Cricket Thread

[SelimNiai]

Had to give up after our innings, tiredness really hit in last 10 overs. Shame about the result, thought what we had was enough considering it was 30-40+ runs above par for the average 1st innings score in an ODI.

Not seen highlights of NZ innings but based on scorecard it seemed the bowlers couldn't exert any pressure, that and Williamson and McCullum batted really well.

 

[Larksea]

was a great game, actually with 5 overs to go England were in the box seat. The Key for NZ really was Guptil

He came back out to bat injured and scored 24 off 10. When he arrived back we needed 40something off 20something and in a Finn over Giptil Cracked a 4 then a 6, got a single then finn bowled a wide and all of a sudden the total started to look really gettable.

Baz had a great contribution but I dont think he would have made it without Guppy

 

[Darwin]

Had to give up after our innings, tiredness really hit in last 10 overs. Shame about the result, thought what we had was enough considering it was 30-40+ runs above par for the average 1st innings score in an ODI.

Not seen highlights of NZ innings but based on scorecard it seemed the bowlers couldn't exert any pressure, that and Williamson and McCullum batted really well.

England were very much in the box-seat for much of the NZ run chase - it was only a 4 over burst by Guptill and McCullum in the end got them over the line. I felt England were 20-30 runs short of what they probably should have got in the first innings, which really cost them in the end.

I thought the English bowlers bowled ok, but the slowish nature of the pitch meant the extra pace of the English bowlers wasn't much of an advantage. I do think they dropped short a bit too often - this tactic did directly result in 3 NZ wickets, but McCullum thrived on the short pitch bowling later in the innings. Williamson and McCullum did bat pretty well, and I was particularly impressed with how well we played Swann (as we usually struggle against quality spinners).

was a great game, actually with 5 overs to go England were in the box seat. The Key for NZ really was Guptil

He came back out to bat injured and scored 24 off 10. When he arrived back we needed 40something off 20something and in a Finn over Giptil Cracked a 4 then a 6, got a single then finn bowled a wide and all of a sudden the total started to look really gettable.

Baz had a great contribution but I dont think he would have made it without Guppy

Yep I agree, Guptill made a pretty key contribution. I thought we had lost when Ellis got out, but Guptill and McCullum just went nuts and we made it with an over to spare in the end. I was very impressed with the maturity of McCullum's innings. He was his usual attacking self throughout, but he didn't get over-aggressive, which can often be his downfall. I quite like him batting 5 or 6, as his ability to rotate the strike (in addition to hitting the big shots) is really crucial in the middle overs of the match. Williamson looked classy again before he was unfortunately run-out, but Taylor still looks to be struggling a bit for form.

Unfortunately McClenaghan has been ruled out of the series with a side strain. He will be a big loss for New Zealand, as he is really the only attacking bowler in our side! Southee has been bought into the squad as cover, but I would prefer if he was saved for the test series. Southee is a very good ODI bowler, but can struggle to adjust between limited overs and test cricket - I would prefer to see him play another Plunket Shield game so he is well prepared for the test series. The other option is to play Trent Boult who is already in the squad. Guptill is out of the next ODI too, which is another blow, with Hamish Rutherford brought in to replace him. This leaves the selectors with two options: either directly swap Rutherford for Guptill (my preferred option) or move either McCullum or Franklin up to opening, and slot Colin Munro (who is already in the squad) into the middle order.

 

[SelimNiai]

That old chesnut, not sure who is setting these bowling plans but the "bowl short at them to scare them out" seems to be dragged out so often and never scrapped when the batsmen are hooking and pulling all over the shop. May work at the WACA, Oval and Edgbaston but not everywhere.

Swann has been a bit off the last 12-18 months, cant put your finger on it but hes not the devastating spinner of 2009-2011. Sadly hes, by a mile, the best we have at the moment.

 

[Larksea]

is Colin Munro's place in the side safe?

I also would have thought butler would be an option for the next game.

I would like to see Southee back though, he is basically NZ's best bowler in all forms IMO.

hats off to mills this game, I'm not a huge fan of his bowling but just look at his figures... Bowled 10 overs and was only hit for what? Two boundaries? His runrate pressure was a major contributing factor to all the English wickets falling in the last 12 overs or so.

