***Official*** England in New Zealand 2018

[straw man]

Man, if De Grandhomme got to bat in this scenario every match he he would flourish as a test cricketer. Unfortunately some matches we aren't already winning by the time he comes in .

Have only been listening to radio this morning but sounds like Nicholls is playing very nicely.

 

[Larwood's_boots]

might be waiting for his ton before declaring, trying to work out when the declaration is coming is pretty much the only interesting thing left to see here tbh.

 

[Athlai]

might be waiting for his ton before declaring, trying to work out when the declaration is coming is pretty much the only interesting thing left to see here tbh.

Reckon we won’t declare until we’re 300 up at least

 

[Larwood's_boots]

Reckon we won’t declare until we’re 300 up at least

Think a lot depends on time and when they want the new ball (under lights or is that leaving it too late)- just wish captains in general would be a little more aggressive with declarations.

 

[Athlai]

I reckon the rain has robbed us here. Barring a miracle repeat with the ball from Boult, can’t see us rolling over England in a day and a half.

 

[Larwood's_boots]

I reckon the rain has robbed us here. Barring a miracle repeat with the ball from Boult, can’t see us rolling over England in a day and a half.

See above, I said that they might as well have taken the full 6 sessions at this point but was told I was mental.

 

[Athlai]

The flip side is we really don’t want to have to bat again, we don’t have enough runs yet to prevent that IMO.

 

[Bahnz]

I reckon the rain has robbed us here. Barring a miracle repeat with the ball from Boult, can’t see us rolling over England in a day and a half.

No Gambhiring plz

 

[Larwood's_boots]

Right, but do you really think we can get that far ahead of you? At this point I'd say with a declaration you chaps would have a 85% chance of victory with 14% chance of a draw and 1% chance of an England win. The declaration at tea would probably reduce England's chances to 0.5% but I think it would make the draw maybe 10 or 15% more likely so probably should play the percentages.

The numbers here are all just my estimates, obviously.

 

[straw man]

C'mon Astle, missed out on quite a few gimmes here. Defensive batsman or not, should be hitting a few more boundaries from the loose ones.

 

[Athlai]

No Gambhiring plz

Not a Gambhirer. Batting just looks easy.

 

[Bahnz]

Nobody gets 'rolled' in a day and a half. And batting has looked far from easy, there's still plenty of nip in the surface, and that'll only be exacerbated under lights. England's bowlers look out of the contest, sure - but that's not unusual when you're trailing by nearly 300. NZ win still the healthy favourite at this stage imo.

 

[Athlai]

It’ll be getting rolled because it’s pretty much gotta be the new ball. They’ll shut up shop.

 

[Bahnz]

That's a big assumption. We rolled Australia with a 30+ over old pink ball in 2015. Australia did the same to England last year.

 

[Athlai]

And when I say that I think the draw is more likely, I’m saying it’s now moving into the territory where I think the draw is more likely than us winning.

 

[Bahnz]

And when I say that I think the draw is more likely, I’m saying it’s now moving into the territory where I think the draw is more likely than us winning.

Yeah, I know, and I think that's really premature. It's hard for teams to bat a day and a half to save a game in normal conditions on a good batting pitch (see England's desperate effort here 5 years ago). Trying to do it on a grassy bouncy surface against the pink ball under lights will be a significantly greater challenge.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Astle didn't look very good at all out there. Hopefully his bowling goes better.

 

[Bahnz]

Astle didn't look very good at all out there. Hopefully his bowling goes better.

His enormous backlift was definitely the wrong approach on this surface. Only a matter of time before when nipped this way or that.

 

[Zinzan]

Not a Gambhirer. Batting just looks easy.

Don't forget we've potentially got 60+ overs at them under lights whether permitted. All we need is a lead of around 340, and then potentially 150 overs all up to bowl them out. A NZ win is still the favourite outcome imo.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Fantastic knock from Nicholls!