*Official** New Zealand in England

[Arjun]

Kabir looked horrible in the first Test to those of us who watched it.

He was a lot better than Bicknell, Kirtley, Flintoff and Giles put together. Why should he look horrible?

Tudoe has a horrific attitude, gets injured more than Darren Anderton, and generally isn't very good.

I have no idea about his attitude problems, but he is an aggressive bowler and looks to go flat out and attack the batting side, so that's a lot better than what all the Silverwoods and Kirtleys do. Anyway, a lot of English players get injured quite often.

Solanki is also rubbish.

In Tests, he's just a reserve. Anyway, he's a lot better than a whole lot of ODI specialists who can't bat or bowl. He has more striking power than Rikki Clarke and Anthony McGrath, and neither of those two have more staying power. Besides, neither of them can bowl.

 

[marc71178]

He was a lot better than Bicknell, Kirtley, Flintoff and Giles put together.

No he wasn't, and besides that, the skipper doesn't trust him.

I have no idea about his attitude problems, but he is an aggressive bowler and looks to go flat out and attack the batting side

When he could be bothered to...

At the moment he can't even make a struggling Surrey side (not sure if its another ailment)

Anyway, a lot of English players get injured quite often.

Yes, but they're all genuine injuries. Tudor has no stomach for the fight.

In Tests, he's just a reserve. Anyway, he's a lot better than a whole lot of ODI specialists who can't bat or bowl. He has more striking power than Rikki Clarke and Anthony McGrath, and neither of those two have more staying power. Besides, neither of them can bowl.

Solanki won't come near the Test side - there's about 10 batsmen not in the Test line-up ahead of him.

His ODI performances have been on the poor side of mediocre, and any chance of a recall there is at least 12 months away IMO.

 

[anzac]

It appears that technically NZ have taken 16 players to England.

Matthew Sinclair is already there playing in the Norwich league & Michael Mason is also about to set off for a club.

Financially NZ Cricket have probably saved themselves quite a few dollars by sending two players to league cricket rather than keeping them with the squad. At least this way both Sinclair & Mason are playing cricket rather than the likely option of none at all if they were with the Black Caps.

it's better than nothing but it still seems like a Claytons effort for me - I can't see Mason as being the seamer next in line ahead of the likes of Butler or Franklin..............I'd probably feel better if it was B Martin!!!!!

 

[anzac]

Besides, unless we go back to an unreliable Sinclair or McMillan to be our 6th batsman in the post-Cairns era, the young specialists of McCullum's age weren't noted for having any more promise at age-group level than McCullum was himself.

I could see Ross Taylor at #6 in a year or two perhaps, but I think grooming McCullum into a sort of Alec Stewart role would be their preferred option. Whether McCullum's technique allows them to do that at international level remains to be seen, but his scores as a teenager suggest he's certainly got a better eye than most.

I like the looks of Taylor as a prospect goes, and would have him ahead of Ryder along with Fulton (who'd be my first pick ATM).........

funnily enough one player IMO who'd have done well on The Basin pitch is H Marshall - he supposedly likes having the ball come on to the bat with some bounce - but he struggles on the more 'traditional' slow & low Kiwi pitches..........

one thing I've been impressed with has been his scoring rates since making his ODI debut - his ODI SR is 75 @ 41, and from memory his innings v SRL'A' were at good rates as well........it may have been my imagination but IMO the other batsmen in the middle order improved their approach whilst batting with him - Styris & Macca from memory both played their best ODI innings of the RSA series in partnership with him.............

perhaps his game would not be suited to 'traditional' English pitches, but I wouldn't discount him from squads to other areas.............unless they continue to only take 14.........

bottom line I don't mind who they pick at 6 (including Sinclair & Macca), so long as it's a specialist batsman & they don't basically select 5 primary bowlers......

how many other teams play tests primarily with only 5 batsmen - England??????

 

[Neil Pickup]

He was a lot better than Bicknell, Kirtley, Flintoff and Giles put together. Why should he look horrible?

I have no idea about his attitude problems, but he is an aggressive bowler and looks to go flat out and attack the batting side, so that's a lot better than what all the Silverwoods and Kirtleys do. Anyway, a lot of English players get injured quite often.

In Tests, he's just a reserve. Anyway, he's a lot better than a whole lot of ODI specialists who can't bat or bowl. He has more striking power than Rikki Clarke and Anthony McGrath, and neither of those two have more staying power. Besides, neither of them can bowl.

I can remember watching it and he definitely looked horrible. Silverwood is also an aggressive bowler, and he's not very good either. Tudor may manage one or two good overs a match and then feed free pie for the rest of the game.

Anything approaching the slightest niggle from Tudor and he can't do anything for the next six months.

Solank cannot bowl for one - he's far inferior to McGrath (who can swing it when the conditions are right) and Clarke with the ball. Solanki's staying power is marginally greater than Shahid Afridi and Nuwan Zoysa's, but only marginally. I can't believe you're talking about the same player.

 

[anzac]

IMO the player / bowler England are missing is Craig White...........

so far as the other 'prospect' quicks are concerned,correct me if I am wrong, IMO NZ's Butler would appear to be in similar mould & more consistant than most of his English counter parts - he's as quick as any of them, has proven stamina & strength, is more consistant of length & probably a better fielder with a strong arm.

