Been watching cricket for 30 years and tomorrow will be a great occasion,, following the black caps thru thick and thin,
all a nice script really given anzac anniversay, an emotional summer for the aussie team following hughes death, crowe's issues.
just watched Clarke last press conference, the guy is a class act, a great occasion but also those who keep eye on the ball and not clouded will win.
all this crud about warner being boorish or the aussies behaving badly, sledging etc..is much irrelevent and bit insecure really.
They are an awesome team and the way they dismantled india(who seem more like arrogant premadonnas) was a great exhibition of the skills
this team has....just glas aus, sa or nz win the thing because the importance of great bowling shouldn't be overlooked and the semis showed that
unfortunately sa are out thru a combo of cruel luck, trying too hard, and panic at crucial moments despite great plays.
sometimes the kiwis give the aussies a ribbing about warner or maxwell etc and supposed ego personalities, but really part of it
is that the aussies win a lot, specially their cricket team, so it's more about aussies losing a bit to even the ledger.
around the millenium seemed like aussie was winning everything it touched lol...but awesome olypics besides.
so ahead of this clash i pose these:
all this talk of the toss being crucial and having to bat first is peeving me off...a great cricket team should be happy with either.
if aussie bats first and makes a par/below apr score..say 250...HOW WILL McCullum play his innings given he's under a lot more pressure to keep his wicket than score quickly
Q2: will the ball swing for boult..if not..NZ are in huge trouble...in all thier matches so far..they have got early wickets which has had a stark impression on the dynamics of the game.
I honestly believe, regardless of nz batting first or second, is that NZ must have aussie 3 down by the 15 over mark....if they don't the aussie will go to town on vettori...and that "card" we have will become a bonus for them. if the aussies are say 3 down for 60..they can't afford to attack vettori for fear of losing more wickets..and that actually makes vettori even more dangerous..mccullum will create dangerous fields etc.
In 30 years of watching cricket..despite all the hype surrounding nz and how much I dearly want them to win..the HEAD is saying australia at me.
Southee and Boult and henry have enormous pressure on them. They need to be hitting the seam and realesing perfectly always outside off
and on the full side for boult...mccullum win set attacking field for boult...one idea is 5 slips but then get trent bowl and inswinger..hoping warner/finch might overdrive it.
I have a feeling southee will get smashed..problem being the kind of bowler he is...he needs to hit the seam first two overs and get an edge or it's not looking good.
the weather forecast is blue skies....unfort for nz...but them weather was on our side in auckland.
if we lose , we've done very well to get the country back talking cricket and behind the team again.
I remember 92 like it was yesterday..and there again...akrams element of reverse swing..removing lamb and lewis...won pakistan the world cup.
we have two white balls now..and that reverse swing element appears lost...which is why it's so crucial to get early wickets..
all this talk of 350 vs 300 is irrelevant if early wickets fall...they were saying about 350 vs 300 before the auckland match last month.
all in all, great occasion and just wanna see good cricket....and yeah..full respect to the aussie team from a kiwi.
