**Official** New Zealand in Australia 2015

[Kippax]

Hesson has praised Craig too much in the post-match press to be considering a Santner vs. Craig proposition anyway tbh. It's Santner (a very wristy and quite sensible and shrewd manipulator of spin) vs. the fourth seamer.

 

[Flem274*]

In a couple of years if Murali Santa can be a #6 batsman and acceptable spin bowler we can play Milne and use him in short sharp spells with Wagner being the 7 over spell donkey.

I just became a little more emotionally invested in the newest ND golden child.

 

[Kippax]

 

[Prince EWS]

Haha love the choice of bowler. Any excuse eh Kip?

 

[NZTailender]

Um, when has Craig come back and bowled well during this tour?

Did you actually watch the Perth test? He bowled well in patches after being taken to.

 

[Kippax]

Haha love the choice of bowler. Any excuse eh Kip?

That's quite an old video obvs. We need you to recruit some whizkids and really outdo yourself in the coming weeks for there to be any fresh videos.

 

[Bahnz]

Did you actually watch the Perth test? He bowled well in patches after being taken to.

He bowled well on day 1. His bowling on days 4 & 5 ( i.e. when we really needed them) was rubbish.

 

[Hurricane]

It is time for Mark Craig to smell his hand because he has been bowling filth this tour.

In previous tours he has been fine, maybe it is a Bruce Martin syndrome all over again. Start out well then fall apart.

His only defence is that Australia is a graveyard for most spinners - and Nathan Lyon only succeeds because he grew up there.

 

[Hurricane]

Ticket sales for the Adelaide Test have been strong, compared to "Ashes levels" by Cricket Australia. McMillan said the prospect of crowds in the region of 50,000 on the first couple of evenings was something the tourists were eager to embrace, even as they took time to adjust to the vagaries of the pink ball and evening air. Then there is the momentum New Zealand built through a highly resilient display in Perth.

"I don't know how the Australians are thinking, all I know is talk of 50,000 on the first day of a Test match, for us, is very exciting," he said. "We generally don't play in front of crowds like that in terms of Test cricket. There is a lot of excitement. We've heard a lot about the Adelaide Oval, its redevelopment and how it looks. Everyone we've talked to says what an amazing stadium it is.

According to a theory I floated around after the world cup final that we get stage fright - we may come a cropper on day 1 of the Adelaide test. I hope we bowl first to get us used to the crowds.

 

[Flem274*]

your theory was wrong tbh, otherwise nz would have choked in front of both 40k Eden Park crowds.

 

[cnerd123]

It is time for Mark Craig to smell his hand because he has been bowling filth this tour.

In previous tours he has been fine, maybe it is a Bruce Martin syndrome all over again. Start out well then fall apart.

His only defence is that Australia is a graveyard for most spinners - and Nathan Lyon only succeeds because he grew up there.

Someone like Jono grew up there too but he's a really **** offspinner. Maybe give the bowler some credit for actually being good?

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Someone like Jono grew up there too but he's a really **** offspinner. Maybe give the bowler some credit for actually being good?

weird post. A kid who lives near a mountain and goes skiing every day is gonna be better at skiing than a kid who lives in the city and plays squash every day. It's not taking credit away to say that.

 

[Gnske]

It is time for Mark Craig to smell his hand because he has been bowling filth this tour.

In previous tours he has been fine, maybe it is a Bruce Martin syndrome all over again. Start out well then fall apart.

His only defence is that Australia is a graveyard for most spinners - and Nathan Lyon only succeeds because he grew up there.

Please let this be bait.

I refuse to believe the filth you've been spewing from day 1 of this tour is anything but pure chumming of the seas for a few nibbles.

 

[cnerd123]

weird post. A kid who lives near a mountain and goes skiing every day is gonna be better at skiing than a kid who lives in the city and plays squash every day. It's not taking credit away to say that.

Lyon obviously benefits from home-turf advantage, no doubt, but I hate how Cane said its the only reason he does well there. Lots of spinners who have grown up in Australia have struggled on their own surfaces. Lyon succeeds because he's a smart, good bowler.

 

[indiaholic]

weird post. A kid who lives near a mountain and goes skiing every day is gonna be better at skiing than a kid who lives in the city and plays squash every day. It's not taking credit away to say that.

Nothing wrong with that. But take a look at Hurricane's post, he says that it is the only reason. Which is just wrong.

 

[Flem274*]

Please let this be bait.

I refuse to believe the filth you've been spewing from day 1 of this tour is anything but pure chumming of the seas for a few nibbles.

this is what the rest of us think about your posts tbf

 

[Flem274*]

lyon is a mix of being the perfect finger spinner for aussie conditions, learning his game there the hard way (his FC record was pretty crap before they plucked him up for the Sri Lankan tour) and learning how to be really good in test cricket, which is no small feat.

he's really good.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Lyon obviously benefits from home-turf advantage, no doubt, but I hate how Cane said its the only reason he does well there. Lots of spinners who have grown up in Australia have struggled on their own surfaces. Lyon succeeds because he's a smart, good bowler.

just about every off-spinner in history, plenty of them good bowlers, have been to austalia and been tonked. The home turf knowledge is a huge component of Lyon's success there.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah Lyon being Australian is a massive part of his success there. He's a smart bowler but that didn't help him when he bowled in UAE and failed to adjust his length properly to SC conditions and got tonked badly.

 

[Dan]

lyon is a mix of being the perfect finger spinner for aussie conditions, learning his game there the hard way (his FC record was pretty crap before they plucked him up for the Sri Lankan tour) and learning how to be really good in test cricket, which is no small feat.

he's really good.

His FC record in the Shield is still very crap, tbh.

He's well-suited to bowling off spin in Test match cricket in Australia -- as is Craig (compared to other NZ options and the vast majority of finger spinners going around).

The difference is that Lyon is good, has more experience, and has consistency -- things Craig does not presently have.

Cribb and I wrote this:
Off Spin in Australia: A Thankless Task | Mind The Windows!