I think it was during day 2 just before the tea break. Ian smith said he was going to ask some guy he was interviewing during the tea break why nz doesnt get more tests. I missed that interview but later on during day 3 i think, Ian smith did say that nz are getting more test matches in the horizon? Did anybody catch that interview?
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***Official**** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2014/2015
- Thread starter Flem274*
- Start date
Immenso
International Vice-Captain
Athlai.
I started watching cricket in 82/83.
Glenn Turner in his comeback the big batting fish in that season (although he underwhelmed).
Next season there was no stand out (Crowe's first year in his comeback ), all 6 batsmen were pretty evenly valued wickets.
By 1984/85 to a young kid like me with no baggage who had no idea that e.g Howarth and Edgar used to be really awesome - there was no doubt that Crowe was already the big NZ batting cheese, if he wasn't out yet you still felt confident that all was on track. ((Although JF Reid was the surprise that year feasting on the spinners)
At no time did Astle reach Crowe 1985-onwards heights IMO.
Plus, although outside the discussion ..... Astle's technique wouldn't have worked in 1985 in NZ .....
I started watching cricket in 82/83.
Glenn Turner in his comeback the big batting fish in that season (although he underwhelmed).
Next season there was no stand out (Crowe's first year in his comeback ), all 6 batsmen were pretty evenly valued wickets.
By 1984/85 to a young kid like me with no baggage who had no idea that e.g Howarth and Edgar used to be really awesome - there was no doubt that Crowe was already the big NZ batting cheese, if he wasn't out yet you still felt confident that all was on track. ((Although JF Reid was the surprise that year feasting on the spinners)
At no time did Astle reach Crowe 1985-onwards heights IMO.
Plus, although outside the discussion ..... Astle's technique wouldn't have worked in 1985 in NZ .....
Last edited:
Moss
International Captain
Surprised SL didn't save the test. Looks like Southee and co built pressure wonderfully well and were relentless. Gutting to be in command for 2.5 days and then watch it slip away gradually. TBH that wicket of Karaunaratne yesterday and the presence of the nightwatchman just killed whatever momentum there was in the chase. The Sanga wicket was unfortunate but would have still backed the lineup to see things through.
Definitely a side to watch, though. You have a pool of several good if inconsistent players who'll get better provided they play tests on a regular basis. Strongly feel NZ playing more tests than usual since 2011-12 (around 8-10 per year instead of a measly 5) has shown in how the same set of players have improved in that period.
Would you rather see Chandimal as pure batsman or a possible long-term keeper-batsman? This series seemed like a major step backwards for Prasanna.
YorksLanka
International Debutant
I would rather him play as a batsman(at number 5 as Flem274 stated before) and have someone like Dickwella come in and take the gloves. PJ has been a great servant for us in the past but personally i think its time to move on and fully invest in our future
Hurricane
Hall of Fame Member
Martin Crowe was an incredible batsman. He like Taylor has done recently and now Kane to an extent carried my hopes and dreams and made them come true from impossible down and out situations. Crowe called them repair jobs. Walking out to bat at 25-2.
All of our guns seem to come from Krypton. They walk out there and defy all odds and score runs. And they do it with class. Cricket is a killer of a game. I feel spent when I have been out in the middle for 2-3 hours. These guys do it for many more hours than that. And for what reason...they love the game,..they are doing what they were born to do...and they want to represent their country because they are proud of New Zealand.
My memory isn't good enough to file away which year I remember each Crowe memory from but I remember him looking the business early days and I remember him rescuing us from some tricky situations. That first inning score we got in this test was 219. I turned to my friend and said that was a 1980s score. And so it was - before Crowe got going we frequently put up modest totals iirc.
I have read that article saying Kane will be our best - if he is it will be due to temperament and possibly more conservative shot selection than what Martin had. I hope he does exceed him.
I don't know where I am going with any of that but there you go.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
It's not hot and/or dry enough for the pitches to bake and dry out in most places in NZ.
Auckland/Hamilton can get somewhat warm but it's also relatively humid so the pitches should retain enough moisture not to crack apart. Wellington doesn't get particularly warm - although it's lovely on a nice day.
Christchurch can get very hot in the summer. Christchurch with a dry wind or perhaps Napier is where it's most likely for the pitch to deteriorate, but it depends entirely on the weather.
Swingpanzee
International Regular
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
What made you want to be a Policeman Officer?
