***Official*** Sri Lanka in New Zealand 2015

[hendrix]

Southee>Boult.

and I find it hard to blame the coach for Boult bowling crap. Milne, Henry and even Mcleakinruns have all been bowling well.

 

[thundaboult]

This doesn't really belong here, but it's starting to look like Southee won't be fit for the Oz series.

Cricket: Injury casts doubt on Southee

Perfect

 

[Bahnz]

Mascheranhas needs to go asap. I guess boult's still recovering. It's sure been a long recovery. His world cup performances seem a long distant memory now. He just hasn't been the same since the IPL. Even in england he was pretty slow, but bowled well with swing. Now he's struggling to even get that going. And Matt Henry should really replace Tim Southee....Southee at his best is equal to boult at his worst...at least trent keeps finding ways of getting wickets like he has in bad form.

Haha, utter boswollox this. Southee at his best is the equal of Boult (and arguably better). He's been comfortably our best bowler in tests this season (even if his numbers in Aus didn't reflect this). While Henry is a pretty good option to have waiting in the wings in the event of a Southee break-down, NZ will miss him badly if he's out.

 

[Black_Warrior]

This New Zealand team is a ****ing beast at home. And Pakistan are touring them next *shudders*

 

[vcs]

Do Pakistan play Tests there? Should be fascinating if so.

EDIT: Turns out they don't. Meh.

 

[Dan]

Haha, utter boswollox this. Southee at his best is the equal of Boult (and arguably better). He's been comfortably our best bowler in tests this season (even if his numbers in Aus didn't reflect this). While Henry is a pretty good option to have waiting in the wings in the event of a Southee break-down, NZ will miss him badly if he's out.

Is he referring to Tests or ODIs here? Because in that format Henry > Southee for a match tomorrow isn't nearly as ridiculous a suggestion as it is for Tests.

 

[Migara]

Well once again, we have shown that mediocre fast bowlers are not the way for us. Selection of Isuru Udana, or left arm nothings, is shocking. We have to get back to our age old formula. Two relatively quick men, Mathews, spin, spin and spin. It's unbelievable why hacks like A. Mendis getting selected regularly. To make the matters worse Senanayake is out of form. The unbelievable resistance to pick Randiv and Dilruwan Perera is a thing to note.

Then batting is plain wrong. Mathews have to be at 4, and Siri at 5. Easily the standout batsmen of limited over games.

 

[weldone]

Mathews have to be at 4, and Siri at 5.

Yes for T20

 

[Moss]

Feel for Lanka. Just up against it in these conditions. The batsmen just dug their own grave at times but I guess towards the end of the tour it's hard to steel yourself for JAM ODI's and T20's against an opposition clearly in their comfort zone.

NZ are probably a bit lucky Pakistan are up next, a good tester before the Australian series. With all due respect to Chameera and Pradeep, Pakistan's pace attack is definitely closer to the Australian end of the scale in terms of venom.

 

[Moss]

Munro's breakthrough innings yesterday? Sure it felt like he was flogging a dead horse but if it convinces the selectors to make him a fixture in the starting lineup it just might do it for his career.

 

[Captain_Cook]

I've don't understood why Mathews doesn't bat at 4 in all formats. Usually, the best batsman in the team bats in the top 4. Has he ever been asked?

 

[Moss]

I've don't understood why Mathews doesn't bat at 4 in all formats. Usually, the best batsman in the team bats in the top 4. Has he ever been asked?

My impression of him is of being a (very) rich man's batting version of Vettori, in the sense that while he is clearly a batsman who has his game sorted out he benefits from not being the opposition's main object of focus. DLV was a success for some time when he moved to the middle order but it wasnt long before bowlers targeted him (South Africa 2012-13 comes to mind), I wonder if Mathews is wary of this kind of thing.

 

[indiaholic]

Even if everybody targets him exclusively, he will still be the best batsman in the team by a margin. Has to bat at 4.

 

[Captain_Cook]

Mathews is in the position Clarke was in after Ponting (Mahela) then Hussey (Sanga) retired. Both should be batting at #4 but they seem to have a natural inclination for 5.

 

[Bahnz]

Is he referring to Tests or ODIs here? Because in that format Henry > Southee for a match tomorrow isn't nearly as ridiculous a suggestion as it is for Tests.

Yeah, fair call though the statement that Southee's best = Boult's worst is ridiculous either way.

 

[YorksLanka]

Well just finished watching the match and have to say(again) congrats to NZ on a fantastic win. We were literally smashed out of the park..I am hugely disappointed at the amateur approach from out batsmen and apart from Mathews, the **** shot selection. Our bowling was pretty woeful too but let's be honest, even if we scored 220, NZ would have knocked them off. I am not so annoyed about losing as we lost to the better team, but the way we lost- which was absolutely pathetic.

Guptill took his chance and capitalised again, KW went about his business as usual and Munro was simply awesome and I was rooting for him to break the fastest 50 record as he certainly deserved it IMHO. Again well done to NZ on a giving us an absolute spanking across the tour and hopefully next time we meet, we can compete...

 

[cnerd123]

Mathews is in the position Clarke was in after Ponting (Mahela) then Hussey (Sanga) retired. Both should be batting at #4 but they seem to have a natural inclination for 5.

I think in part its because both batsmen realise they're probably the best equipped to rebuild after a top order collapse, and are also the best at batting with the lower order.

Coming out a bit earlier makes them a bit more vulnerable to an eary dismissal, which woud possibly lead to a massive lollapse.

 

[Prince EWS]

I think in part its because both batsmen realise they're probably the best equipped to rebuild after a top order collapse, and are also the best at batting with the lower order.

In Tests I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he's also the captain and their fifth bowler. It's a workload thing. He really should be batting in the top four in limited overs cricket though.

 

[Bahnz]

It's official, Tastle's back!

Cricket: Astle named in Black Caps squad - Sport - NZ Herald News

Reckon T20 is just about the worst possible format to trial him in. Still good to see consistent performance being recognized.

 

[Daemon]

Mathews is in the position Clarke was in after Ponting (Mahela) then Hussey (Sanga) retired. Both should be batting at #4 but they seem to have a natural inclination for 5.

The new ball is probably not that new when you walk in most of the time so that's one obvious advantage. On the other hand if it's a 30-3 situation that Clarke seemed to walk out to during that beastly period of his, it's likely that the opposition quicks have got their tail up and you need to do some rebuilding or counter attack. I'd say in that situation it's probably down to how good you are at handling pressure.

Of course you can say that if he was at 4 then 30-3 might not have even happened.

Batting positions are weird.