Yeah Nicholls has played his part so far, looked ugly as hell but that’s as expected. Didn’t offer England any chances till that stumping appeal after facing 100 balls so that’s pretty significant too for NZ fans used to seeing him dropped by opposition fielders. (Which probably means he *won’t* go on to score 170- plus). Need to carry on and bat big now.
Yeah, Pothas and I were having that conversation a couple of hours ago. For all the excitement about his pace, Wood hadn't actually gone past the edge or really looked like taking any wickets. Hence his test average of 34. Stone possibly a better bet next time.
Unavailability of the all rounders as a fifth bowling option hasn’t helped I guess, the pacers have each had to bowl longer spells in the quest for wickets on a fairly placid pitch. Would have also allowed England to play Leach.
Sorry, didn't look back through the thread as I felt it would be a tad depressing. There was an article about how Lords pitches had changed since 2015, before the match. Watching other forms of cricket on it including the World Cup final I was never sure, just think there was a lot of bad weather around in a lot of the matches. I still feel with a bit of good weather it turns into a pudding. Wise after the event, but 7 bats, no spinner, with a pitch that can deaden for seam, well not an huge suprise this, though I expected Williamson and Taylor to be doing the damage.
But unfortunately not at all threatening at the start of the innings. Not that I'm looking to retire them after one disappointing day, but we don't need them trying to play catch-up after being ineffective with the new ball. And your first point is spot on of course.
I don't blame you and I certainly wouldn't either. Like you, I expected Williamson and Taylor to lead the way which perhaps indicates how little I know about the other guys, all of whom are averaging north of 40. And I'd never heard of Conway.
So long as he doesn't bat like him as well.
The Protea who got away, huh?
We were all skeptical about Rutherford. His limited scoring areas and lack of short-ball technique were well known before he debuted. We all hoped he’d grow past it, but none of us were too surprised when he fizzled out.
