***Official*** West Indies in New Zealand 2017

[straw man]

So um, when are we going to get another wicket? Not used to this waiting thing.

 

[Bahnz]

Thought it was very odd to open up with CdG and Santner after the break. Like giving them a little net session before the real stuff starts.

 

[Athlai]

It's a shame none of these wickets count.

 

[Burgey]

Where’s Jason Holder? Is he injured or not available?

 

[quincywagstaff]

Suspended for slow over rates.

 

[Athlai]

Where’s Jason Holder? Is he injured or not available?

Suspended for one game due to slow over rates. Its pretty ridiculous.

 

[straw man]

he's banned for slow over rates

Sounds like I need to see a replay of that catch. Love Williamson back in the gully.

 

[NZTailender]

Out of the ODIs apparently (Ambris). Poor ****ing bloke.

 

[Blain]

Southee gets anything he wants reviewed, most the times they are shockers. KW needs to put him in his place.. The thing is Kane is just as bad at reviews.

 

[NZTailender]

Roach doesn't care for your ****

 

[straw man]

Nice of Cummins to give Boult a second chance.

 

[straw man]

Santner to Roach, OUT, and that's the end of it. Santner finishes it off with a double-strike. A comprehensive win for New Zealand. A sliding length ball on middle and leg. Roach is playing the line but does not account for the turn as the ball rips away and takes out the stumps
KAJ Roach b Santner 32 (44b 4x4 1x6) SR: 72.72

Sounds like pretty much Ball of the Century to wrap things up.

Good game guys,

 

[Athlai]

Well that was a pretty disappointingly one sided series. West Indies had a bit of misfortune on the series but they really look lacking right now. The bowling was passable, the batting had signs of promise. But really outside Braithwaite, there isn't a single player that I'd be wanting to play for NZ right now.

Hoping that things turn around by our next series with them.

 

[straw man]

Yeah I thought this WI tour might be reasonably competitive after a) they got to play a warm-up match and b) they did well in said warm-up against a decent NZ A. That on the back of showing some quality in taking a test off England in England.

I think they needed big centuries from a couple of their promising middle order batsmen to be competitive, but instead those failed and the rest could only contribute bits and pieces.

Maybe it's just karma for dropping Blackwood . Someone take that Sunil Ambris voodoo doll away from Blackwood too plz, he's suffered enough.

 

[Flem274*]

poor ambris. worst dayboo series ever

nice to win another one of our last ever test matches. hopefully we can go out on a high against england in a million months time.

and when do we announce the rest of our batsmen for the odi series?

 

[Howsie]

Gavin Larsen is making me want to vomit with his Timmys and Tommys and Boultys and Doullys and stfu

Gavin Larsen is making me want to vomit with his Timmys and Tommys and Boultys and Doullys and stfu

As a selector it’s disgusting.

This whole New Zealand setup, and I’m mostly talking about Mike Hesson and Pizza Boy Larsen here is toxic from a selection point of view. Hesson has been in this job for way too long, he’s not a robot, he’s developed relationships with these guys over the past five years. Realistically is he going to drop a mate from the team, costing him his livelihood? Nope, not if he can help it. Hence why we saw the likes of Ronchi get a free pass for years, or Latham given plenty of chances in the ODI team whilst failing at just about all of them.

The World Cup is less than two years away and we are suppose to believe Neil Broom is our best back up batting option? Please, we won’t be playing Bangladesh and Ireland come knock out time.

 

[Bahnz]

NZ Marks out of 10

Latham 4/10 - generally managed to see off the new ball, but failed to go on with it even once. Continues to under-achieve
Raval 7/10 - important knocks in the first innings of both tests that helped lay the foundation for the middle-order. Needs to learn how to score a hundred.
KW 6/10 - Still finding irritating ways to get himself out, and was then caught napping first ball after lunch yesterday, just when it seemed like he'd finally found his feet.
Taylor 8/10 - Still looks sketchy af during his first hour at the crease (more than he usually does I mean), but found a way to produce a couple of important knocks. His interview yesterday was the undoubted highlight of the series.
Nicholls 5/10 - You uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly.
Santner 6/10 - Not a controversial opinion, but if he's to play for NZ he needs to be batting at 8. Generally did his job with the ball.
Colin de Grandhomme 9/10 - Valuable wickets, tight overs, aggressive and intelligent batting. Couldn't ask for much more from an allrounder.
Tom Blundell 8/10 - No mistakes worth mentioning behind the stumps, and a very solid knock at the Basin. That backlift will cause him problems against better bowling attacks though.
Neil Wagner 9/10 - This bugger would bounce his own mother if it meant adding another test wicket to the tally. Got tonked a bit in the 2nd innings at Wellington, but otherwise another magnificent series from NZ's best bowler since Hadlee. #comeatmehowsie
Trent Boult 8/10 - Generally looked near to his best. Struggled a bit at Wellington where there wasn't much swing on offer, but pounced in more favourable conditions here. His continued place at XI is becoming fairly ridiculous at this point.
Tim Southee 7/10 - Solid return, but I do think he'll have a harder time taking wickets against the better teams bowling at his current pace.
Matt Henry 6/10 - Did a very solid job in the second innings prising out wickets during the one period in the series when WI looked like making a score. Still bowls generally too short for test cricket.