 

[Darwin]

That old chesnut, not sure who is setting these bowling plans but the "bowl short at them to scare them out" seems to be dragged out so often and never scrapped when the batsmen are hooking and pulling all over the shop. May work at the WACA, Oval and Edgbaston but not everywhere.

Yep, I have to agree 100%. Considering New Zealand pitches are traditionally on the slower side bowling short does seem a rather strange tactic. I'm happy if they persist with it though, as the moment they start pitching it up more consistently we will probably start to struggle!

Swann has been a bit off the last 12-18 months, cant put your finger on it but hes not the devastating spinner of 2009-2011. Sadly hes, by a mile, the best we have at the moment.

I thought Swann was bowling a bit flat this match. I wonder whether T20 cricket has affected his ability to bowl as an attacking spinner? I feel this happens with a lot of players, who really get stuck into 'stopping runs' mindset rather than the 'getting wickets' mindset - in ODI cricket I feel you need a good balance between the two. Hopefully he gets back to his best form soon - though preferable after the test series versus New Zealand

is Colin Munro's place in the side safe?

No, Munro is very much a fringe selection at this stage. He has the potential to be a good limited overs player as he hits the ball a very long way, but I'm no convinced he has the technique to survive against the top bowlers in the world (his lack of footwork against spinners is of particular concern). He is in good form domestically and played well in the 3rd ODI vs South Africa, so probably does deserve a shot.

I also would have thought butler would be an option for the next game.

Yep, I would have liked to see Butler involved too, but he isn't in the ODI squad. He has been a bit of a revelation this season - he bowling with a far more attacking mindset, and looks to be bowling a bit quicker too (close to 140km/h, rather than 130km/h in previous seasons). I feel we need attacking bowlers like him in the ODI game, especially with McClenaghan out.

I would like to see Southee back though, he is basically NZ's best bowler in all forms IMO.

hats off to mills this game, I'm not a huge fan of his bowling but just look at his figures... Bowled 10 overs and was only hit for what? Two boundaries? His runrate pressure was a major contributing factor to all the English wickets falling in the last 12 overs or so.

When on form Southee is probably our best ODI bowler (considering Vettori is retired from ODI's... I think?), I just think he would be better concentrating on getting 100% fit for the tests, and the best way to do that would be playing first class cricket. In addition I really want him to be playing for Northern Districts on Wednesday, as I want them to to beat Central Districts, which would mean Otago has a good chance of winning the Plunket Shield

I feel Mills is very under-rated by many of the New Zealand public. He has been consistently one of the better bowlers in ODI cricket on the international stage for at least the last 5 years, but never seems to get the credit he deserves. He seldom tears through the opposition batting lineup, he usually picks up 1 or 2 wickets a match, and seldom goes for more than 5 an over (which is pretty good in the modern game!). I don't think the NZ public will really appreciate how valuable he has been until he is gone (though hopefully he has a few years left in him yet!).

 

[TRF_heineken]

Congrats to the Aus Women's team for winning the World Cup yesterday! Quite a dominating show against West Indies in a final...

And then, another series Test win for the Proteas!!!

Winning on the 4th day vs Pakistan at Newlands. Robin Peterson getting the MOTM for his great first innings knock of 85 and taking some wickets too.

Vernon Philander picking up 9 wickets in the match

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Was at Sahara park on Saturday and was hoping to see a dominating bowling display from the Proteas to save the day. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised that the majority of the time there was watching Peterson knock the ball around quite effectively after taking over the 'lead' from De Villiers. Didn't expecct our tail end to outperform the front line with the bat by such a margin.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Was at Sahara park on Saturday and was hoping to see a dominating bowling display from the Proteas to save the day. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised that the majority of the time there was watching Peterson knock the ball around quite effectively after taking over the 'lead' from De Villiers. Didn't expecct our tail end to outperform the front line with the bat by such a margin.

I think this was a welcomed wake-up call... We have been so blessed the last couple of tests that one or 2 of our top 6 dominates the batting, and that our tail just go out cheaply trying to hit every ball for a six that the lower order forgot how to help the team chase a big total.

I must say, Saeed Ajmal has got a new fan. Yesterday morning before the start of the day they had a chat with him, and showed some clips of his bowling, and his variation. for an off-spinner he's bamboozled a lot of quality batsmen and quite rightly so...

