**Official** Pakistan v New Zealand in the UAE 2014

[Kippax]

At the moment though, you've got four Pakistan batsman playing near pro mode cricket against teams (Australia and NZ) that are coming in severely underdone and out of season. If NZ escapes this match I think the second one should go closer, but the problem with NZ is that you're never sure if they'll show the discipline even if the skills are there.

Yeah well I'm not surprised. NZ cricket's idea of a tense final day of red ball is someone chasing down 360 in 59.3 overs, with three balls to spare. They don't even engage the game of cricket properly.

As a consequence, we'll continue to take our beans from the more captious and humourless nations like South Africa and Pakistan when we go and visit them. Like a little Andrew Mulligan douche, who thought cricket coming out of the UAE would be a much more thrilling watch than it is.

Once we've taken our beans (from an FTP that won't even exist for too much longer), we can quickly put it all behind us and get back to our pathetic divorcee dad, who'll let us sprinkle as many grape-flavoured Wonka nerds on our cornflakes as we need, just so that he can say we've been eating cornflakes.

 

[hendrix]

cornflakes aren't good for you anyway.

 

[Bahnz]

So what chance of this going to day 5?

 

[Hurricane]

So what chance of this going to day 5?

2%

 

[Blocky]

Yeah well I'm not surprised. NZ cricket's idea of a tense final day of red ball is someone chasing down 360 in 59.3 overs, with three balls to spare. They don't even engage the game of cricket properly.

As a consequence, we'll continue to take our beans from the more captious and humourless nations like South Africa and Pakistan when we go and visit them. Like a little Andrew Mulligan douche, who thought cricket coming out of the UAE would be a much more thrilling watch than it is.

Once we've taken our beans (from an FTP that won't even exist for too much longer), we can quickly put it all behind us and get back to our pathetic divorcee dad, who'll let us sprinkle as many grape-flavoured Wonka nerds on our cornflakes as we need, just so that he can say we've been eating cornflakes.

I see it as the same issue that Australia has at the moment - when your "veteran" players are the ones getting out perhaps in the softest and cheapest ways ( Clarke, Haddin, etc ) then your junior players aren't exactly going to think twice before playing that way. When you had guys like Hussey, Hayden and Ponting in the Australian unit refusing to give away soft chances then your junior guys played more in that sense and were happier to grind out performances.

At the moment we have major issues in that players coming into the side initially seem to do OK for themselves (Anderson, Neesham, Latham*, Rutherford, Fulton coming back into the team, Watling*, Brownlie) - the longer they're in the side, the worse they get - stars on Watling and Latham as they seem to buck this trend. It's very hard for the side to turn around and demand accountability when its "best" player is getting out in soft fashion so often, it's captain has a tendency to do the same thing and our consistency really relies on a guy who bats 7 in the order.

 

[hendrix]

At the moment we have major issues in that players coming into the side initially seem to do OK for themselves (Anderson, Neesham, Latham*, Rutherford, Fulton coming back into the team, Watling*, Brownlie) - the longer they're in the side, the worse they get - stars on Watling and Latham as they seem to buck this trend. It's very hard for the side to turn around and demand accountability when its "best" player is getting out in soft fashion so often, it's captain has a tendency to do the same thing and our consistency really relies on a guy who bats 7 in the order.

Rutherford and Fulton simply aren't good enough cricketers. Latham and Watling are.

Anderson and Neesham are a couple of seasons away in terms of development. But our middle order depth being somewhat low at this point in time, we may as well pick them now.

 

[Hurricane]

I know the series has only just started but we are losing badly because none of Southee, McCullum, Taylor and Williamson have been able to make an impression on this match so far, with the only bright spots being Latham and to a lesser extent Anderson and Sodhi.
.

I once told you that I agreed with all your posts. You are I are on polar ends of the spectrum here. We are losing because the pitch is tailor made for them and they batted first when there was less purchase for our spinners. McCullum, Taylor and Williamson are all right handers and it was always going to be tough for them against the ball spinning towards slips (even though Kane didn't get out to a spinner). I remember when we played Herath and he ran right through us like a knife through butter. I also remember the SLAs from Bangladesh tearing through us until Vettori came out and stopped the rot and he admitted afterwards it was all down to him being left handed rather than his own superior skill (some modesty there but some truth to it as well). Southee was never going to bowl well on that deck and I don't know why people speculated he would succeed better than Johnson. FTR whenever I watched Southee bowl I thought he bowled good channels.

