**Official** New Zealand in England

[LongHopCassidy]

and Whelan somehow manages 4 wickets despite being smashed for 78 from 10.

I put it down to saying my prayers, taking my vitamins, and training hard every day.

 

[_Ed_]

McCullum on to 52 from 35 balls.

Daft shot and wicket soon to follow no doubt.

He reached 123, so perhaps that deserves a Greigy nomination. I'm pleased about it though.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Haha, the cricinfo headline on the Eng vs NZ page is a classic.

McCullum finds one-day form

Yeah, he found it about 7-8 months ago......

 

[Nutter]

Hope McCullum keeps hitting the ball. I think the McCullum / Ryder pair is one of the most entertaining NZ pair to watch recently. They do good things, they do stupid things, it's just entertaining. Almost as exciting as watching Oram bat with the tail, especially Chris Martin.

 

[_Ed_]

Yeah, no Ryder for a while though unfortunately. Not totally convinced he'll ever come back at this stage.

 

[Furbag]

Hi all. Ryder must have really done a number on that hand alright. Fool. Black Caps are a different animal in OD colours so hope we can take something out of this series. The tests were embarrassing.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah, no Ryder for a while though unfortunately. Not totally convinced he'll ever come back at this stage.

Indeed. It's a bit like England with Simon Jones in a way: people should focusing their plans and hopes around his return. If he comes back, great - but that's not certain at the moment so you have to set your plans around the idea that he won't.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Haha, the cricinfo headline on the Eng vs NZ page is a classic.

McCullum finds one-day form

Yeah, he found it about 7-8 months ago......

List A stats since he began opening again in ODI's

• 25-11-07 vs South Africa
  40 (67)
• 30-11-07 vs South Africa
  81 (139)
• 02-12-07 vs South Africa
  0 (5)
• 14-12-07 vs Australia
  96 (103)
• 16-12-07 vs Australia
  5 (6)
• 20-12-07 vs Australia
  6 (8)
• 26-12-07 vs Bangladesh
  40 (50)
• 28-12-07 vs Bangladesh
  35 (31)
• 31-12-07 vs Bangladesh
  80* (28)
• 09-02-08 vs England
  42 (42)
• 12-02-08 vs England
  80* (47)
• 15-02-08 vs England
  4 (8)
• 20-02-08 vs England
  58 (65)
• 23-02-08 vs England
  77 (43)
• 24-02-08 vs Canterbury
  108 (126)
• 02-03-08 vs Auckland
  170 (108)
• 11-06-08 vs Worcestershire
  123 (98)

Points of note:

• His last 3 List A innings have all been centuries. Number of centuries in his previous 164 innings = 0. However, none of those centuries came in an ODI.
• Has only failed 4 times in 17 innings, of which two were against Australia, yet he also scored 96 against them.
• Knocks of 80* (28), 80* (47), 77 (43), 170 (108), of which 3 were in ODI's, show that his IPL fireworks were not a one-off and a maiden ODI hundred is surely around the corner.

So basically, he has been in pretty decent form for a little while now.

 

[pasag]

The headline doesn't necessarily imply he was out of form though, just that it's the start of a series and he's hit the ground running. Have seen something like that used plenty of times for players that weren't going through a bad trot.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

The headline doesn't necessarily imply he was out of form though, just that it's the start of a series and he's hit the ground running. Have seen something like that used plenty of times for players that weren't going through a bad trot.

Yeah, I know. A bit pedantic perhaps, but anywho.....

 

[Richard]

I put it down to saying my prayers, taking my vitamins, and training hard every day.

Knew I should've put a "Chris" in there. Not that I'm not surprised to see you reading this thread mind.

Mind, I reckon you'd have a decent chance of performing at least as well as your namesake, he truly is woeful.

 

[Richard]

Points of note:
His last 3 List A innings have all been centuries. Number of centuries in his previous 164 innings = 0. However, none of those centuries came in an ODI.

Small point, but it was 135 previous innings. 164 matches, in which he had 29 DNBs.

BTW, I spotted that because I went to check you hadn't typo'd that number. I'm truly amazed he's played as many as 167 List-A OD games.

 

[KiWiNiNjA]

Small point, but it was 135 previous innings. 164 matches, in which he had 29 DNBs.