Maximas
Cricketer Of The Year
Hey so it's rather disappointing but in both tests there were a couple of days we lost quite comprehensively so this result is fair enough, especially after we won two good tosses, we were rather easily outplayed over both tests. I'd hoped for better, especially given this last year or so the SL team has been at the best it's been for a while and with the impending retirements of Sanga and Herath we won't reach such heights again for a little while you'd think. The fielding just has to improve, the bowling was pretty disappointing and the batting was ok, even brilliant at times but not a sustained effort. The fast bowlers were my biggest disappointment, not only can none of them bat or field but they couldn't find the right length consistently enough and struggled to find movement too, they didn't bowl well as a unit as they had been earlier this year and the dreadful decision to drop(?) Eranga didn't help. I can't see a place for Prasanna Jayawardene in the test set-up anymore, his glovework appears to have waned since the Australia tour in 2012 where he was the world's best and his batting isn't test standard anymore, although Dickwella showed very little aptitude with the bat as well it must be said, Kaushal Silva was a bit of a disappointment too for mine, although the second innings 50 here will sure up his place. Prasad didn't have a wonder spell on this tour, and given the emergance of Pradeep I think he has dropped out of our best 3 pacers, with him getting older I don't think we should see too much more of him.
On the other hand, Thirimanne, Chandimal and Karunaratne showed promise, which is important at this stage with Sanga soon to go, Matthews looked pretty good too, and both Tharindu Kaushal and particularly Nuwan Pradeep can walk away from this tour with their heads held high. We are truly a team in transition now, and it was always going to be a difficult tour but I'm not too dispirited on the whole, it was always going to be hard for us to snatch a win but we competed well for much of the series.
Must admit I'm glad to see NZ have some success too, a very promising young team that I already believed had emerged as a clear no 3 team before the tour but has now gone some way to proving it, good on em
On the other hand, Thirimanne, Chandimal and Karunaratne showed promise, which is important at this stage with Sanga soon to go, Matthews looked pretty good too, and both Tharindu Kaushal and particularly Nuwan Pradeep can walk away from this tour with their heads held high. We are truly a team in transition now, and it was always going to be a difficult tour but I'm not too dispirited on the whole, it was always going to be hard for us to snatch a win but we competed well for much of the series.
Must admit I'm glad to see NZ have some success too, a very promising young team that I already believed had emerged as a clear no 3 team before the tour but has now gone some way to proving it, good on em
Bahnz
Hall of Fame Member
Have generally stayed out of the thread as I've been at the cricket for pretty much the entire match, and my cell phone's battery life is rubbish these days making commenting at the ground pretty difficult. But in brief on some of the discussion points:
On Taylor's form: I don't think we should be too worried. Taylor actually had a lot of bad luck this series. Run out by Kane on single figures in his first innings, got a start but was limited to a score of 30-odd in his second, chopped on in his third, before finally playing a sluggish shot to get bowled by a good ball in his 4th. And that's saying nothing of the fact that he had to bat on some wickedly green looking surfaces. I don't like his open stance, and I hope to see him more side on by the time of the England tour in May/June, but I'm confident he'll glide back into form soon enough.
On Kane's place in NZ cricket history: He's well on his way to being NZ's ATGreatest batsman, but he wouldn't make my all time XI just yet. He still has one gaping hole in his resume - runs against quality pace attacks in challenging conditions. He has a great chance to prove himself in the coming year. If he can go through the 5 tests against England and Australia averaging 40ish, and make a couple of valuable 100's along the way, then he'll finally have hammered the door down imo.
On Bracewell and Wagner: Very pleased with the way Bracewell bowled in this game. Hesson doesn't make changes to winning sides for nothing. He saw something in the nets that led him to suspect that Doug would be a real handful in these conditions, and ultimately I think he was proven right. Thought he bowled pretty decently without reward on day 2 (that McCullum drop really was hilariously bad), and then came back and bowled an excellent length to make the crucial blows before lunch on day 5.
Who will be the regular 3rd seamer going forward is less clear. I still think that unless Wagner's Plunket Shield form absolutely falls apart, he should be on the tour to England. Ideally he'll get back to the form he was showing this time last year, in which case he would be my preferred choice for 3rd seamer again. But Bracewell and Henry should both be on that tour as well, and at this stage would have my favour for 1st change on an early season Lord's pitch.