Butler's 'problem' is that he bowls too much short stuff into the batsman - if he strays towards leg he goes for cheap runs, but at least he's not in the habit of serving up juicy half volleys or short & wide as I saw in The Ashes or v RSA (I've not seen any footage v WI)...........

my point being that NZ have seen fit not to call upon his services until he improves his range of deliveries, so why should England want to select what would ammount to be an inferior model?????

hell what am I saying - bring them on boys!!!!!!!

now that I think of it I want NZ to include Butler in their bowling attack when Cairns retires, when bowling on anything with juice - Bond, C Martin, Butler & Tuffey, with Oram as the allrounder........

 

[tooextracool]

IMO the player / bowler England are missing is Craig White...........

definetly in the ODIs, but not so much in tests. craig white would have been ideal in those bowling conditions for the last ODI in the WI

 

[anzac]

definetly in the ODIs, but not so much in tests. craig white would have been ideal in those bowling conditions for the last ODI in the WI

IMO White held together the bowling during The Ashes & all I can say is that the other bowlers need to have improved a hell of a lot both individually & as a unit - even from what I saw v RSA...........

 

[marc71178]

His bowling is now almost non-existant owing to injury, so his International career has gone.

 

[anzac]

His bowling is now almost non-existant owing to injury, so his International career has gone.

hence England missing him.................

 

[Kent]

bottom line I don't mind who they pick at 6 (including Sinclair & Macca), so long as it's a specialist batsman & they don't basically select 5 primary bowlers......

how many other teams play tests primarily with only 5 batsmen - England??????

Oram says he's a batting all-rounder and McCullum was always billed a young batsman who keeps, so whether we'll have 5 or 7 batsmen is just a matter of semantics really. Sinclair and McMillan may be 'specialists', but that doesn't mean they'll be any more productive than Oram or McCullum, in fact over the next 5 years I'd expect to see more runs from the latter two.

You make a good point about advancing the game by scoring at pace though. If Chris Martin's form is actually a new level we can expect from him, or if Bond comes back as some kind of destroyer, you might be able to start thinking about stacking the side with explosive batting. Until then I'd rather see NZ either get Vettori fixed or try Bruce Martin, bat that spinner at #8 with 3 pace bowlers to follow.

 

[cbuts]

oram at 6 mcculum at 7 cairns at 8. is whatwill probally happen

 

[southern man]

oram at 6 mcculum at 7 cairns at 8. is whatwill probally happen

Bracewell has said that Brendon will bat at 6 in this test series.

 

[Craig]

What do the English people on here think of Richard johnson?

 

[tooextracool]

What do the English people on here think of Richard johnson?

he should retire from international cricket

 

[Tim]

Whats the deal with the game today? is it 50 overs or are NZ just getting some batting in & then having a few overs to bowl?

At the moment we're 81/1 after 23.4 overs so a decent start...lol Papps got a first-baller, he's going to have to hope he strikes form against Worc's then.

 

[Loony BoB]

It's hard to judge a New Zealand opener by a couple of innings, you should know that by now. Inconsitency is the key, so if he has a bad innings or two it can only be good for the up and coming test. xD

Great to see Astle performing again. And I'm guessing that they'll be playing a 50/50 match... unfortunately we don't have any commentary or a bulletin so it's anyone's guess at the moment.

 

[marc71178]

Wigley has bowled 12 overs so far, so I guess it's not a 50 over game.

 

[anzac]

Bracewell has said that Brendon will bat at 6 in this test series.

with Cairns at 7 & Oram at 8..............

and Oram to bat at 7 post Cairns.........

 

[anzac]

Oram says he's a batting all-rounder and McCullum was always billed a young batsman who keeps, so whether we'll have 5 or 7 batsmen is just a matter of semantics really. Sinclair and McMillan may be 'specialists', but that doesn't mean they'll be any more productive than Oram or McCullum, in fact over the next 5 years I'd expect to see more runs from the latter two.

You make a good point about advancing the game by scoring at pace though. If Chris Martin's form is actually a new level we can expect from him, or if Bond comes back as some kind of destroyer, you might be able to start thinking about stacking the side with explosive batting. Until then I'd rather see NZ either get Vettori fixed or try Bruce Martin, bat that spinner at #8 with 3 pace bowlers to follow.

Sinclair & McMillan have averages of 38 & 41 respectively so they're decent sized shoes to fill in the first place, let alone the other batting challengers in the likes of Fulton, Taylor, Vincent & Co.......

as I said in an earlier post my main concern with the tactic to advance the game is that no one in the batting lineup shows any consistant ability to put big innings together - a couple of them do it once a series but that's about it - hence my preference for a 6th 'specialist' as opposed to a bowling allrounder (as Oram being selected to play at 8 or 7), or for a 'keeping allrounder at 6..........

both Oram & McCullum will need to show that their batting alone would justify their positions at 6 & 7 - as with Astle back we have a surplus batsman - Papps, Richardson, Fleming, Styris, Astle, McMillan.........