BTW, I spotted that because I went to check you hadn't typo'd that number. I'm truly amazed he's played as many as 167 List-A OD games.

Yeah, innings = matches

 

[Leslie1]

Small point, but it was 135 previous innings. 164 matches, in which he had 29 DNBs.

BTW, I spotted that because I went to check you hadn't typo'd that number. I'm truly amazed he's played as many as 167 List-A OD games.

That's an amazing stat when you consider that he used to bat lower down and finish off innings for us. It's also another (done to death) fact that we do house a fragile batting lineup.

Hoping Flynn do well in McCullum's old role. He'll hopefully get all 5 ODIs to prove himself ready to be a mainstay of the Black Caps' middle order batting in both forms of the game. Isn't it refreshing (albeit a bit late) to hear Braces wax lyrical this time around about not shifting guys up the order "too soon".

 

[Flem274*]

So, teams and victors?

For NZ I'd want:

McCullum
How
Taylor
Fulton
Flynn
Oram
Styris
Vettori
Mills
Mason
Gillespie

Bit worried about the SR of How and Fulton. Styris at seven because he's the most experienced specialist bat and can lead us home in tight situations. Flynn at five also means the strike will be rotated as Oram and Fulton aren't renowned for quick singles. Mason has improved as an ODI bowler I feel and I'd like to see him play tonight. Gillespie can be expensive in ODIs but in 20/20 his unpredictability can be an asset. Also has good use of the bouncer and yorker which are good tools in 20/20.

For England

Wright
Ambrose
Pietersen
Collingwood
Shah
Mascarenhas
Broad
Swann
Sidearse
Lewis
Anderson

Yes, I see the problems with that line up however I've gone with that lot because they can at least score at a decent rate. I know Wright and Ambrose (iirc) are harldy proven openers but a top order of Cook, someone, Bell would be a worry. Basically, I don't really know if there's much top order limited overs batsman in England. Pietersen is the main man in the line up so he's at three. Broad is a wee bit higher up than usual but he'll live. I know Lewis would never be picked but I did it anyway, better than Tremlett at limited overs. Plenty of bowlers just in case Anderson has an off night. I know this line up looks shaky but I wanted to post something a bit different and I think England could try something a bit different because the usual 20/20 top order won't win many tournaments.

I pick NZ for the win but England to cause a few problems.

 

[Athlai]

How and Fulton score at a good enough nick TBH, them scoring slowly is an urban legend, they are hardly Richardson esque players. Just cos they don't slog every delivery doesn't mean they can't score at better than a run a ball.

 

[Flem274*]

How and Fulton score at a good enough nick TBH, them scoring slowly is an urban legend, they are hardly Richardson esque players. Just cos they don't slog every delivery doesn't mean they can't score at better than a run a ball.

I'll phrase differently:

Fulton: slow starter. Gets going once he's past 20 odd.

How: slow starter, can struggle to find gaps in field. Gets going once he's past 30.

Both are very good players however I'm just not sure if 20/20 is their game.

 

[Athlai]

If the IPL showed us anything its that partnership makers are the most valuable players in your team. If our team didn't include the likes of McCullum, Taylor and Oram at the other end who can fire away then we might have a problem. But How and Fulton are the guys who will score runs and stick around.

 

[Flem274*]

If the IPL showed us anything its that partnership makers are the most valuable players in your team. If our team didn't include the likes of McCullum, Taylor and Oram at the other end who can fire away then we might have a problem. But How and Fulton are the guys who will score runs and stick around.

They can stick around but if How does his typical (but so legendary) 12 (30) then that could create pressure at the other end (presumably McCullum), as well as making me laugh.

Hoping for a proper 50 (88) then an acceleration to 150 (120) from How in the ODIs tbh.

 

[Athlai]

They can stick around but if How does his typical (but so legendary) 12 (30) then that could create pressure at the other end (presumably McCullum), as well as making me laugh.

Hoping for a proper 50 (88) then an acceleration to 150 (120) from How in the ODIs tbh.

McCullum will already be looking to hit every ball to the boundary TBH, How is a player who can turn the strike to him almost at will. Then once he's batted himself in 15-20 (20-30) he'll look for the boundaries. He's certainly not what you'd want to be finishing a T20 innings, but he's a fine limited overs opener.