Sri Lanka - This series was always going to be tough for SRL. They had next to no preparation for the first test, so it was hardly surprising when they basically didn't show up at all until the afternoon session of day 2. Still, it was a bit disappointing to see them come apart at the seams after taking such a dominant position in the 2nd test. I guess that's a credit to the New Zealand team's resilience. However, it also looked like SRL had pretty much given up on things by 1 hour into day 4, which was poor given that the match hand't really swung into New Zealand's favour properly until well after lunch.
it was a pleasure to watch Sangakkara play a magnificent innings on what was still a very tricky pitch (Chandimal was playing and missing just about once an over at the same time as Sangakkara was making the thing look like a strip of rolled mud at Galle). For year's he's been my favourite player, and if this is to be his last tour to New Zealand (fingers-crossed it isn't as SRL are scheduled to come back next year) then it was quite a goodbye. Am also massively looking forward to watching him and Jayawardene bat in the ODI's.
Amongst the rest of the team, I was disappointed with Matthews, both for his batting and his captaincy. His 1st innings effort at the Basin was appalling, and the only surprising thing about his dismissal was that it took as long as it ultimately did for him to nick off. I hope that Karunaratne and Chandimal can start to stand up more consistently. The two have talent, but they need to be able to produce runs more often than once per series. Amongst the bowlers, Pradeep and Eranga look not terrible enough to carry Sri Lanka forward, so here's hoping they can continue to grow. Cricket needs a strong Sri Lanka, especially given the sad (and seemingly irreparable) decline of WI cricket.
NZ: There are very few matches that I can think of where New Zealand came from this far back to win a match. The 1999 Oval test v England (when we were about 30/6 in our 2nd innings before Cairns smashed us out of trouble) is probably the most recent one off the top of my head. It is a testament to the depth and confidence of the current side. They're now within touching distance of becoming the greatest New Zealand team ever - though I have my doubts as to whether they will achieve this.
Still given that it's been barely 2 and a half years since I created the Doom and Gloom thread in a fit of uncharacteristic (shut up) despair, what McCullum, Taylor, KW, Boult, Southee, Watling, Wagner, Craig, Latham, Neesham, Anderson, Bracewell, Bond, McMillan and Hesson have achieved is nothing short of inspirational. Good on ya boys, now let's go knock one more monkey off Martin Crowe's back by winning that World Cup.
Series scores
Latham - 5
Rutherford - 4
Williamson - 10
Taylor - 5
McCullum - 9
Neesham - 8
Watling - 9
Craig - 7
Southee - 7
Boult - 8
On Taylor's form: I don't think we should be too worried. Taylor actually had a lot of bad luck this series. Run out by Kane on single figures in his first innings, got a start but was limited to a score of 30-odd in his second, chopped on in his third, before finally playing a sluggish shot to get bowled by a good ball in his 4th. And that's saying nothing of the fact that he had to bat on some wickedly green looking surfaces. I don't like his open stance, and I hope to see him more side on by the time of the England tour in May/June, but I'm confident he'll glide back into form soon enough.
On Kane's place in NZ cricket history: He's well on his way to being NZ's ATGreatest batsman, but he wouldn't make my all time XI just yet. He still has one gaping hole in his resume - runs against quality pace attacks in challenging conditions. He has a great chance to prove himself in the coming year. If he can go through the 5 tests against England and Australia averaging 40ish, and make a couple of valuable 100's along the way, then he'll finally have hammered the door down imo.
On Bracewell and Wagner: Very pleased with the way Bracewell bowled in this game. Hesson doesn't make changes to winning sides for nothing. He saw something in the nets that led him to suspect that Doug would be a real handful in these conditions, and ultimately I think he was proven right. Thought he bowled pretty decently without reward on day 2 (that McCullum drop really was hilariously bad), and then came back and bowled an excellent length to make the crucial blows before lunch on day 5.
Who will be the regular 3rd seamer going forward is less clear. I still think that unless Wagner's Plunket Shield form absolutely falls apart, he should be on the tour to England. Ideally he'll get back to the form he was showing this time last year, in which case he would be my preferred choice for 3rd seamer again. But Bracewell and Henry should both be on that tour as well, and at this stage would have my favour for 1st change on an early season Lord's pitch.
Sri Lanka - This series was always going to be tough for SRL. They had next to no preparation for the first test, so it was hardly surprising when they basically didn't show up at all until the afternoon session of day 2. Still, it was a bit disappointing to see them come apart at the seams after taking such a dominant position in the 2nd test. I guess that's a credit to the New Zealand team's resilience. However, it also looked like SRL had pretty much given up on things by 1 hour into day 4, which was poor given that the match hand't really swung into New Zealand's favour properly until well after lunch.
it was a pleasure to watch Sangakkara play a magnificent innings on what was still a very tricky pitch (Chandimal was playing and missing just about once an over at the same time as Sangakkara was making the thing look like a strip of rolled mud at Galle). For year's he's been my favourite player, and if this is to be his last tour to New Zealand (fingers-crossed it isn't as SRL are scheduled to come back next year) then it was quite a goodbye. Am also massively looking forward to watching him and Jayawardene bat in the ODI's.
