*Official** New Zealand in England

[Neil Pickup]

Look out for me on TV..

Now bed is needed

 

[PY]

Awesome.

Courageous act.

 

[anzac]

anzac - You can't say anything about Styris due to his lack of time at the crease, but you dismiss McMillan as a goner? I think that's pretty harsh. McMillan's had less time than Styris!

yep...............and nope..........

Styris' batting totals 12 mins for the 2 innings - Macca has about 55;
Styris contributed a total of 4 runs (& a duck) - Macca 6 runs (& a duck)...
Maccas bowling figures may be better than Styris' but it's been a while since he did any serious bowling in a Test - on any regular basis - Styris bowls just about every match..........

Styris' form this summer with the bat has been more significant in terms of consistency & runs contributed than that of Macca IMO........& Styris' bowling tips it in his favour (he did get 2 cheap wickets so he made some sort of contribution).......

it's unlikely that we'd see 2 batsmen dropped for a batsman & bowler........Richardson, Flem, Papps, McCullum, Astle, Cairns, Oram, Vettori, Tuffey, Bond / Mills, Martin.............only 4 specialist batsmen, a 'keeping allrounder & 3 bowling allrounders (all of whom are contributing more with the bat than the ball).............nah not on anything unless it's a real dead track & you'd need to use your 6 bowling options..........

 

[anzac]

I work 9-5:30, get home at around 7, every weekday... I just go with what I can though, use the desktop scoreboard from Cricinfo and check the main scoreboard when I have a second. =/ I'll watch the highlights on Sky, though.

I work Nights - from about 1600 - 0200 / 0400, so I don't even get to see the highlights / news or replays & have to wait until I get home to check the score etc..........

 

[PY]

I work Nights - from about 1600 - 0200 / 0400, so I don't even get to see the highlights / news or replays & have to wait until I get home to check the score etc..........

I was about to say that you are a bit hardcore being on CW at 4.36am.

Pity you can't get Channel 4 (UK channel) as their highlights are on at 12.35am BST which is 0900 your time.

 

[anzac]

stating the obvious - the 1st session holds the key tomorrow...........so far the ball has dominated that bat in the 1st session of Days 2 - 4 - NZL will be keep to keep this trend going, whilst ENG will be mindful not to allow this to happen...........pitch condition & bounce will also have a say..........

consequently we could see some dour batting to see the new ball attack off, b4 ENG think about the run chase...........If ENG manage to achieve this with some degree of success, then I'd expect to see Vettori asked to tie up an end while the seamers provide quick fire changes at the other in an effort to not let the batsmen settle into any rythmn...........if wickets fell I'd not expect Vettori to stay at the crease V Flintoff for anymore than an over or 2 unless he was able to start beating him with flight..........

at this stage while ENG may look to be favoured v the current form of the NZL bowlers - NZL are one of the best in the business when it comes to 'strangling' their opponents................

 

[anzac]

I was about to say that you are a bit hardcore being on CW at 4.36am.

Pity you can't get Channel 4 (UK channel) as their highlights are on at 12.35am BST which is 0900 your time.

to quote a popular series of tv ads over here........bugger!!

 

[badgerhair]

Look out for me on TV..

Now bed is needed

I won't be watching TV. If you come round to the back of the Pavilion at lunchtime and hang around the main door looking vaguely curious, I'll try and recognise you and see what we can do about having a drink together. Unless, that is, you don't want to meet me.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[PY]

I'll pass that message on to Neil in case he doesn't check as he has to leave at 4.45am.

Look out for flaming ginger hair and you'll do fine.

 

[marc71178]

he was on the field for that post lunch session preventing boundaries with some bootwork for obvious reasons

Not directly after lunch he wasn't - he was off with cramp.

yeah but mark richardson was in there then and with 5 wickets down would you attack or defend?

The priority was to not let the Kiwis get away from us, and so defence was a critical part of the strategy all day - look at the run rate for the day - showed that we bowled with the necessary control.

 

[marc71178]

But in saying that, this Game has twisted and turned every day.

Day 1: NZ
Day 2: England
Day 3: NZ
Day 4: England

I'd say it's swung more on a session by session basis:

Day 1 - NZ, Eng, NZ
Day 2 - even, Eng, Eng
Day 3 - NZ, Eng, NZ
Day 4 - Eng, NZ, Eng

is how I'd call it.

 

[marc71178]

jones conceded a total of 23 byes it will be crucial in the end and he droped a catch of last pair which in the end egland struggled to part if he had be little more effective england would have been chasing less than 250

Now, I've been one of the fiercest critics of Jones being selected ahead of Read, but I feel compelled to defend him here - a lot of the byes were by no means his fault (balls bouncing over his head cannot be stopped) and yes he did make a ricket in that drop towards the end, but you can counter that with the superb take to remove Vettori (a far more dangerous player) earlier - how many runs / time did that save?

 

[marc71178]

giles job was over after the 80th over...he had already picked up his 2 wickets and it was time to attack the new player and richardson instead of allowing them to settle in. harmison picked up 2 wickets with the old ball later in the innings and one can only imagine how many he would have picked up with the newer ball.

I disagree - the old ball was doing things, and (more crucially) was a lot harder for the Kiwi strokeplayers to get away - England bowled to a plan and stuck to it all day - restrict the runs.

I cannot believe that before the day started any Englishman would not have taken this close of play score as we bowled and fielded quite brilliantly all day IMO.

 

[marc71178]

OK, I missed all today

Coach return tickets to London are £9 for tomorrow, the tube will be about another £4 and admission £10. It's a 4am start and get home at 1am.

Do I go? Yes or no.. I'll make my mind up off the first five replies...

Hell yes you do.

If I didn't have work I'd be looking to get down there.

 

[marc71178]

So long as Giles is played, Styris is going to have a bit of trouble, it seems...

When was the last time someone said that about the King of Spain?!

 

[luckyeddie]

Now, I've been one of the fiercest critics of Jones being selected ahead of Read, but I feel compelled to defend him here - a lot of the byes were by no means his fault (balls bouncing over his head cannot be stopped) and yes he did make a ricket in that drop towards the end, but you can counter that with the superb take to remove Vettori (a far more dangerous player) earlier - how many runs / time did that save?

I agree - he got some awful ones. Lord's is a desperately difficult place to keep, the way the ball dips and dives, but today he got into serious problems keeping to Giles bowling into the bowlers' footmarks.

Saying that, it was a sub-standard performance. If he keeps his place, I would expect a much-improved performance at Headingley.

 

[marc71178]

as a philosophy I'm of the school whereby you attack when facing the lower middle - esp when you have pace bowlers showing form & the new ball available combined with new batsmen at the crease

I would agree, except the majority of this New Zealand lower middle order wouldn't be as low in most Test sides...

 

[marc71178]

Awesome.

Courageous act.

What does the S stand for?

 

[marc71178]

I'll pass that message on to Neil in case he doesn't check as he has to leave at 4.45am.

Look out for flaming ginger hair and you'll do fine.

Ah Cricketweb meet-ups.

It's great when 2 of us English are in the same place and make the effort to meet isn't it Pete?!

 

[PY]