 

[SelimNiai]

Due to the ongoing farce that is the BCCI and their charges for foregin coverage ABC wont be covering the Australia series at all. However the guys at testmatchsofa.com will http://thearmchairselector.com/2013/02/predators-to-the-resuce/

I like these guys, basically they provide alternative radio commentary from tv pics. Informal, funny, often booze filled its usually better than the TV comms

 

[Darwin]

Second New Zealand vs England ODI today. New Zealand batting, but seem to think it is a test match: 18/1 after 8 overs (and that is after 6 runs off the last 2 balls!).

EDIT: make that 19/2. Taylor needs to step-up for us today....

 

[GarethEWilliams]

A much better performance from England today, maybe they are finally getting into form? A couple of points:

Finn I think could be genuine world class in a year or so
What has happened to Broad, he has gone backwards
Root will be England's second highest run scorer in text cricket in 15 years behind Cook. I hope they are the openers for the next 10 years. Class

 

[SelimNiai]

Didnt last as long as the 1st game, went to bed half way through the NZ innings. Them batting slow as heck didnt help. From what I saw Finn looked impressive, the shorter run up has helped him in the delivery stride and he isn't flattening the stumps at the non-strikers end as much as the summer and India away series

 

[Darwin]

A pretty easy win for England in the end. We really got bogged down in our batting and ended up probably 40-runs short of a competitive target (as McLean Park is traditionally a 300+ pitch). McCullum showed how good the pitch was with 74 of on 36 balls, but the rest of our side (apart from Ross Taylor late in the innings) really struggled to hit the ball cleanly. It was great to see Taylor have a decent bat (and score another 100) - he was very scratchy at first, but started to look like his old self towards the end of the innings.

Our lack of wicket taking bowlers really cost us today. 270 isn't an easy target to defend in Napier - we really needed to get quick wickets, which we weren't able to get (not having McClenaghan certainly didn't help...). Mills got a bit hammered (for a change) and Southee looked a bit rusty - we will need a much better team bowling performance if we are going to win the series in Auckland on Saturday...

Finn and Anderson bowled very well for England (Broad and Woakes lost it a bit when McCullum put the pressure on though), while I can't help but be impressed with Root every time he bats (and his fielding is phenomenal too!).

 

[SelimNiai]

McCullum was, as per usual, damn impressive. I dont think there are many cleaner strikers of a cricket ball around in ODI's. We bowled better, I was impressed with Woakes, took a bit of a pasting early but finished well and really stunted the middle/lower order charge.

Not gonna lie but when I saw Root play for Yorkshire a few years ago I thought he was nowt special, decent technique but a bit raw. Shows what I know :lol:

 

[Darwin]

McCullum is impressive when he gets going - if only we could get him to play like that consistently! I do like him where he is lower down in the order, and given his recent form hopefully he stays there.

 

[SelimNiai]

McCullum is impressive when he gets going - if only we could get him to play like that consistently! I do like him where he is lower down in the order, and given his recent form hopefully he stays there.

He seemed to come it at just the right time, just when the powerplay was due and when Taylor, how good was that innings btw, was beginning to shift and they went for it,. If he comes in between 30-35 or so overs in then he'll do damage, too early and he'll get bogged in the middle overs and too late and he has to force it too much. Thats how I see it anyway

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I do hope England give James Harris a go in the series. Boy has some serious talent.

 

[SelimNiai]

I can't see it, its not the England way at the moment. They wont switch unless either a bowler get injured or Giles, Cook etc feel he will add a new dimension. I fancy they'll give him more chances once the summer starts since he'll be bowling at Lords for Gus Fraser.

I do agree though, lad can bowl and his batting has come on last couple of seasons too.

The current bowling attack is very same-y atm, all tall 85-90mph right armers, its crying out for a left armer for some variety. Not many of those around in the domestic game though, Brooks now at Yorkshire is the best prospect atm.

 

[Darwin]

I have heard some good things about Harris - I was expecting to see him debut in the T20 series. I do agree the English bowling attack does have a bit of a 'sameness' about it (with them all being right arm pace bowlers at around the same pace), but there is some variation between them (e.g. with Finn's ability to extract bounce and Anderson's ability to swing the ball). England seem to have a good production line of fast bowlers at the moment, which you really need at international level these days given the high injury toll we see (possibly due to an excessive amount of cricket?).