BoyBrumby
Englishman
Grant Elliott....
-
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**Official** New Zealand in England
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Flem274*
123/5
You might be onto something there.
andruid
Cricketer Of The Year
Muscle tear, in his bowling arm. 2nd test
Raghav
International Vice-Captain
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...)
Richard
Cricket Web Staff Member
Well, you got your wish.
Good to see Redmond get some more obviously, and obviously good to see How finally make a really big score.
Just a shame Taylor still has approximately sod-all form. He'll now be having to feel his way in the Tests, never an ideal situation.
Still comfortably the best Test batsman currently established in the side, but that might not be enough.
Obviously I doubt there'll be any green on the Lord's pitch, but if by some miracle there were to be I'd really, really be hoping we could get in the field first and set Sidebottom loose.
FBU
International Debutant
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.
Commentator's curse apply?sportychic33
State 12th Man
No not commentator's curse. Just being realistic and seeing what other people think might occur as he is bound to get injured within the series.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
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).
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).
HeathDavisSpeed
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
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.
Injuries cost big time on the last tour. Will the bowling attack that takes the field at Lords survive to the end of the series? Unlikely, but at least let's have one still standing at the end of the last test.
NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
*Changes signature*
FBU
International Debutant
Bowling at Lords
2 Tests- 77 overs 4 wickets at 46.00 - Vettori
1 Test - 45 overs 4 wickets at 42.25 - Martin
Mills, Mason, Southee, Gillespie, O'Brien and Patel haven't bowled there.
11 Tests -366 overs 37 wickets at 31.08 - Hoggard
4 Tests - 154 overs 12 wickets at 35.75 - Panesar
3 Tests - 107 overs 14 wickets at 25.21 - Anderson
2 Tests - 74 overs 6 wickets at 28.50 - Sidebottom
4 Tests - 33 overs 1 wicket at 107.00 - Collingwood
Broad hasn't bowled at Lords
Probably takes about 2 Tests to get used to the slope. Bowlers have favourite ends that they like to bowl from and it would be good to give new bowlers practice on the grass next to the wicket at both ends to find out which they favour before the Test.
2 Tests- 77 overs 4 wickets at 46.00 - Vettori
1 Test - 45 overs 4 wickets at 42.25 - Martin
Mills, Mason, Southee, Gillespie, O'Brien and Patel haven't bowled there.
11 Tests -366 overs 37 wickets at 31.08 - Hoggard
4 Tests - 154 overs 12 wickets at 35.75 - Panesar
3 Tests - 107 overs 14 wickets at 25.21 - Anderson
2 Tests - 74 overs 6 wickets at 28.50 - Sidebottom
4 Tests - 33 overs 1 wicket at 107.00 - Collingwood
Broad hasn't bowled at Lords
Probably takes about 2 Tests to get used to the slope. Bowlers have favourite ends that they like to bowl from and it would be good to give new bowlers practice on the grass next to the wicket at both ends to find out which they favour before the Test.
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FBU
International Debutant
It's better than not having bowled there before. Hopefully NZ will bowl there first so they have to find out themselves what lengths to bowl and where the keeper and slips have to stand rather than seeing what England do. It caught the Indians off guard last summer and they started to get their act together in the second session..
Burgey
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Tell that to the blokes who reckon Lillee's crap coz he played 3 bad tests in Pakistan, and 1 bad one in SL.
Flem274*
123/5
This is probably you most positvie post ever, when ironically, we're in one of our worst situations ever.
Great stuff by Redmond and How, hopefully at Lords we're 250/0 at the end of day one, even though I highly doubt it. It looks as if there's a chance of a decent opening pairing though.
Not surprised at Flynn being rubbish, he is after all a one season wonder. I feel Hay would have gone great guns at the start then been found out a bit technically but hey, he'll get a chance shortly.
Would still rest Southee for Lords even though he's such a great attacking weapon. Mason is a good bowler and should fit in nicely as a third seamer. Mills and Martin have proven they can get us the initiative and set games up for the win. I'd show some faith in Mason and the two opening bowlers and rest Southee.