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

[Daemon]

Finally something interesting

 

[Spark]

wat

 

[Meridio]

Well that was the best over of bowling I've seen today. We simply must be more consistent with our lines and lengths.

 

[Jord]

Baz with some spin?

Declaration bowling.

 

[Spark]

Still bounce there.

 

[Zinzan]

Also that wicket NZ/Aust wicket in Hobart in 2011 should be the sort of wickets NZ should be looking to develop.

I think the same factors that have made our ODI wickets much better over the last few years have made these test wickets too good for NZ bowlers to take 20 wickets against good sides.

 

[straw man]

Boult has had more zip than Southee.
Wagner has been the best older-ball bowler.

With Anderson scoring runs, I'm back to thinking that Southee and Henry are competing for the same spot. I wouldn't want to dismiss Southee coming back from injury here but he has just looked completely innocuous. Still the default selection now but wouldn't guarantee that to be the case in 12 months without some improvement.

 

[Skyliner]

Hardly the end of the match, but this series has shown that it's probably a good time to move on from the BMac era before it gets really stale. It's been an excellent 3 years for the most part, but the apparently trademarked aggressive brand of cricket has now meant that the batsmen won't grind out a score whether or not the conditions are in their favour, and the bowling attack similarly has forgotten how to bowl dry when needed. Add in the meme fields and tactics (which, to be fair, worked once upon a time when they were used sparingly), you do feel it's time for a back-to-basics approach.

Saw BMac interviewed the other day and he mentioned 'authentic to our style' or something similar 2 or 3 times. He really has a touch of John Mitchell circa 2003 about him.

 

[Daemon]

One of the proper quicks to do a Morkel imo, looks like a good pace to bowl at

 

[Stace]

Someone needs to check Lyons passport because he seems too nice to be Australian.

 

[Meridio]

McCullum getting a little bit of zip off the surface. He's hitting the seam and getting it to just stand up a bit. Bit of an indictment on our actual bowlers tbh.

 

[Jord]

Jord's whinge is way over the top clearly, however I can only assume you haven't been watching if you can't concede the coin toss in the series to date is more important and crucial than usual on these pitches that are green and spicy as hell for 5-6 hours and then dry out to be roads.

That said, there's no doubt Aust have been and are the far better side, and I don't think even the most one-eyed NZ fan (with the possibly exception of KV who seems to have disappeared off the planet) would suggest otherwise.

Nothing I've said differs from this part of your post

 

[Meridio]

Oh, what. Boult bowls the best over of the day and then gets taken off?

 

[Daemon]

Jord's whinge is way over the top clearly, however I can only assume you haven't been watching if you can't concede the coin toss in the series to date is more important and crucial than usual on these pitches that are green and spicy as hell for 5-6 hours and then dry out to be roads.

That said, there's no doubt Aust have been and are the far better side, and I don't think even the most one-eyed NZ fan (with the possibly exception of KV who seems to have disappeared off the planet) would suggest otherwise.

So you're right about the gap between the teams, but should have an element of sympathy for losing the toss on these stupid wickets that only play up for such a short time.

Many of us kiwi fans have been complaining about these wickets that make the toss so crucial for a long time now since we always seem to lose them on a greentop.

Bring back the Indian series pitches of 2002 IMO, yes, those ones India moaned about for about 5 years afterwards..but at least they did plenty throughout the whole 5 days, the type of wickets that gives NZ are better chance of actually winning against the better teams. That's what the home advantage should be all about.

Have you met Fiery?

 

[Jord]

Hardly the end of the match, but this series has shown that it's probably a good time to move on from the BMac era before it gets really stale. It's been an excellent 3 years for the most part, but the apparently trademarked aggressive brand of cricket has now meant that the batsmen won't grind out a score whether or not the conditions are in their favour, and the bowling attack similarly has forgotten how to bowl dry when needed. Add in the meme fields and tactics (which, to be fair, worked once upon a time when they were used sparingly), you do feel it's time for a back-to-basics approach.

AWTA; although McCullum has been let down massively by his bowlers this season.

Also the planning seems off, bowling our off spinner constantly around the wicket to right handed batsmen takes out so many of the options to take a wicket.

 

[Immenso]

The fastest century in test cricket will join the fastest double century in test cricket as being in a losing effort. Plus both were in Christchurch.

370's in the first innnings just don't set you up for wins.

250/4 with 5 men on the boundary, bowlers bowling round the wicket with outside-leg yorkers. Turns into a mid 300s first innings - with 4 of the next 5 dismissals caught in front of the wicket. That takes some inept game management.

 

[Spark]

The fastest century in test cricket will join the fastest double century in test cricket as being in a losing effort. Plus both were in Christchurch.

370's in the first innnings just don't set you up for wins.

250/4 with 5 men on the boundary, bowlers bowling round the wicket with outside-leg yorkers. Turns into a mid 300s first innings - with 4 of the next 5 dismissals caught in front of the wicket. That takes some inept game management.

Yeah NZ really should have made way more than 370. Aus were mentally shot there, and were there for the taking.

 

[Gnske]

BMac proving the toss doesn't matter when 10 out of the 11 in your side are total hacks who can't bat or bowl.

 

[Jord]

Indication is that 110kmh might just be the pace to bowl on this wicket. The ball is swinging both ways, standing up off the seam and looking much more threatening than what it was for the main bowlers.

 

[SteveNZ]

Anything to take a swing at Baz. It doesn't matter that the match situation was the end of the day, with Australia doing nothing but defending and no real harm likely to occur; let's put the boot in because now a kid might stand at silly mid off without a helmet.

The Hughes incident was a massive tragedy and I think changed cricket and protection for the better but do keep in mind that it was an absolute freak accident. It's the same as people who bat without chest protectors or arm guards, broken arms and broken ribs happen but if you're not comfortable in the protection you're wearing then you won't wear it. Smith has probably worn that helmet type/shape his entire career.

Making it mandatory would be a good start; but do you then make arm guards and chest protectors mandatory too? And should a batsman be able to bat in a cap when spinners are on? Some of the worst injuries I've seen at club come from someone top edging a spinner into their own mug

How has it changed cricket and protection for the better? As I just said, the Australian captain got sconed yesterday about 5-10cm from the impact area Hughes suffered.

This is a conversation that needs to continue. Freak accident it was, but it can happen again. And it's most likely to happen at international level, where the bowlers are at their quickest. Do we need to happen again to actually learn the lesson? When the PH one happened, we said it's a shame that had to happen for measures to be taken. And it's done not a lot at all. Mitch McClenaghan got hit through a widened grill. Smith was hit very, very close to the temple.

It's complete silliness to say do we need to make arm or chest guards compulsory. We're protecting the head, and you know why. Should they be mandatory to spinners? Unsure. But the helmet, plus the neck piece, should be. I'm watching Nathan Lyon wearing it and scoring runs - there is absolutely no reason batsmen shouldn't get used to it.

It's a horrible conversation to continue to have because no one wants to remember back to that day. But we haven't learned. Honestly we haven't.