*Official** New Zealand in England

[anzac]

I think Papps has probably saved his spot for the 1st Test...........having said that I don't think he was ever in any real danger of being dropped, not when you consider the faith shown by NZ selectors re Cumming re his 10 match stint in the ODI side - Papps has already produced more runs etc in half the time...........

correct me if I'm wrong but with that 90 odd in the 'unoficial' 1st game he would be the highest runs scorer on the tour so far...........

 

[anzac]

So far as the poor / inconsistant form shown by the seamers so far...........

read an interview with Bracewell in which he said that they had been struggling to get used to the Duke ball with it's more pronounced seam, and that they had all been having trouble with the damp weather re a wet ball & run up..............

this being the case then I expect to see Tuffey & Martin in the side, along with Oram & Cairns..........IMO Bond & Vettori are fighting for inclusion if there is another spot..........

with Fleming's injury if he can carry his bat he is likely to play esp the opening Test of a series & at Lords.............however I'd be inclined to play an extra batsman as coverage - back to my old 6 'specialists' rant again.........

Richardson, Papps, Fleming, Styris, Astle, McMillan, Cairns, McCullum, Oram, Tuffey, Martin....I'd feel better about this if both Cairns & Styris had had some time bowling,

however the team I think they will pick will be........

Richardson, Papps, Fleming, Styris, Astle, Cairns, McCullum, Oram, Vettori, Tuffey, Martin........

 

[Loony BoB]

I would definitely like to see Cairns get some time bowling. I know he's captaining right now, but he has to realise that he is a bowler in our side and he does need to do something, because any other player sure as hell shouldn't make the squad without batting OR bowling, and I don't think he's done much of either recently.

 

[anzac]

I think it will be the case that the squad will be going into the 1st test pretty much underdone so far as match form & confidence goes...........makes it pretty hard to see the selectors going for anything other than the 'norm' & erring on the side of caution..............

 

[tooextracool]

Richardson, Papps, Fleming, Styris, Astle, McMillan, Cairns, McCullum, Oram, Tuffey, Martin....I'd feel better about this if both Cairns & Styris had had some time bowling,

you would feel comfortable going in with 3 frontline bowlers and cairns? no real variety in that attack that a shane bond or vettori could bring. styris to be honest with you cant bowl for toffee and cairns is far past his prime.

 

[luckyeddie]

you would feel comfortable going in with 3 frontline bowlers and cairns? no real variety in that attack that a shane bond or vettori could bring. styris to be honest with you cant bowl for toffee and cairns is far past his prime.

Standard tactics for New Zealand - try to stifle, grind out draws then go in for the kill in one game and win the series 1-0.

Classic.

 

[Kent]

Yep, harsh but fair!

A friend of mine also thinks we should be ultra-conservative in this series, batting McCullum at 9 and Vettori at 10.

He says in football terms this would put 'too many men in the box' for a team like England to penetrate. Once the Harmisons and co. realise their work still isn't done at 8 down, they'll start haemorrhaging runs to our lower-order like they always do.

We then boot long balls to our striker (Martin, maybe Bond later on) to steal a victory. We then hammer England and the Windies in the ODIs and call it a very successful tour!

 

[Tim]

Standard tactics for New Zealand - try to stifle, grind out draws then go in for the kill in one game and win the series 1-0.

Classic.

Sounds like classic England too.

Tooextracool, Styris can't be that bad if he's taken a 6 wicket haul in an ODI before. Sure he doesn't take a mountain of wickets in tests but he's pretty good at breaking partnerships..and if that's all he can do it's good enough for me as a 5th or 6th change bowler.

As for the game against Kent, that's pretty much what I expect NZ will do in the tests. They'll hope that Papps,Richardson & Fleming grind out as many runs as possible, maybe 150/2 or 200/3..wear down the bowlers & the new ball then allow the big hitters like Styris, Cairns, Astle, Oram etc to come in with a platform to have a smash. It semi-worked against South Africa in a couple of the tests & if they can get better at it I think it's a decent formula to use.

 

[Tim]

The best news from the tour so far is that Nathan Astle already looks to be hitting form.

