*Official** New Zealand in England

[Craig]

Me too.

I think that the Kiwi with the FA Cup ears still has a lot to offer English cricket - and if he makes a comeback, there's a little fellow in the cupboard who might do so too.

<quack> who are you talking to?

Nobody

<quack> Some of them are

IMO sad to this but I think Caddick's Test career is over. Steve Harmison, Simon Jones are all certainties for the Tests v NZ, Matt Hogard is a real workhorse with a big heart, and Flintoff is super straight and beats the bat, but whether those two are truely penatratable unless in favourable conditions remains to be seen, and Jones we will see if he is a one series wonder or not.

And Giles? Shouldnt be in the England side unless in Sydney, Adelaide, Asia and I guess to an extent some Caribbean grounds.

 

[Craig]

What worries me is that in recent times..NZ have shown absolutely no respect to weak spinners like Nicky Boje & also Dirk Viljoen a few years back who embarassed us. Yet against Warne, Murali & Harbhajan they've done really well.

Now there is a where are they know with Dirk Viljeon. I remember that match, NZ lost a match they were in my eyes certain to win (they lost by 1 run).

 

[PY]

IMO, if Caddick shows to be in form before the New Zealand tour then he should be in the side in place of Jones who just didn't impress me during the tour of the Caribbean. Too inconsistent for my liking.

Harmison, Caddick, Hoggard, Flintoff and Anderson/Giles would do the trick for me.

 

[Tim]

Lets not forget that John Bracewell has seen every English bowler for the last 5 years at Glouc's.

Personally I think Caddick would be the better option..but England have moved on from him now. I think NZ will get stuck into Jones from ball one & it's 60/40 that it'll work for them because of the information they have available to them.

 

[Craig]

I guess they will be looking to target Harmison as well.

 

[Tim]

I think they'll look to respect Harmison & Hoggard the most but im sure they'll target Jones who is still not really established as a test bowler & perhaps Giles.

Im sure England would be looking at targeting Vettori during this series, as he's not going in with that much confidence at all.

 

[tooextracool]

IMO sad to this but I think Caddick's Test career is over. Steve Harmison, Simon Jones are all certainties for the Tests v NZ, Matt Hogard is a real workhorse with a big heart, and Flintoff is super straight and beats the bat, but whether those two are truely penatratable unless in favourable conditions remains to be seen, and Jones we will see if he is a one series wonder or not.

IMO jones was really pathetic in the caribbean and i hope in that last sentence you meant harmison and not jones.there were some poor shots in those 5 wickets he got in the 2nd test not good bowling. the only good ball he bowled all series was the one to lara in the 1st test although even that can be argued.
flintoff is not the type of bowler who happens to get great seam movement on any surface. hes the bang it in type of bowler and im quite certain that he would tend to be just about as "penetratable" as he was in the WI on most other surfaces.

 

[marc71178]

Lets not forget that John Bracewell has seen every English bowler for the last 5 years at Glouc's.

But in the case of someone like Harmison that won't really help will it - his bowling is far removed from what it was last summer.

 

[Tim]

Some things never change mind you & there will be aspects to Harmison's game that will be no different despite recent results.

 

[marc71178]

Not many I'd wager.

The other to consider is that the English International bowlers haven't played much County Cricket in recent times, so I'm not sure how much of them Bracewell will have seen (especially taking into account the 2 divisions and the injuries suffered by the likes of Jones)

 

[Craig]

Not many I'd wager.

The other to consider is that the English International bowlers haven't played much County Cricket in recent times, so I'm not sure how much of them Bracewell will have seen (especially taking into account the 2 divisions and the injuries suffered by the likes of Jones)

In the like of Jones you will be going back to 2002.

 

[Tim]

So What if some of them were injured or with the England team? half the bowlers in that team weren't regulars 2 years back in the England team.

And just because he hasn't seen them live doesn't mean he doesn't have stacks of video footage about them.

 

[Neil Pickup]

So What if some of them were injured or with the England team? half the bowlers in that team weren't regulars 2 years back in the England team.

And just because he hasn't seen them live doesn't mean he doesn't have stacks of video footage about them.

Which negates the point about Bracewell's county experience being an advantage.

 

[Tim]

Bracewell still has seen players like Jones & Harmison develop prior to that..sure he hasn't personally seen them in action for a year or two but why do you think they use computer & video technology these days.

To just say that Bracewell will have little to no idea about Harmison now because he's suddenly improved over the last 8 months is rubbish.

 

[luckyeddie]

Bracewell still has seen players like Jones & Harmison develop prior to that..sure he hasn't personally seen them in action for a year or two but why do you think they use computer & video technology these days.

To just say that Bracewell will have little to no idea about Harmison now because he's suddenly improved over the last 8 months is rubbish.

The same argument could be said about any player - and any coach who doesn't make use of video etc is neglecting his duties.

The advantage John Bracewell brings to New Zealand has little or nothing to do with 'inside knowledge'.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Bracewell still has seen players like Jones & Harmison develop prior to that..sure he hasn't personally seen them in action for a year or two but why do you think they use computer & video technology these days.

To just say that Bracewell will have little to no idea about Harmison now because he's suddenly improved over the last 8 months is rubbish.

I agree. Which is why nobody said that.

 

[Arjun]

What do you think of this team? I suggest the same playing XI that won, say, the third Test in WI, with Collingwood, Kabir Ali (or Alex Tudor when fully fit), Strauss (or Solanki) and Batty as reserves in Tests, and Blackwell for Butcher, Solanki/Strauss for Hussain in ODI's.

 

[luckyeddie]

What do you think of this team? I suggest the same playing XI that won, say, the third Test in WI, with Collingwood, Kabir Ali (or Alex Tudor when fully fit), Strauss (or Solanki) and Batty as reserves in Tests, and Blackwell for Butcher, Solanki/Strauss for Hussain in ODI's.

I wouldn't let Kabir Ali or Alex Tudor near the drinks trolley, let alone the England team.

 

[Arjun]

Why not? Kabir Ali had a decent first Test, with 5 wickets at 28. He can also bat a bit. As for Tudor, he is an aggressive bowler who can bowl in the 140's regularly. He makes the batsmen play and looks to take wickets all the time. Besides, he also gets runs- he has quite a few first class hundreds.

 

[Loony BoB]

I feel a bit sorry for the team with bowlers that aren't looking for wickets.