*Official* Australia tour of New Zealand Feb-Mar 2024

[straw man]

Damn, good catch.

Maybe didn't do a massive amount wrong on that ball, Young, though I do think he should have stepped out and driven the previous ball for four, which may have changed things.

 

[kyear2]

I know he drops a couple here and there, but Smith is special.

Both catches were top drawer.

 

[Meridio]

Real shame for Young but very indicative of his career. Had looked relatively comfortable, saw off very good spells from Cummins etc, and then just puts in a dozy forward defensive to a part time offie

 

[Starfighter]

Not so much in Australia though. The benefits of DRS for offies are really applicable in the subcontinent, you don't get that many batsman out in that fashion in Aus

Emburey would have got a lot more wickets when he toured here with DRS.

 

[ashley bach]

He's been fortunate to get such a long run in the Australian test team with not any real competition for his spot from other Aussie spinners.

Greg Matthews was quite a good off spinner too and a far better batsman than Lyon but his career was cut short when Shane Warne arrived.

Apart from one match Matthews was a hopeless test bowler tbh certainly not worthy of discussion amongst Warne/Lyon

 

[NZTailender]

Real shame for Young but very indicative of his career. Had looked relatively comfortable, saw off very good spells from Cummins etc, and then just puts in a dozy forward defensive to a part time offie

Yeah brain fade, just didn't need to play it but I guess you can only say in hindsight.

He did manage to soak up 100 deliveries for the test tho

 

[GotSpin]

Didn't you know, Nathan Lyon (500+ wickets at an average of 30) is about as good as Greg Mathews (60 wickets at 48)

Think its fair to say that Lyons spot would have been under serious pressure a couple years ago if there had been any competition around. Remember where he went through that phase of only bowling onto a right handers hips

 

[Spark]

Think its fair to say that Lyons spot would have been under serious pressure a couple years ago if there had been any competition around. Remember where he went through that phase of only bowling onto a right handers hips

Nah they've shown more loyalty to cricketers who have produced less and with stronger competition in recent years

 

[ashley bach]

Currently

Head 1/1
Lyon 2/22 @SillyCowCorner1

 

[Calm_profit]

Bring Labu to bowl

 

[Spark]

Has McCullum been whispering in Mitchell's ear overnight? This is very strange

 

[King Kane]

Lol, he's as good as a guy who couldn't get in the team over Tim May even though he could bat.

One of the sillier opinions on here recently.

I didn't say that Matthews was a better off spinner than Lyon but he was a far better batsman than him, he was more like the Aussie version of Phillips.

His off spin bowling alone wouldn't have got him in the Aussie test team but when you added in his batting ability it made him a worthwhile selection.

 

[Burgey]

Lyon looks like taking a wicket every ball here. He's having quite a game.

 

[NZTailender]

There's being positive, and then there's being manically suicidal

Mitchell more towards the latter

 

[SteveNZ]

Damn, good catch.

Maybe didn't do a massive amount wrong on that ball, Young, though I do think he should have stepped out and driven the previous ball for four, which may have changed things.

Think he pushed way too hard at it. It looked pretty averagely played to me by a guy who hasn't worked out Test cricket at all

 

[thundaboult]

i am now convinced will young will never ever be the guy

 

[Flem274*]

Has McCullum been whispering in Mitchell's ear overnight? This is very strange

Mitchell is always proactive. I'm not surprised he's fighting fire with fire.

 

[SteveNZ]

Mitchell is always proactive. I'm not surprised he's fighting fire with fire.

Reverse sweeping on this deck is fighting fire with a plastic wand

 

[Spark]

I wonder if Green is being workload managed because otherwise Marsh bowling instead of him doesn't make a lot of sense to me

EDIT: Oh nvm cricinfo lied to me

 

[Spark]

Mitchell is always proactive. I'm not surprised he's fighting fire with fire.

It's more the way he's trying to do it than the overall approach. He looks like getting out every other ball right now