English batting could topple. Let's not forget that NZ could easily have beaten England on this ground last time around, and the game was in the balance until Hussain took it away from NZ at the very end.All round I'm fairly excited, a feeling that I'm sure will be dashed half an hour in to the first morning at lords, but oh well. It would be beyond unrealistic to expect a win in this series, but if McCullum, Taylor, Martin and Mills hit their straps, and get strong support from the rest, I see the potential for a sneaky draw (especially if the weather intervenes to help us at some point).
Tell that to the blokes who reckon Lillee's crap coz he played 3 bad tests in Pakistan, and 1 bad one in SL.Under 4 Tests doesn't really tell us anything IMO.
This is probably you most positvie post ever, when ironically, we're in one of our worst situations ever.A surprisingly strong start to the tour, and an even more surprisingly good effort on the last day against a strong bowling lineup. But for a dropped catch and a run out we may well have had the better of the match. The top three have now all scored decent runs, although I'm still not at all sold on Marshall at number 3. Taylor has been disappointing, but I choose to look on the bright side: this means he's due for some big runs at lords. McCullum is McCullum, and he'll never really deserve a spot in the team as a batsman until he can learn to temper his aggression and bat at 3-4 runs an over every now and then, but he seems to be middling it well enough so that's something at least. The only real area of concern is Flynn who doesn't really look ready for the step up. Time will tell, but I suspect we'll see Fulton in the side before the series is over. Everyone else (Taylor excepted) has had a thoroughly satisfactory build up.
I assume the selectors will go with Martin, Mills, Southee and Vettori (fitness permitting). Fortunately fate once again stepped in to strike down O'Brien and prevent him for pressing his claims of a spot, and despite Mason's fine efforts against Essex, it won't be enough. The interesting debate then is who do you open with. One would assume Martin as he's comfortably the fastest and most experienced of the trio, and has spent a good chunk of his career in the opening role. But then Mills and Southee are both such swing dependent bowlers, it may seriously impact on their wicket taking potential. I'd still say go with Martin and Mills, who are more disciplined (and obviously experienced), and less likely to let England to get off to a fast start. Martin in particular has been a consistent wicket taker right throughout the early tour matches, so perhaps finally he might have a bit of luck in the internationals. At this time of year (especially with the Duke Ball, if Southee has gotten used to it), there should be more than enough movement around for Southee to remain potent even at first change. I don't think we'll ever see Oram bowl much more than 15 overs a day in this series.
All round I'm fairly excited, a feeling that I'm sure will be dashed half an hour in to the first morning at lords, but oh well. It would be beyond unrealistic to expect a win in this series, but if McCullum, Taylor, Martin and Mills hit their straps, and get strong support from the rest, I see the potential for a sneaky draw (especially if the weather intervenes to help us at some point).