*Official* New Zealand in England 2021

[Arachnodouche]

Why are these idiots banging on about the value of playing domestic cricket on "better" (ie. flat) pitches?

Surely playing on trickier surfaces teaches batsmen how to actually bat?

Doesn't necessarily teach them how to bat time though. Batting long periods is a skillset in itself.

 

[Moss]

Why are these idiots banging on about the value of playing domestic cricket on "better" (ie. flat) pitches?

Surely playing on trickier surfaces teaches batsmen how to actually bat?

More to do with the fact that on better batting pitches, bowlers less likely to rely on medium pace and need to develop swing, spin etc. And in turn the batsmen get better exposure against these types of bowling.

 

[Moss]

100 partnership, good effort from the new guard (5 tests between them as of this game).

 

[The Hutt Rec]

This doesn't seem like a great scheme ...

 

[Aritro]

Doesn't necessarily teach them how to bat time though. Batting long periods is a skillset in itself.

Fair enough. I suppose the other thing is if the pitches are too green, then the batsman's just in survival mode too often which isn't particularly useful.

More to do with the fact that on better batting pitches, bowlers less likely to rely on medium pace and need to develop swing, spin etc. And in turn the batsmen get better exposure against these types of bowling.

I think this is a good point, but not sure it's the one Doull was making. He kept referring to blokes making big scores as if that's a good thing in itself.

I think the flat tracks in Australian domestic cricket have had a pretty deleterious effect on their ability to handle bowler-friendly conditions so if flatter pitches are useful, it's probably important to stop short of the Australian extremes of flat.

 

[Aritro]

Got my quotes the wrong way round, FML

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Fair enough. I suppose the other thing is if the pitches are too green, then the batsman's just in survival mode too often which isn't particularly useful.



I think this is a good point, but not sure it's the one Doull was making. He kept referring to blokes making big scores as if that's a good thing in itself.

I think the flat tracks in Australian domestic cricket have had a pretty deleterious effect on their ability to handle bowler-friendly conditions so if flatter pitches are useful, it's probably important to stop short of the Australian extremes of flat.

I guess an ideal pitch has a bit in it for everyone ... a bit there to reward good bowling, but also not one that means the batsman is battling for survival all game and 200 is a competitive score. I'm no expert, but it sounds like County has a lot of pitches like that at times? You want the batsman to be able to display their skill.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

are we all walking around the grot?

 

[Moss]

Yeah Doull's version of it was a bit simplified, absolute featherbeds aren't helpful in the long run either. From a bat/ball balance perspective NZ pitches certainly did improve compared to how they were for most the 2000s.

I remember when Williamson debuted in international cricket, the thing that NZ commentators and observers seemed to gush about most was his backfoot game. NZ had apparently gone a generation of batting on pitches which required getting on the front foot so much that this was quite an anomaly.

 

[MW1304]

What a lame session.

 

[wpdavid]

What a lame session.

Not that I've been able to follow it closely, but there seems to have been a 10 minutes spell when Anderson and Stone threatened. And other than that, nothing. Even missing five or their first choice XI, NZ just look much better than us. I do wonder if this is the summer when chickens come home to roost for this side. I know we haven't lost a series at home for ages, but the most recent ones owe more to borderline miraculous individual heroics than cohesive team performances; Curran in 2018, the Stokes/Leach partnership in 2019 and the Woakes/Buttler partnership last year.

 

[wpdavid]

And it does need saying how well NZ are playing this. 3 an over so far without doing anything silly, presumably intending to cash in against tiring bowlers in a long final session. I guess we'll see a lot more of Root over the next two and half hours as none of the others are stock bowlers.

 

[Moss]

Bloody hell is that the opening England need?

Impressive knock but he'll be filthy with himself.

 

[ajdude]

man i don’t care if he went out playing it, that’s the coolest shot ever omg

 

[wpdavid]

Now to be fair, Broad's deserved that, even if he was lucky that time. Conway is beginning to remind me of Graeme Smith in 2003; we'd barely heard of him before the series, but a month or so later we were ringing the church bells when we managed to dismiss him. So ring out those bells, I guess.

 

[Noumenon]

Shellacking averted for now

 

[Moss]

Don't think anyone could quite believe that wicket, almost stunned reaction from everyone.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Very KP-esque shot to get out. Seem to remember Kallis having a similar flourish off his legs too.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

What a way to go. Now for some Ross Taylor antics.

 

[wpdavid]

Do we reckon that Anderson's reversing it?