*Official* Australia in New Zealand

[Howsie]

**** Martin's a joke, why he didn't just come back for the second run I'll never know.

 

[Bahnz]

Hoping for some of those afternoon showers that we were promised so that our bowlers can get a bit more of a rest before their second go.

 

[Meridio]

Damn, what a wasted opportunity.

Particularly annoyed at Guptill - he was frustrating all through the ODI series and hasn't improved in the tests. There's no way he can justify batting at 5 and can't see him slotting back in at 3 either.

Hard to see Australia giving away so many cheap wickets this time round. Can just see a 150 run opening partnership coming up

Love Taylor though.

Yes, am thinking Guptill should be dropped myself. Long term, I think he'll be one of our openers, but atm I think there's too many flaws in his game to be in the test team. I think the way he's been shunted around the order isn't helping either - as far as I know, he's always been an opener, so why have we been trying to change that?

 

[T-Dub]

Out of lurking...

This finish was a bit inevitable when you have a tail that long. I still don't know what they were thinking having Patel instead of Williamson.

Long gone are the days where a tailender, even a number 11, can be as hopeless at batting as Martin; they need to be able to score at least 10! Mind you, I could say that about the NZ top order.

Kudos to Taylor, lovely stuff, it's a shame no-one could hang around long enough with him.

Guptill plays such gorgeous shots that it does my head in that he's having such a slump at the moment.

Great test this one

 

[vcs]

Amazing knock from Ross Taylor! Wish I'd watched it...

 

[Zinzan]

Should Kane Williamson have played?

Personally, I was kind of 50/50 on it. On one hand, seemed a bit pointless to debut him in a one-off test against an Australian attack, but on the other hand it is a his home track & is reasonably slow. In hindsight, he couldn't have done much worse than our other batsmen with the exception of Taylor & Watling

 

[Howsie]

Should Kane Williamson have played?

Of course he should have, why we continue to only pick six batsmen plus McCullum when our top order is so bad I'll never know.

 

[Bahnz]

Should Kane Williamson have played?

There certainly should've been one more player capable of holding a bat in the lineup. Doesn't help that we won't be bowling last either.

 

[slugger]

Yes, am thinking Guptill should be dropped myself. Long term, I think he'll be one of our openers, but atm I think there's too many flaws in his game to be in the test team. I think the way he's been shunted around the order isn't helping either - as far as I know, he's always been an opener, so why have we been trying to change that?

its the NZ way..

 

[Bahnz]

Yes, am thinking Guptill should be dropped myself. Long term, I think he'll be one of our openers, but atm I think there's too many flaws in his game to be in the test team. I think the way he's been shunted around the order isn't helping either - as far as I know, he's always been an opener, so why have we been trying to change that?

The reason why he's been shunted around the order is because he did such a crap job at the top and couldn't justify his place there anymore. Admittedly, we probably should've dropped him for a genuine middle order bat who's made runs in the domestics (either Broom or Woodcock), but then again he iz teh awesuhumness and he hitz teh sixez in odi's.

For Bangladesh

McIntosh
Watling
?
Taylor
Ryder
Williamson
McCullum
Vettori
Tuffey/Mills
Southee
Martin

 

[SilentOne]

Dilmah tea party was fantastic.

 

[Jono]

If I was a NZ fan I'd be fuming.

Considering how **** Australia were in the field, and your best batsman was dropped 3 times (if you include no one going for the slips catch) and blazed a 100 off 80-odd balls, you'd expect to be at least 100+ ahead.

Disgraceful.

Need to bowl well now. Early wicket definitely required.

 

[Meridio]

Should Kane Williamson have played?

It's a difficult one. Before the series started, I agreed with leaving him out of the original team - thought that throwing him against Australia first up would be a bad idea. Once he got called up though, I've been thinking he should have played. The balance of our team is shocking at the moment - there's no way Patel should be at 8. If Williamson had played, he could have batted at 6 with one of Vettori or McCullum going down to 8, which is a far deeper batting lineup.

 

[Meridio]

Dilmah tea party was fantastic.

Ha, was quite impressed with Doull's hockey skills.

 

[Flem274*]

The reason why he's been shunted around the order is because he did such a crap job at the top and couldn't justify his place there anymore. Admittedly, we probably should've dropped him for a genuine middle order bat who's made runs in the domestics (either Broom or Woodcock), but then again he iz teh awesuhumness and he hitz teh sixez in odi's.

For Bangladesh

McIntosh
Watling
?
Taylor
Ryder
Williamson
McCullum
Vettori
Tuffey/Mills
Southee
Martin

Would prefer a bowling line up of Southee, McKay and one of Arnel/Tuffey/Martin and Vettori as spinner of course, tbh.

 

[Meridio]

Not the slightest bit of swing for Martin in the first over. Absolutely dead straight. Australia to rack up 500.

 

[straw man]

Yes, am thinking Guptill should be dropped myself. Long term, I think he'll be one of our openers, but atm I think there's too many flaws in his game to be in the test team. I think the way he's been shunted around the order isn't helping either - as far as I know, he's always been an opener, so why have we been trying to change that?

Agree he should be dropped for a bit. Working on the mental side of his game is one thing he can achieve in domestic cricket - seeing as he was plucked from there without an FC century to his name and is clearly not entirely sure how to go about constructing an innings. It's amazing he's had such a good start to his ODI career tbh, but seems to have reverted to 20-30 and out again now.

It is odd that the perennial problem with this batting lineup is the top 3, yet when a promising opener comes through he is shunted down to five.

Martin could do a lot to silence detractors of his batting by taking some early wickets here.

 

[Bahnz]

Would prefer a bowling line up of Southee, McKay and one of Arnel/Tuffey/Martin and Vettori as spinner of course, tbh.

Yeah, McKay would be valuable, I just don't like having a quality bat at 8 followed by rubbish at 9,10 and 11. I do wish Southee could bat like he did today more often.

 

[Zinzan]

If I was a NZ fan I'd be fuming.

.

Not really tbh, it's not like we batted below our usual standard, it was about a par NZ total that, still disappointed, but not fuming as my expectations weren't that high

 

[Meridio]

If I was a NZ fan I'd be fuming.

Considering how **** Australia were in the field, and your best batsman was dropped 3 times (if you include no one going for the slips catch) and blazed a 100 off 80-odd balls, you'd expect to be at least 100+ ahead.

Disgraceful.

Need to bowl well now. Early wicket definitely required.

You'd think we'd be numb to disappointment by now, but no, it's actually getting worse. Fuming is an understatement.