***Official*** Australia in New Zealand 2016

[Flem274*]

please send doug back to CD. our chances to win the shield sky rocket since he's a proper FC bowler now and a glorious troll with the bat at that level.

 

[Dan]

The answer to this question is Tom Bruce, btw.

 

[Jord]

On the flipside, very impressed with the captaincy from Steve Smith and I think it's an underrated feature here. He's got a young bowling attack that truth told was copping it as being one of the worst to come to NZ and he's marshalled them exceptionally and I think a great feature of their play is they've managed to put massive pressure on Williamson, Latham, McCullum and Watling by completely removing their usual scoring options.

 

[Flem274*]

forgot to reiterate earlier but after seeing kippax's video of nicholls' glorious shovelling trolling in the shield stepping ten metres outside off to hit through the onside i am a true convert now. what a hero.

 

[Prince EWS]

forgot to reiterate earlier but after seeing kippax's video of nicholls' glorious shovelling trolling in the shield stepping ten metres outside off to hit through the onside i am a true convert now. what a hero.

Haha that was peak bent shovel.

 

[Hurricane]

I am turning in. Thanks for the chat Dan!

I will spend tomorrow creating a Corey J in a boxer outfit avatar. Mind you Gnske is supposed to hit me with the Don Von Voges avatar - so yeah that project will have to keep.

 

[Senile Sentry]

Darn, just when India were sneaking on that test mace

All power to NZ for second test.

 

[Dan]

Actually wait, we all want to drop Craig and play four seamers, right? So we need a spin bowling all-rounder at #6 but Santner is injured.

If only Northern Districts had another batsman who bowls left arm spin in their top six:

And Hurricane can rightly slam this one for being arrogant

 

[Flem274*]

The UN security council vetoes your decision Dan and instead provides George Worker, a much more agreeable cricketer than The Dev.

tbf i can't think of a better bloke than anton devcich to be sent in as the sacrificial opener if the good version of mitchell johnson was on tour. especially if the circa 2010 cricsim rumours are true.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Actually wait, we all want to drop Craig and play four seamers, right? So we need a spin bowling all-rounder at #6 but Santner is injured.

If only Northern Districts had another batsman who bowls left arm spin in their top six:

And Hurricane can rightly slam this one for being arrogant

Please don't doxx my pubes.

 

[Gob]

Darn, just when India were sneaking on that test mace

All power to NZ for second test.

This win is so good even the trolls can't troll

 

[cnerd123]

This win is so good even the trolls can't troll

Nah not true. You're still posting.

 

[Moss]

On the flipside, very impressed with the captaincy from Steve Smith and I think it's an underrated feature here. He's got a young bowling attack that truth told was copping it as being one of the worst to come to NZ and he's marshalled them exceptionally and I think a great feature of their play is they've managed to put massive pressure on Williamson, Latham, McCullum and Watling by completely removing their usual scoring options.

Absolutely. Taken in context, this was a terrific win. Not that an Aussie win was a huge surprise but to win by an innings and some, with one frontline bowler having a forgettable test. Also the quick turnaround time from the India series with no warmups.

Though it might be worth pointing out that the three Aussies who did play the shield game at Lincoln (Voges, Nevill, Lyon) were all outstanding.

 

[Moss]

NZ's best chance for a win in the second is to replace Anderson with the extra pacer (Wagner IMO as he offers the point-of-difference, while neither Southee/Boult will be replaced by Henry for new ball duties so it's almost a given he won't play that role). They'll basically have to hope that the batting copes up with the extra responsibility and the likes of Craig and Bracewell pull their weight in the lower order. That way you gain a lot in the bowling and don't lose a heck of a lot in the batting.

Nothing to do with the allrounder debate (there are equally valid points to be made in favour of Anderson, Neesham and Santner), simply the need for a win and the XI that is most likely to accomplish it in what is hopefully a one-off basis.

 

[Gob]

Nah not true. You're still posting.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

 

[Dead Meat]

Thankfully the TLOP rollout distracted me from following most of this test Totally agree that the 'hard luck' Bracewell narrative is becoming a bit of a never wicket taking/ending story. RE the keeping - interesting to hear the Postman talking on Radio Sport a few weeks back - https://soundcloud.com/nzherald/gavin-larsen-discusses-the-test-team

Mentions De Boorder as the 'long-form keeper' as well as having good wraps on Seifert..

 

[hendrix]

I know Santner is pretty to watch as a batsman but we really can't declare him as likely to be a better bat than Anderson or Neesham yet.

 

[Jord]

I think we can. I can recall maybe three innings that Anderson has played and scored ugly runs, I can't remember any innings Neesham has gone out and scored ugly, Santner has already shown in a young ODI career that pressure doesn't really get to him, and he doesn't need to be timing the ball to find runs. He's also a tidy left arm spinner at a time where none of our other spin options are tidy. Real issue isn't at #6 though, it's how we make our bowling attack work if the ball isn't swinging early for Southee and Boult and how can we get our top order batsmen to stop throwing starts away in almost every single test. Latham has been ridiculously consistent in getting started against Aus but has yet to go and make them pay. That's a mental issue.

 

[hendrix]

I think we can. I can recall maybe three innings that Anderson has played and scored ugly runs, I can't remember any innings Neesham has gone out and scored ugly, Santner has already shown in a young ODI career that pressure doesn't really get to him, and he doesn't need to be timing the ball to find runs. He's also a tidy left arm spinner at a time where none of our other spin options are tidy. Real issue isn't at #6 though, it's how we make our bowling attack work if the ball isn't swinging early for Southee and Boult and how can we get our top order batsmen to stop throwing starts away in almost every single test. Latham has been ridiculously consistent in getting started against Aus but has yet to go and make them pay. That's a mental issue.

I've said before that I think it's a fitness issue for Latham; I think a lot of "mental fitness" is in fact physiological in that we do actually fatigue, both in our brains and our limbs. When you see Latham bat, it's not only that he gives the game away with a poor shot, it's also that his actual technique deteriorates. And unfortunately I don't see batting coach Craig McMillan working that out. Of course, the effect is magnified when he's been out in the field for a day and a half. I just think it's an easy fix that might improve his game. Honestly I really feel not enough emphasis is placed on physical fitness for batsmen at the elite level.

 

[Binkley]

I've said before that I think it's a fitness issue for Latham; I think a lot of "mental fitness" is in fact physiological in that we do actually fatigue, both in our brains and our limbs. When you see Latham bat, it's not only that he gives the game away with a poor shot, it's also that his actual technique deteriorates. And unfortunately I don't see batting coach Craig McMillan working that out. Of course, the effect is magnified when he's been out in the field for a day and a half. I just think it's an easy fix that might improve his game. Honestly I really feel not enough emphasis is placed on physical fitness for batsmen at the elite level.

I have been thinking the same thing. Or perhaps I just read and forgot one of your earlier posts, but absorbed and stole the content along the way. My view is that he is a young guy who has been playing cricket once a week over summer since he was a kid and then, all of a sudden, finds himself playing day-in and day-out for a very extended period of time - and playing at a level where the pressure and mental demands are suddenly much, much higher than he was been used to. It is not surprising that he is mentally and physically drained.