70 against albeit a University side & now 34* against Kent. McMillan looks likely to be the one who misses especially since he's also carrying a finger injury.

I reckon that if Bond has a good day out tommorow & the next day against Kent, he'll make the Lords test side.

Richardson
Papps
Fleming
Styris
Astle
Cairns
McCullum
Oram
Vettori
Bond
Tuffey

 

[Craig]

The best news from the tour so far is that Nathan Astle already looks to be hitting form.

70 against albeit a University side & now 34* against Kent.

Not bad for somebody who has played three FC matches since October. Regardless of that 70, it was still a good innings regardless of the bowlers as it would have given him the chance to get his eye in and some confidence in.

 

[CaM]

please please no more papps!

please NZ - don't select papps! he is not yet a test player as could eaisly be seen vs SA and so far on this tour - we dont need another vincent in the team. He is young, good for ODI and still learning....but mcmillian is getting scores and he isn't.

Vetori & Tuffey are in the team for sure - bracewell has already said this. That leaves bond if he is fit else martin I feel.

 

[Tim]

What do you mean he's not ready?
Papps has played 4 full seasons of FC cricket including a lengthy NZ 'A' tour of England so he's pretty much ready to take the step up.

He will know that he has to make a good fist of this tour or else he could well blow his international career because there are a couple of other openers in the frame like Jamie How, Tim McIntosh and even Jesse Ryder if he gets his act together.

He performed in both forms of the game this season for Canterbury & deserved the chance to play for NZ..he is far more ready than Lou Vincent was, I think he was purely picked on the fact that he had been a member of the South Australian Youth system.

 

[Craig]

please NZ - don't select papps! he is not yet a test player as could eaisly be seen vs SA and so far on this tour - we dont need another vincent in the team. He is young, good for ODI and still learning....but mcmillian is getting scores and he isn't.

Vetori & Tuffey are in the team for sure - bracewell has already said this. That leaves bond if he is fit else martin I feel.

He has played three Tests, give him some time before passing judgement.

 

[tooextracool]

Tooextracool, Styris can't be that bad if he's taken a 6 wicket haul in an ODI before. Sure he doesn't take a mountain of wickets in tests but he's pretty good at breaking partnerships..and if that's all he can do it's good enough for me as a 5th or 6th change bowler.

and collingwood has taken a 5 wicket haul in ODIs before....whats more it was against NZ. now would you call collingwood a decent bowler?i think styris and collingwood are about as good as each other and thats not something for styris to brag about.

 

[tooextracool]

What do you mean he's not ready?
Papps has played 4 full seasons of FC cricket including a lengthy NZ 'A' tour of England so he's pretty much ready to take the step up.

He will know that he has to make a good fist of this tour or else he could well blow his international career because there are a couple of other openers in the frame like Jamie How, Tim McIntosh and even Jesse Ryder if he gets his act together.

He performed in both forms of the game this season for Canterbury & deserved the chance to play for NZ..he is far more ready than Lou Vincent was, I think he was purely picked on the fact that he had been a member of the South Australian Youth system.

hes also the only genuine opener in the NZ side if im correct? openers are crucial in places like england because there is always a bit of movement with the new ball and it is up to players like richardson and papps to blunt it, not fleming!

 

[Tim]

Richardson isn't a genuine opener?

 

[tooextracool]

Richardson isn't a genuine opener?

im sorry....

EDIT:richardson and papps are the only genuine openers in the side

 

[PY]

NZ have collapsed.

330/2 to 409 all out. Although Cairns did whack 54 off 38 balls which is pretty good going. The rest just collapsed though.

 

[CaM]

I know papps is a 'real' opener but I really want NZ to win this series. Its great that he is a player for the future but beating england in england will really give NZ cricket the respect it deserves and we need a full strength team for that - not 10 players plus a junior.

Papps is the only batter who failed in the SA tests and has been failing upto this innings (where he was dropped twice early on)....he can get experience in the ODI which are not as important in comparision.

still, I guess the selectors will be deciding that and not us

CaM

 

[PY]

Another England failure giving a bit of tap to New Zealand's bowling attack. Robert Key with 100* from 111 balls with 18 fours.

Willing to bet the NZ bowlers are on the money for the Tests though.