***Official*** West Indies in New Zealand

[James]

Probably right there Jeremy.

My top 3 would be:

Papps
How
Vincent

with Marshall and Fulton dropped.

 

[sirjeremy11]

Sort of keen to give Fulton a run still at the moment. Makes it hard, as I would have Fulton and Vincent ahead of Papps, which means that either Fulton or Vincent has to open. In my team.

 

[Zinzan]

Didn't see the Marshall wicket but for me the 2nd test top 6 would be..........

How
Fulton
Fleming
Astle
Styris
Vincent

Marshall to have a rest and everyone else to move up 1 to make room for Vincent.
Fulton to me looks like he has the technique and temperament to turn himself into an opener, with a few small adjustments.

I don't care how decent Marshall's international record is or about the fact he scored a hundred against Australia,the fact remains he hasn't looked like getting a run this season and the best thing the selectors could have done for him is send him back to first class cricket 2 months ago.

I know he's your special boy John Bracewell , but its time to let go

 

[sirjeremy11]

This test is still finely balanced. NZ trying to take control but they are being kept in check. Good contest at the moment. How has done enough to suggest he will be up to it. And Fulton has just played on. 73/3, lead of 91. Happened again.

 

[Zinzan]

Didn't see the Marshall wicket but for me the 2nd test top 6 would be..........

How
Fulton
Fleming
Astle
Styris
Vincent

Marshall to have a rest and everyone else to move up 1 to make room for Vincent.
Fulton to me looks like he has the technique and temperament to turn himself into an opener, with a few small adjustments.

I don't care how decent Marshall's international record is or about the fact he scored a hundred against Australia,the fact remains he hasn't looked like getting a run this season and the best thing the selectors could have done for him is send him back to first class cricket 2 months ago.

I know he's your special boy John Bracewell , but its time to let go

Or after that fulton wicket, maybe Papps to open James

 

[Blaze]

Hasn't Papps been in ghastly form for Canterbury in the 4 day stuff?

 

[Blaze]

This match is still 50/50. The West Indies are probably slightly in front.

 

[Nate]

No way should Vincent not be there. And Marshall hasn`t made a decent score for ages now.

Good to see Bond and Vettori bowling well, and Edwards come back impressively. And then there`s Scotty! Champion, hugely under-rated, I keep saying it.

Great looking match.

 

[Sir Redman]

Sort of keen to give Fulton a run still at the moment. Makes it hard, as I would have Fulton and Vincent ahead of Papps, which means that either Fulton or Vincent has to open. In my team.

Possible solution - open with McCullum? Then Fulton and Vincent can both bat in the middle order.

 

[NZTailender]

Yeah McCullum opens, Fleming at 3, Vincent 4, Fulton 5 and then Astle 6...Styris 7...

 

[Blaze]

Yeah McCullum opens, Fleming at 3, Vincent 4, Fulton 5 and then Astle 6...Styris 7...

It would go - How, McCullum, Fulton, Fleming, Styris, Astle, Vincent.

 

[Macka]

It would go - How, McCullum, Fulton, Fleming, Styris, Astle, Vincent.

They won't open with McCullum. It's too much to ask from the wicket keeper. Plus there's that whole thing about him not being consistent...

 

[Zinzan]

They won't open with McCullum. It's too much to ask from the wicket keeper. Plus there's that whole thing about him not being consistent...

Agreed, McCullum's not a test opener

 

[Zinzan]

This match is still 50/50. The West Indies are probably slightly in front.

I would still have NZ as slight favourites. Obviously much depends on the 1st session .But If NZ lose no more than 3 wickets in the morning they will be on top IMO . Expect the pitch to get slower and lower from Day 4, given there are signs of invarible bounce now.

Hows the weather looking in Auckland for tomorrow??

 

[Smudge]

At the moment this is one of the more interesting tests for NZ in recent times. Hope we don't have our becoming traditional second innings collapse...

Thanks a lot, jeremy.

 

[marc71178]

I REALLY wish I was watching this match. Foxtel should look at getting a 24 hour cricket channel cranking.

The problem is, there's times like now when there's 3 Tests going on at once, but then there's a lot of time when there's little going on. What could they show then?

 

[benchmark00]

The problem is, there's times like now when there's 3 Tests going on at once, but then there's a lot of time when there's little going on. What could they show then?

I guess you're right, but here they have 'Fox Footy Channel' which is nothing but AFL, and we all know that football doesnt go all day and night, it doesnt even have an all year season. They show archive footage and have panel shows etc.

Having said that, im not sure there'd be enough viewers to support an exclusively cricket station in Australia.

 

[_Ed_]

Hows the weather looking in Auckland for tomorrow??

"Showers"

That's the forecast for most days in Auckland. Effectively "we've got no idea".

 

[Jono]

Considering they have a 24 hour cricket channel shown in Singapore, I'm 100% positive they could have one in Australia.

What the channel does is, it shows the VB Series matches live, but when India vs Pakistan starts it'll switch to that live (obviously since the channel is aimed at Indians, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis living in S'pore). When there is no cricket on, they show archived footage and documentaries on legends plus full replays of past matches. Pretty much whatt the AFL channel does. I mean Fox Footy's viewers during the Footy season would be huge, but they'd be pretty damn poor during the off-season in summer. Yet the channel survives really well.

An Australian 24 hr channel could show whatever match is on live (On a case like today, they would have started with NZ vs. WI, and then switch to Eng vs. Ind) and then show Aus vs. SA ODI tonight. It'd be perfect.

I'm damn sure this would get better ratings than a replay of a random AFL match from 2003.

 

[benchmark00]

Considering they have a 24 hour cricket channel shown in Singapore, I'm 100% positive they could have one in Australia.

What the channel does is, it shows the VB Series matches live, but when India vs Pakistan starts it'll switch to that live (obviously since the channel is aimed at Indians, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis living in S'pore). When there is no cricket on, they show archived footage and documentaries on legends plus full replays of past matches. Pretty much whatt the AFL channel does. I mean Fox Footy's viewers during the Footy season would be huge, but they'd be pretty damn poor during the off-season in summer. Yet the channel survives really well.

An Australian 24 hr channel could show whatever match is on live (On a case like today, they would have started with NZ vs. WI, and then switch to Eng vs. Ind) and then show Aus vs. SA ODI tonight. It'd be perfect.

I'm damn sure this would get better ratings than a replay of a random AFL match from 2003.

Foxtel don't have tv rights for Australian home series, whereas Fox Footy have shared tv rights for AFL.

That'd be the real concern.