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

[Mike5181]

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/tms/tms_20130322-0435a.mp3

Interview with Fulton.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Which would you prefer?

Scarlett has a good variety of strokes, especially with the ball around head high. Fulton's definitely the rarer of the two, though.

 

[Cabinet96]

Urghh, one expects there's no chance of winning the series now. Just hope we can continue to keep it tight and bat well.

 

[_Ed_]

I had been considering going along tomorrow, but a friend has talked me into going to the Beer Festival instead - so there's no need to fear the dreaded jinx!

 

[Adders]

Urghh, one expects there's no chance of winning the series now. Just hope we can continue to keep it tight and bat well.

Yeah, will take a huge black cap implosion to lose from here, high scoring draw is where this one is headed...........did we really bowl that poorly this morning?? Thought the wicket was supposed to do a bit first thing??

 

[theegyptian]

oh well a 1-0 defeat to New Zealand isn't that bad.

 

[Viscount Tom]

Hopefully they've had a drought there as well :/

 

[Scaly piscine]

oh well a 1-0 defeat to New Zealand isn't that bad.

Yes. Yes it is.

 

[lockton2skipper]

whats glaringly obvious for both sides is the need for a 5th bowler if you want to bowl a side out twice.

 

[marc71178]

Not sure I get that - the 5th bowler is by definition not as good as the main 4 who are struggling to take wickets so how will that help?

 

[hendrix]

Why?
That last ball Finn delivered pretty much summed up England's effort with the ball today, rubbish. Anderson was good early on but both Broad and Finn were ****e, especially Finn. Was down on pace all day and looked like nothing more than a domestic trundler.

I thought Anderson was largely rubbish too. A foot too short most of the time.

I agree. A lot of the off field stuff I've read through here, the media (here's looking at you England) social media has been a giggle.

Let me count the ways: Pitches are too slow/low/dead, yet we'd be at 1-1 with plenty of great performances with bat and ball, locals complaining about us being too slow this morning, one ex-England captain getting carried away about their juicy odds after winning the toss while another ex-player called it the worst decision in memory - with the benefit of hindsight and no suggestion (despite he being a former bowler) that it was erroneous line and length...and so forth.

Yeah it's really pissing me off.

Look at the cricinfo article too. Making it out to be a massive gift from Cook.

No. You bowl well on that pitch and you will take wickets.

Is it me or did the likes of Chris Martin and others actually manage to swing the ball in recent seasons. Steyn, Philander, back to Sidebottom. Seems like no-one has really got the ball to swing at all this series apart from the odd ball (notably Wagner to KP). This despite Anderson, Southee and Boult playing, who have good form for it. Anyone have any theories why this is the case?

To me NZ wickets have mostly been pretty lifeless for a while now, particularly in March at the end of their seasons, but bowlers have generally been able to take wickets with a bit of movement in the air.

There was a little bit of swing early. hopefully will be more when Southee bowls.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Whats clear is that the England attack is quite average without Swann, because really he's the one who usually comes up with a bit of magic to break a partnership and get things rolling. Another thing to note is SA posted 637/2 declared on what seemed to be a dead track and still managed to win the game, so nothing is impossible if England get their act together and put the pressure on early today.

 

[Pothas]

Massively tempting fate here but I am still pretty sure we will not lose this test.

 

[BeeGee]

Exactly right, sick of the English media moaning about the state of these pitches to be honest. Both Tests would have had a result if not for the rain.

Amen, brother.

The peak of lunacy was reached when they started complaining about the brand of ball being used. Jesus Christ, what's next? We couldn't take wickets because the roller used on the pitch was the wrong model? Water goes down the plug hole the wrong way?

How about your bowlers bowled like **** and wasted the best bowling conditions of the game.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Not sure I get that - the 5th bowler is by definition not as good as the main 4 who are struggling to take wickets so how will that help?

It does help to rotate the bowlers though, without giving ridiculous amounts of overs to ineffective spinners.

 

[silentstriker]

Not sure I get that - the 5th bowler is by definition not as good as the main 4 who are struggling to take wickets so how will that help?

Also depends how consistent the other four are. If a bowler is not bowling that well on a day, the fifth bowler can pick up the slack. And it also matters if the fifth bowler adds some variety that you may not have otherwise. I don't think you should always have five bowlers but if your attack is mediocre or inconsistent, having that fifth bowler definitely helps.

 

[Meridio]

Important that we don't lose any wickets early on here. Just don't give England a sniff.

 

[BeeGee]

Into the nineties.

No jinxes please, we're kiwis.

EDIT: Crud.

 

[Pothas]

Yeahhhh wicket. Managed to miss the only one we got yesterday.

 

[BeeGee]

Good knock.

Important Taylor doesn't get out early and trigger a collapse.