WI
Brathwaite 8/10 - the best opener on either side, but let his team down by failing to go on and make a score when they needed him to do so in both tests.
Powell 4/10 - showed some flair at Wellington, but when there was a bit of wobble on offer at Hamilton he was made to look very ordinary
Hetmyer 5/10 - again showcased some fantastic strokes in the 2nd dig at the Basin, but his shot selection was poor and (like the rest of the XI) struggled to adapt to the bounce.
Hope 3/10 - the big disappointment. After his tour of England we were all waiting for something special, but he ended up looking very ordinary in generally good batting conditions.
Chase 4/10 - like the rest of the team, struggled with the bounce of Wagner and looked very ordinary against the swinging ball.
Ambris 1/10 - Ugh, poor bloke.
Dowrich 4/10 - Looked good on the attack but lacked the defensive game to bat time. And again, couldn't handle what Wagner was cooking.
Roach 7/10 - Solid effort. Shame to see he doesn't have the pace of old, but generally kept the batsmen honest.
Cummins 6/10 - Produced one really excellent spell after lunch at Hamilton on day 3 that briefly threatened to bring WI back into the contest out of nowhere. Definitely something to work with.
Gabriel 6/10 - At turns awful and exciting. Must be a frustrating player to follow as a WI fan.
Holding 2/10 - scored a ton and took 7. Unfortunately the ton was with the ball and the 7 were runs with the bat.
Reifer 7/10 - the only player in the WI XI who actually looked like he valued his wicket. Handy overs too.

 

[Flem274*]

Hetmyer looks like an absolute gem if he can learn some self control but he isn't a test match #3 atm. that's the problem with the windies, all the youngsters are getting thrown in the deep end without established top order batsmen to work with and it's going to be an ugly time. miguel cummins and gabriel can always hide behind roach.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Wagner bagged 14 wickets at 18.3 this series, definitely made the most of the first half of the test season! Have come to expect it from him though, what a top player.

 

[morgieb]

NZ Marks out of 10

Latham 4/10 - generally managed to see off the new ball, but failed to go on with it even once. Continues to under-achieve
Raval 7/10 - important knocks in the first innings of both tests that helped lay the foundation for the middle-order. Needs to learn how to score a hundred.
KW 6/10 - Still finding irritating ways to get himself out, and was then caught napping first ball after lunch yesterday, just when it seemed like he'd finally found his feet.
Taylor 8/10 - Still looks sketchy af during his first hour at the crease (more than he usually does I mean), but found a way to produce a couple of important knocks. His interview yesterday was the undoubted highlight of the series.
Nicholls 5/10 - You uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly.
Santner 6/10 - Not a controversial opinion, but if he's to play for NZ he needs to be batting at 8. Generally did his job with the ball.
Colin de Grandhomme 9/10 - Valuable wickets, tight overs, aggressive and intelligent batting. Couldn't ask for much more from an allrounder.
Tom Blundell 8/10 - No mistakes worth mentioning behind the stumps, and a very solid knock at the Basin. That backlift will cause him problems against better bowling attacks though.
Neil Wagner 9/10 - This bugger would bounce his own mother if it meant adding another test wicket to the tally. Got tonked a bit in the 2nd innings at Wellington, but otherwise another magnificent series from NZ's best bowler since Hadlee. #comeatmehowsie
Trent Boult 8/10 - Generally looked near to his best. Struggled a bit at Wellington where there wasn't much swing on offer, but pounced in more favourable conditions here. His continued place at XI is becoming fairly ridiculous at this point.
Tim Southee 7/10 - Solid return, but I do think he'll have a harder time taking wickets against the better teams bowling at his current pace.
Matt Henry 6/10 - Did a very solid job in the second innings prising out wickets during the one period in the series when WI looked like making a score. Still bowls generally too short for test cricket.

WI
Brathwaite 8/10 - the best opener on either side, but let his team down by failing to go on and make a score when they needed him to do so in both tests.
Powell 4/10 - showed some flair at Wellington, but when there was a bit of wobble on offer at Hamilton he was made to look very ordinary
Hetmyer 5/10 - again showcased some fantastic strokes in the 2nd dig at the Basin, but his shot selection was poor and (like the rest of the XI) struggled to adapt to the bounce.
Hope 3/10 - the big disappointment. After his tour of England we were all waiting for something special, but he ended up looking very ordinary in generally good batting conditions.
Chase 4/10 - like the rest of the team, struggled with the bounce of Wagner and looked very ordinary against the swinging ball.
Ambris 1/10 - Ugh, poor bloke.
Dowrich 4/10 - Looked good on the attack but lacked the defensive game to bat time. And again, couldn't handle what Wagner was cooking.
Roach 7/10 - Solid effort. Shame to see he doesn't have the pace of old, but generally kept the batsmen honest.
Cummins 6/10 - Produced one really excellent spell after lunch at Hamilton on day 3 that briefly threatened to bring WI back into the contest out of nowhere. Definitely something to work with.
Gabriel 6/10 - At turns awful and exciting. Must be a frustrating player to follow as a WI fan.
Holding 2/10 - scored a ton and took 7. Unfortunately the ton was with the ball and the 7 were runs with the bat.
Reifer 7/10 - the only player in the WI XI who actually looked like he valued his wicket. Handy overs too.

I mean rating him over Soult is fair enough, but he's surely not better than Bond?