***Official*** England in New Zealand series 2013

[Days of Grace]

It makes me cringe a little when Ian Smith talks about inviting his guests down to Napier for a bbq at his place. Makes me afraid for his guests tbh.

And who can forget when someone brought hot dogs into the comms box last season. The shot of Smiteh eying up the hot dogs whilst his stomach almost blocked out everything else was fab.

 

[Kippax]

Yep I'm not hating...just, in terms of his future prospects, I don't really see what compelling attributes he has. He's neither very fast nor very tall and as far as I'm aware he's not known as a canny swing bowler or for being super accurate.

Mitch - YouTube

You often see him swing the white ball enough to be dangerous, but yeah, yet to see an lbw in FC due to swing from him which is a worry. Paddles gave him a big tick though in the Sky UK tour preview apparently, said he's never seen a left-armer get closer in to the stumps.

 

[Mike5181]

Got to agree. No redeeming features in the NZ comms box. Few in the Aussie one. Many in the English one.

Although I was just a kid, I never remember disliking our commentators as much when guys like Crowe, Coney, Larson etc were there.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Have to say Smithy does look rounder every time I see him. Must be up there is the "greatest post-career weight gain" stakes.

 

[Zinzan]

Have to say Smithy does look rounder every time I see him. Must be up there is the "greatest post-career weight gain" stakes.

Funny, he has been gradually ballooning for years now, but seeing him tonight I actually wondered if he's dropped a few pounds.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah...I wonder where all the "talk around the traps" about him being quick came from though. Not even as quick as Butler is he?

Probably because of what the batsmen facing him though; just like how all the batsman facing him make him look quick.

 

[Neil Young]

The beauty of an NZ-Eng cricket series is the healthy dollop of gallows humour in the match threads. Some quality comments. Great work.

 

[Cevno]

Weird that this series is not being telecast in India. After a long time some relatively major Cricket series would not have been telecasted.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Funny, he has been gradually ballooning for years now, but seeing him tonight I actually wondered if he's dropped a few pounds.

Na, your tv is just buggered.

 

[Neil Young]

Although I was just a kid, I never remember disliking our commentators as much when guys like Crowe, Coney, Larson etc were there.

Yeah. Our radio comms were always better back in the day as well. Waddle - before the cynicism took hold - Sharp, even Ian Galloway when he wasn't whistling into the mic. Coney and John Parker were excellent in between overs to boot.

The current lot - tv and wireless - are woeful and getting woefuller (©). But, then maybe I am old and getting older.

 

[Neil Pickup]

We get Coney a lot in the UK now, he's excellent.

 

[Cabinet96]

It's more the silver lining to losing, really.

Yeah, seriously people are kidding themselves if they're happy about England losing this for a winner takes all game on Friday. If you don't care about England losing today, you're not likely to care about the decider on Friday IMO.

Meanwhile, if Broad's performance with the ball is in any way due to his heel, then he should FRO back home and stay put until he's 100%.

He's worried he'll never be 100% fit again.

Boult is like Bracewell or Mills. Can be dangerous up front with the swing he generates, but becomes cannon-fodder in the closing stages as he has few variations to fall back on.

He's no Jade Dernbach that's for sure.

 

[grecian]

We get Coney a lot in the UK now, he's excellent.

Yeah, he's a great summariser, but I do wonder if he'd be tiresome in commentry.

It's the Bob Willis situation, he was awfully dull to listen to in his stints, whinging with his monotonous voice, but give him the job of being angry in short bursts, and he's very good.

 

[hendrix]

not sure what's wrong with Dernbach's bowling, he looks decent to me.

 

[Kippax]

Shane Bond's Franklin Project, 3 Months In - YouTube

Franklin has reviewed his game over the past few weeks and in consultation with national bowling coach Shane Bond, he is going to have another crack at bowling in the low 130kmh range rather than the mid 120kmh range.

A yard of pace officially regained, good stuff Franky. Now double it.

 

[Kippax]

Ian Butler, Plunket Shield 2012/13 - YouTube

Love the way Carl Chops just randomly pops up and wears another one.

 

[marc71178]

not sure what's wrong with Dernbach's bowling, he looks decent to me.

Worst bowler in ODI history.

 

[stumpski]

not sure what's wrong with Dernbach's bowling, he looks decent to me.

With three balls to go, he had 3 for 25 - I suspect that there were a few on here who were quite pleased that he went for a few after that so that they could put the boot in again. It can't just be because he plays for Surrey. He has that ****sure approach that seems to aggravate people for some reason, and yes, I'd be the first to admit that his economy rate, especially in ODIs, is way too high. The thing is that I've seen him quite a bit in four-day cricket at The Oval (which I would guess not many of his detractors here have done) and he's a different bowler there. Steady performer and can keep going, with decent pace, for longish spells. Good county bowler who the England management seem to be losing patience with.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah, he's a great summariser, but I do wonder if he'd be tiresome in commentry.

It's the Bob Willis situation, he was awfully dull to listen to in his stints, whinging with his monotonous voice, but give him the job of being angry in short bursts, and he's very good.

Jezza quite often does comm during our T20 summer, tbf. Rate him very highly; especially strong on field/bowling changes.

But then I don't mind big, bad Bob either.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Jeremy Coney is by far my favourite commentator these days. Shame he isn't heard enough and we have to put up with the same tired old journeyman hacks all the time.