Amongst the rest of the team, I was disappointed with Matthews, both for his batting and his captaincy. His 1st innings effort at the Basin was appalling, and the only surprising thing about his dismissal was that it took as long as it ultimately did for him to nick off. I hope that Karunaratne and Chandimal can start to stand up more consistently. The two have talent, but they need to be able to produce runs more often than once per series. Amongst the bowlers, Pradeep and Eranga look not terrible enough to carry Sri Lanka forward, so here's hoping they can continue to grow. Cricket needs a strong Sri Lanka, especially given the sad (and seemingly irreparable) decline of WI cricket.
NZ: There are very few matches that I can think of where New Zealand came from this far back to win a match. The 1999 Oval test v England (when we were about 30/6 in our 2nd innings before Cairns smashed us out of trouble) is probably the most recent one off the top of my head. It is a testament to the depth and confidence of the current side. They're now within touching distance of becoming the greatest New Zealand team ever - though I have my doubts as to whether they will achieve this.
Still given that it's been barely 2 and a half years since I created the Doom and Gloom thread in a fit of uncharacteristic (shut up) despair, what McCullum, Taylor, KW, Boult, Southee, Watling, Wagner, Craig, Latham, Neesham, Anderson, Bracewell, Bond, McMillan and Hesson have achieved is nothing short of inspirational. Good on ya boys, now let's go knock one more monkey off Martin Crowe's back by winning that World Cup.
Series scores
Latham - 5
Rutherford - 4
Williamson - 10
Taylor - 5
McCullum - 9
Neesham - 8
Watling - 9
Craig - 7
Southee - 7
Boult - 8
Moss
International Captain
Despite having watched very little of the series (relied on Cricinfo's ball-by-ball coverage), here's my attempt at rating the NZers. Deliberately not reading your post before submitting, just to see how it stacks up with someone who was at the groud:
Latham - 4 (Probably got complacent after two great series. Bit worried for his chances in Eng/Aus next season)
Rutherford - 5 (Appeared to improve at the Basin, at least ensured we weren't one down for nothing this time)
KW - 10 (Maybe 0.5 off for for suddenly going into his shell after passing 50 in each of the 1st innings?)
Taylor - 4 (Couple of infuriating dismissals and a bit off-colour this season. Will struggle to reach the standards of 2013/14 again?)
Baz - 9 (Was due for a failure in the second test, but outstanding leadership. Appears to really enjoy the challenges of test cricket these days)
Neesham - 7 (Excellent value with the ball, batting too high at #6 but learning on the job)
Watling 9 - (Prized asset)
Craig - 7 (Interesting one. Like many others I don't rate the guy, but he seems like a real competitor)
Bracewell - 7 (Did what was expected of him. Good guy to have in the reserves but still not sure if he's consistent enough for permanent third seamer's role)
Southee - 8 (Seems like he bowled superbly without the wickets to show for it. Workload needs to be carefully managed)
Boult - 9 (Excellent series and appears to be improving with the older ball)
Wagner - 5 (I'm on the fence. Wouldn't have dropped him for the Basin but it turned out to be a good call)
Some thoughts on the squad members:
Brownlie - Assuming he doesn't make the WC squad, I hope he turns in a good season with ND. Would be useful as opener in Eng/Aus
Anderson - Very little to choose between him and Neesh IMO. The hope must be that at least one of them develops enough as batsman to step in when Baz retires.
BeeGee
International Captain
Somebody is some other thread suggested there's a push from official circles to use batter instead of batsman due to it being gender neutral. It wouldn't surprise me.
NasserFan207
International Vice-Captain
I use both without thinking about it, but this is pretty lame.
Fuller Pilch
Hall of Fame Member
Considering our best cricketer is Suzie Bates I have no problems with batter.
artvandalay
State Vice-Captain
That was some series that one. Perhaps the first test series I remember watching and following very closely not involving India as I was fairly young at that time. One which was almost completely dominated by the bowlers too.
Fuller Pilch
Hall of Fame Member
Interesting comments here on Williamson (including BMac a few years ago):
CricketGeek: Where does Kane Williamson sit?
CricketGeek: Where does Kane Williamson sit?