Suddenly we have a damn good side - maybe Mark Craig doesn't belong but there aren't many passengers in the team. Our team is good enough just with those players in it and perhaps Wagner in for Mark Craig. I would back us at home to beat most sides in the world provided that Ross comes out of his funk (he should have played the India series - damn his wife wanting him by her side for the birth of his child )

 

[Flem274*]

Or - Taylor is excessively lazy and only gets motivated once in a blue moon

you're a moron

I know people like to talk about past series to make themselves feel better...but i'm not looking at the past i'm looking at now, and the fact is NZ don't appear to have the spinners to compete in these conditions and we do!!..does that mean we would win? no..but i'm damn sure we'd at least be in the fight.

and so are you

you use dominance from before i was born to justify your team today ffs

 

[Kippax]

cornflakes aren't good for you anyway.

Very true. The likes of Kelloggs and Sanitarium, young progressive sceptics are hip to their origins these days. Yet the progressive sceptics are very rarely enduring the regimented lifestyle required to become the sport's domestic tastemakers, so that kind of fits nicely.

 

[straw man]

I once told you that I agreed with all your posts. You are I are on polar ends of the spectrum here. We are losing because the pitch is tailor made for them and they batted first when there was less purchase for our spinners. McCullum, Taylor and Williamson are all right handers and it was always going to be tough for them against the ball spinning towards slips (even though Kane didn't get out to a spinner). I remember when we played Herath and he ran right through us like a knife through butter. I also remember the SLAs from Bangladesh tearing through us until Vettori came out and stopped the rot and he admitted afterwards it was all down to him being left handed rather than his own superior skill (some modesty there but some truth to it as well). Southee was never going to bowl well on that deck and I don't know why people speculated he would succeed better than Johnson. FTR whenever I watched Southee bowl I thought he bowled good channels.

Well... we are losing because our senior players aren't making an impact . Didn't say it was purely because they are underperforming though (esp after just one innings) - the conditions and Pakistan are also making it very difficult for them, as you say. Yet Latham managed to do it. And more bluntly, they're the senior players, they all have more capacity than currently displayed and they need to find a way. I'm confident that Williamson will, less so that McCullum and Taylor will score runs. I expect Southee (and Boult) will improve a little too, as they get used to the conditions and hopefully find more reverse.

Suddenly we have a damn good side - maybe Mark Craig doesn't belong but there aren't many passengers in the team. Our team is good enough just with those players in it and perhaps Wagner in for Mark Craig.

Yes, which is why should expect better of them in this series, even if it isn't to the point of winning

 

[BeeGee]

So what chance of this going to day 5?

99%. They'll bat at least two sessions and even NZ will last longer than one.

 

[Blocky]

you're a moron

Insults end in you crying remember...?

Taylor has never been consistent, because he is a lazy **** - he admits as much himself, he hates running, he loves his KFC and he only ever seems to get serious once every two years, then he goes on a tear and gets his average up and then goes back into dumbass Taylor who can't help but get himself out.

 

[Flem274*]

Insults end in you crying remember...?

Taylor has never been consistent

I don't know what Taylor you've been watching. He's a monster at home and average away. Has been all career bar a few awesome knocks away from home.

As for the rest...

You think you know all about cricket and you do know a few things (you're great value on bowling technique), but your usual biased and shoulder chipped agenda keeps polluting anything you might have to contribute (remember that time last summer you made comments about Laura McGoldrick's *** life and how that was another reason Guptill was the worst cricketer ever?).

You're not like someone else I can think of who is legitimately either too dumb, too enthusiastic or too blindly hopeful to realise what their posts are like. Deep down you know half the dribble you spout is exactly that, but it suits your Pink and Blue pie eating swashbuckling Anton Devcich-esque agenda to not just tear into the cricketing abilities of players who don't fit your mould but also tear into them as people.

You contribute little as a poster and if this is your personality in the real world, hoo boy we have a case on our hands.

So I apologise, you're not a moron. You're a ****.

 

[Days of Grace]

Insults end in you crying remember...?

Taylor has never been consistent, because he is a lazy **** - he admits as much himself, he hates running, he loves his KFC and he only ever seems to get serious once every two years, then he goes on a tear and gets his average up and then goes back into dumbass Taylor who can't help but get himself out.

This is not dat Polynesians can't play cricket cauze they too lazy thing again is it?

 

[Fuller Pilch]

So what chance of this going to day 5?

Well they set Australia 600 a week ago so might not be a hurry to declare. Hopefully they will delay the declaration waiting for more centuries.

 

[Daemon]

Remember how Flem274* used to be a mod

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

I don't remember but it sounds like it was pretty great.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Let me guess, WW had to be a killjoy and lay a complaint?

 

[Adders]

Flems awesome and I sincerely hope he doesn't cop an infraction for that post...........he's only saying what everyone else is thinking.

 

[Frost]

I told myself I wouldn't watch the cricket, I lied to myself today....