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Will always be a bit of a mystery to me. Would have had a pretty decent Test career IMO.
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*Official* New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2012
- Thread starter Meridio
- Start date
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Not sure if I'd agree with that. He did only average 33. He looked superb in his final test series, genuinely fast and frightening, and because that's the last we saw of him, that O'Brien tends to stick in people's memories. But he was also quite ordinary a lot of the time, even in his final 12 months in the Black Caps (was average against India and Sri Lanka in 2009). Not saying he was a bad bowler or anything. Still probably our best during the period. But in terms of overall performances he wasn't that far ahead of Martin.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Debatable. Just because someone's awesome at domestics doesn't mean that that'll translate into results in tests, and Adams was always a little all over the shop. But yes, he definitely should've played more tests.
straw man
Hall of Fame Member
Can't believe I missed most of one of the best days of cricket for us all year. Saw highlights though - stunned that SL top order folded again last night. Sangakkara and Jayawardene don't look like their usual selves and only part of that could be put down to good bowling.
Southee and Boult are amazing. As is the feeling of having runs on the board and applying pressure through that - it makes things happen, even for lesser bowlers like Patel (iirc most of his wickets for Warwickshire were when they had the upper hand too).
Had to laugh at Bracewell's wickets - finally delivers with a couple of nothing balls!
Taylor seems to have found a middle gear to his batting - nice to see him accumulating comfortably. Less impressed to see Williamson's get-out shot. Such a bad habit.
Seems like Astle batted quite well too - from what I've seen I think there's something to work with there (both batting and bowling). Still suspect Nethula is a better spinner right now (or rather, before Nethula's recent loss of form and confidence). But with the right coaching and assistance Astle can improve.
It had better not bloody rain in SL today.
Southee and Boult are amazing. As is the feeling of having runs on the board and applying pressure through that - it makes things happen, even for lesser bowlers like Patel (iirc most of his wickets for Warwickshire were when they had the upper hand too).
Had to laugh at Bracewell's wickets - finally delivers with a couple of nothing balls!
Taylor seems to have found a middle gear to his batting - nice to see him accumulating comfortably. Less impressed to see Williamson's get-out shot. Such a bad habit.
Seems like Astle batted quite well too - from what I've seen I think there's something to work with there (both batting and bowling). Still suspect Nethula is a better spinner right now (or rather, before Nethula's recent loss of form and confidence). But with the right coaching and assistance Astle can improve.
It had better not bloody rain in SL today.
straw man
Hall of Fame Member
I do wonder how Vettori coming back into the side might change the team culture. Southee and Boult look like they know they're in charge of the bowling attack, they have a youthful aggressive mindset and it's working well. Vettori returning may affect that negatively.
Though he may have a positive impact on any friction between Taylor and McCullum (if there is any and that's not purely a media beat up).
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
I really doubt there's any friction between taylor and mccullum.
You're right about Vettori coming back into the team though.
Ross delayed bring on the spinners as long as possible. I hope he doesn't feel like he has a duty to bowl Vettori any earlier than he bowled Jeets, and I hope he continues to turn to Southee as his strike bowler.
All that said, I think Jeets has earned his spot ahead of Vettori right now. Hopefully Bond, Taylor and co will advocate this.
You're right about Vettori coming back into the team though.
Ross delayed bring on the spinners as long as possible. I hope he doesn't feel like he has a duty to bowl Vettori any earlier than he bowled Jeets, and I hope he continues to turn to Southee as his strike bowler.
All that said, I think Jeets has earned his spot ahead of Vettori right now. Hopefully Bond, Taylor and co will advocate this.
Flem274*
123/5
Vettori has to bat in the top six or seven to play imo. No way is he a better test spinner than Jeets these days. He used to be an excellent workhorse spinner who was good for 2-3 wickets an innings and when you factor in his batting he was a bloody good player and massively underrated with the bat, but of late he has looked alarmingly part time and he had a slump with the bat. He really needs some form with both bat and ball before January. Fingers crossed.
Might just be a purple patch but Jeets has been very good lately. Provides a world class fielder as well.
Might just be a purple patch but Jeets has been very good lately. Provides a world class fielder as well.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
The forecast from the below website makes it looks like it'll be good for at least 2 and 1/2 sessions. Fingers crossed.
Weather in R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 14 day weather outlook of R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo
Weather in R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo, Sri Lanka | 14 day weather outlook of R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo
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Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
I've already massively Gambhired on a draw on bet365, so here's hoping that I wind up skint for the next fortnight.
Mike5181
International Captain
Not too bad, I guess.
Flem274*
123/5
Tactical Gambhiring often backfires. We need to come up with a player to define this backfire.
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Joking aside I actually think $2.50 for the draw is really good value. Matthews and Samaraweera are in the best form of any of the Sri Lankan batsmen, and throughout this series we've seen that once the ball softens up our bowlers struggle to take wickets. If SL make it through the first hour without losing any wickets I reckon the draw is the most likely result.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Jeets could be crucial. Even if he just did the job Lyon did on Day 5 in Adelaide - which ultimately proved to be not quite good enough there - I think that'd be more than good enough here, but I definitely think he'll need to contribute in some way. I don't see Sri Lanka just rolling over to the quicks early on.
