*Official* New Zealand in England 2015

[Antihippy]

Do people not think Anderson merits a place in the side solely for his batting?

 

[Bahnz]

Do people not think Anderson merits a place in the side solely for his batting?

If it's a choice between him and Watling for one spot, then Watling wins easily.

 

[Prince EWS]

Do people not think Anderson merits a place in the side solely for his batting?

Well, he does under normal circumstances. If Watling's fit to bat but not fit to keep I don't think he does, though.

 

[Zinzan]

NZ underperformed, yes. But England would have to have been somewhere near their peak, surely -- the bowlers bowled well, the batsman batted as well as they ever have in recent times, Stokes actually did something etc.

England can't go much further up from that performance. NZ can -- their ceiling is far higher. And yet they still pushed England close for the extreme majority of the Test, and almost managed to save it.

England to lose by an innings here, IMO

Would obviously love you to be right, but can't help feeling the confidence, belief and momentum England will being taking into this 2nd match will be too much for NZ; who will be the team feeling under pressure & will feel they have to play 'catch-up' cricket.

 

[Mike5181]

Watling's such a little gun. The more observant people among us may have noticed minor mistakes before the Pakistan series, but that was the only time I really had any complaints about his glovework or his batting. He's kept well and scored runs against basically everyone else for more than two years now. South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe. We're lucky to have him.

 

[Antihippy]

If it's a choice between him and Watling for one spot, then Watling wins easily.

Ah alright, I see your point.

 

[Bahnz]

On the back of this latest test he must now have a pretty serious claim to WPWKB. His numbers against England were pretty much the only hole in his resume before last week.

Early days but the weather forecast is looking pretty grim for day 1 at Leeds.

 

[SteveNZ]

Really think Watling has to play the next test, even if he's hobbling around the field for parts of it. It's tough on Anderson, but if he's got a back problem he's unlikely to be able to bowl much anyway.

I'd have one-legged BJ over any other option. He's vital to the fabric of our side. Without him in this Test we'd have been really dicked (as opposed to dicked)

 

[harsh.ag]

NZ underperformed, yes. But England would have to have been somewhere near their peak, surely -- the bowlers bowled well, the batsman batted as well as they ever have in recent times, Stokes actually did something etc.

England can't go much further up from that performance. NZ can -- their ceiling is far higher. And yet they still pushed England close for the extreme majority of the Test, and almost managed to save it.

England to lose by an innings here, IMO

Jimmy could bowl much better, Lyth, Ballance, and Bell could bat muchhhhhh better. So, England could do better too. Rose tinted glasses don't look good on ya, Dan.

 

[Zinzan]

Yup, similar sentiments re: Watling playing as a batsman if need be.... If Williamson is the 'glue' in our batting, Watling is the "Selleys no more leaks" that goes on the outside.

Would love to know his 'minutes per innings' stats, he must only be 2nd to Williamson, if not 1st in this respect.

 

[SteveNZ]

Jimmy could bowl much better, Lyth, Ballance, and Bell could bat muchhhhhh better. So, England could do better too. Rose tinted glasses don't look good on ya, Dan.

Anderson certainly, and Bell maybe...but those other two look like they're going to struggle for runs all summer.

England fans, wouldn't you rather Carberry right now - someone who showed signs of batting time at least against strong attacks? Or is this Lyth guy going to offer something similar? In looking at Carberry's record, only twice was he removed in the first 10 overs from 12 innings and often batted 100+ balls even if he didn't score that strongly. I don't follow England cricket as closely as I could but Ballance looks like someone who can/will succeed, but certainly not if England are 1 for spit against a good attack. And Bell is looking the same.

 

[JediNudist]

Dylan Cleaver: Black Caps' loss the latest chapter in a tale of English woe - Sport - NZ Herald News

Dylan Cleaver putting the boot in,

TBH I agree with him,. Only had to bat out 3 sessions instead at 60-5 Macca was still chasing the target !! He was in cookoo land . It was game over at 60-5.

Dylan points to the IPL as having an effect but the IPL wasn't around in 2004 when NZ annihilated comprehensively. NZ have this mental block from performing in England apart from 1999 with the Chris cairns inspired series win , they just don't know how to win in England anymore. They collapsed from seemingly impregnable positions and on Monday was no different.

 

[Bahnz]

Dylan Cleaver: Black Caps' loss the latest chapter in a tale of English woe - Sport - NZ Herald News

Dylan Cleaver putting the boot in,

TBH I agree with him,. Only had to bat out 3 sessions instead at 60-5 Macca was still chasing the target !! He was in cookoo land . It was game over at 60-5.

He wasn't chasing the win at 60/5, Anderson just naturally scores at a high run-rate. From McCullum's point of view, the chase effectively ended when Williamson was dismissed.

 

[Hurricane]

I think part of the problem is that england are so stacked with left handers, which favours Boult and makes it harder for Southee to bowl the economical line as he does against righties.

Good post. I have vowed to stay out of bowler discussions but liked this post.

There's no chance he didn't back himself against a fairly new ball, he's a former Test opener and noted bullish cricketer. Said in the presser he wanted to hold back for a dip later in the innings, yeah? No reason to not believe that.

I don't think it caused us to lose as watling is even better than baz defensively so pushing him up the order was ok for a playing for the draw point of view.

However if he reason was that he thought it would help them win outright then he is mistaken and used errant logic.
Brendon is the faster scorer, is capable of large centuries, and needed to go in eArly Rather than wanting to have a dip later in the inning.

I think he was confused. Which is code we use in business for saying his decision made no sense.

 

[Hurricane]

He wasn't chasing the win at 60/5, Anderson just naturally scores at a high run-rate. From McCullum's point of view, the chase effectively ended when Williamson was dismissed.

Let us have a scape goat dammit Bahnz

 

[JediNudist]

He wasn't chasing the win at 60/5, Anderson just naturally scores at a high run-rate. From McCullum's point of view, the chase effectively ended when Williamson was dismissed.

Then why am I reading reports that Macca said we were still in it at 60-5 ?? It should have been block and leave every ball at 60-5. Survival was paramount at that stage,.

 

[Zinzan]

Ahhh... Mate of mine from Leeds (who claims to be a weather expert) emailed to say he's predicting a fair amount of play lost to rain sadly. He's chuffed, because a 1-0 scoreline will suit him just fine. Bugger.

 

[JediNudist]

Ahhh... Mate of mine from Leeds (who claims to be a weather expert) emailed to say he's predicting a fair amount of play lost to rain sadly. He's chuffed, because a 1-0 scoreline will suit him just fine. Bugger.

and NZ will drop to 7th if they can nit get a win .

 

[Zinzan]

and NZ will drop to 7th if they can nit get a win .

Yup, same whether it's 1-0 or 2-0 right?

 

[Bahnz]

Ahhh... Mate of mine from Leeds (who claims to be a weather expert) emailed to say he's predicting a fair amount of play lost to rain sadly. He's chuffed, because a 1-0 scoreline will suit him just fine. Bugger.

BBC currently forecasting rain on days 1,3 and 4, so yep looking pretty bad atm.