*Official* New Zealand in Australia 2019/20

[ataraxia]

What a damp squib of a summer. Thanks NZ.

Blame Labuschagne.

 

[artvandalay]

So another year and another day of leather hunting for Nzl. Looks like this one will follow the same script too.

 

[Bahnz]

Looks like Wade started to get on top of Wagner a bit at the end there. There's really not much pace and bounce in this surface, so I tend to think that as Wagner tires he could finally get a bit of stick tomorrow.

Will be fun to get to see Phillips bat tomorrow.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

Yep, looks like Wagner has finally bowled himself into the ground.

 

[jcas0167]

I think this will go down as the worst Australian tour ever, the side has totally imploded tbh.

I don't think anything can surpass McGrath getting a 50 on the 2004 tour.

 

[Spark]

It's not even arguable that Labuschagne is easily the batsman of the decade. Smith kohli ab etc haven't done anywhere near enough.

Kohli's been a complete failure tbh, scoring 0 runs at 0.0 in swinging conditions this decade. And don't even get me started on his 0 runs in Asia.

 

[Flem274*]

im more brutal on nz than most since i hold the cricket team to nz sport standards rather than cricket standards, but i think the b team did well not to go into complete meltdown today. illness ravaging a side 2-0 down would cause worse than this for most sides.

latham did well with what he had. wagner was class, cdg is still the worlds best 5th bowler being asked to go above and beyond with the ball and so latham was able to paper over the cracks in the other three and i thought he managed his bowlers well and showed more faith in the spinners than kane has for years outside asia. latham didn't panic when somerville lost his radar or astle dragged a few down, he just adjusted his fields and if a bowler was wasting a spell he'd quietly remove them for someone else.

i know this sounds odd given the score but i was impressed tbh, he would do well with a fit and firing boult/southee/wagner/cdg/spinner.

 

[The Hutt Rec]

I don't think anything can surpass McGrath getting a 50 on the 2004 tour.

That was the other tour I considered equating it to, actually! But I think the disappointment was exacerbated by the great 01 tour, dunno if it was as bad as this one as a stand-alone.

 

[srbhkshk]

Kohli's been a complete failure tbh, scoring 0 runs at 0.0 in swinging conditions this decade. And don't even get me started on his 0 runs in Asia.

He's never got out either though, me thinks he is making a Sachin sort of transformation from an aggressor to an accumulator.

 

[Howsie]

How much clout does Tim Southee have in this New Zealand team? During last summer during the run in to the World Cup the commentators were told not to bring up his poor ODI record over the last four years as it didn't help anyone. And now he has obviously been dropped and they can't even admit to that.

If Southee was rested due to workload then I'm sorry I'm done with him. He's obviously not fit enough for international cricket, as if his bowling speeds the last 18 months have probably shown us anyway..

 

[Kippax]

Well Stead was talking up this 'five Tests in six weeks, an unprecedented schedule for NZ, we'd do well to copycat the Australians from the Ashes' aspect from quite early on.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28113290/new-zealand-ready-fight-fire-fire-gary-stead

"We've five seamers that are all worthy of Test selection," Stead said. "I'm loath to use the word 'rotation' because that's not what we're about at all but we'll pick horses for courses of what we think the right bowling attack is for any given surface and also that we have five Tests in about a six-week period as well.

 

[NUFAN]

It's not even arguable that Labuschagne is easily the batsman of the decade. Smith kohli ab etc haven't done anywhere near enough.

You know TBH, Labuschagne would be pretty much the favourite if there was a betting market for most Test runs this decade.

In form, the right age and plays for a country who plays a high number of Tests.

 

[stephen]

Looks like a poor, hundred free summer for Smith. Wouldn't have picked that in September this year.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Looks like a poor, hundred free summer for Smith. Wouldn't have picked that in September this year.

He's made important contributions in the early stages of every NZ Test so he's played his part but doesnt seem to have hit top form at any stage. Either been overly aggressive too early or very bogged down.

 

[honestbharani]

I love me some Marnus.

And too bad about the Kiwis. Why was Southee dropped? I don't think he has been that bad. And its not like Henry is an improvement at least from what I saw.

 

[Moss]

It's not even arguable that Labuschagne is easily the batsman of the decade. Smith kohli ab etc haven't done anywhere near enough.

Why was Southee dropped?

That is the million dollar question.

 

[Flem274*]

so um https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...ost-new-zealand-11000-runs-nearly-600-wickets

"We just felt that we wanted a little more pace out there, what Matt Henry sort of offers over Tim," Stead said. "And being the workload that Tim has had not just in the last two Tests, but if you put the last four together, it's somewhere around 200 overs in a short period of time, just felt that what Matt offered would have given us a point of difference."

has this **** seen henry bowl? i am a big fan of henry's odi work, and he can get into the low 140s, but 145kph is his absolute pace ceiling and he'll never bowl that in tests. he's not a fast bowler he's a 135kph corridor bowler. if you wanted genuine pace then you should have brought along bennett, kuggs or even bloody ben sears.

in any case, if you can't fly someone over in time, jamieson with his height will hit the deck harder than henry which has been the main threat from the aussie bowlers and wagner.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

so um https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...ost-new-zealand-11000-runs-nearly-600-wickets

has this **** seen henry bowl? i am a big fan of henry's odi work, and he can get into the low 140s, but 145kph is his absolute pace ceiling and he'll never bowl that in tests. he's not a fast bowler he's a 135kph corridor bowler. if you wanted genuine pace then you should have brought along bennett, kuggs or even bloody ben sears.

in any case, if you can't fly someone over in time, jamieson with his height will hit the deck harder than henry which has been the main threat from the aussie bowlers and wagner.

What pace does Bennett bowl these days? From what I've seen he looks sharpish without being express, his action looks less interesting yet more efficient than it used to be

 

[Flem274*]

What pace does Bennett bowl these days? From what I've seen he looks sharpish without being express, his action looks less interesting yet more efficient than it used to be

no idea since they took the speed gun away from the super smash. still hits the deck nice and hard so even if he's lost his top pace he was extremely unlucky not to get a run in odis before the wc. i suspect he has been blacklisted tbh. they've never forgiven him for breaking down in that test where harbhajan slogged india to a draw.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

I don't think anything can surpass McGrath getting a 50 on the 2004 tour.

Yeah but at least we got to see Jacob Oram pummeling their attack.