Cricket Thread

[Darwin]

Test Match attempt 2:

Bad start, England lose Compton early, giving people more excuses to drop him. Pitch is lively, ball moving in the air and off the surface. A pitch I'd have loved to have bowled on myself

I disagree. It has been a superb start from my perspective

The University Oval pitch typically has a bit in it to start, but then becomes pretty easy to bat on (and there have been some big scores in domestic cricket in Dunedin this season). New Zealand need to continue to apply the pressure, as I'm sure the pitch will calm down a bit soon, and once batsmen get in at University Oval they can be very hard to dislodge (for example Otago's nightwatchman -Nick Beard - got 188 against Auckland here less than a month ago...).

 

[SelimNiai]

In that case I'd enjoy bowling on it for the first session then I may develop a sore calf muscle and go lie down for a bit (I actually did that once).

Bell and Trott beginning to get a partnership going. They look ok but theres the odd moment that makes it look less than comfy

 

[Darwin]

The pitch looks like it has calmed down already. Wagner gets another wicket though, after a pretty loose shot by Bell.... 64/4.

 

[Darwin]

England all out for 167. I would love to claim it was an outstanding bowling effort by New Zealand, but I think most of the credit should go to a poor batting effort by England, with many of the batsmen gifting their wickets away. Wagner and Martin picked up 4 wickets each. Hopefully our batting effort is a bit better!

 

[SelimNiai]

Thats not gone well. Most of the batsmen need a boot up the arse after that shoddy display.

 

[Darwin]

Don't worry... we have to bat now.

 

[Larksea]

It could be worse. Bruce Martin could be your test spinner.

he got 4 wickets >.<

 

[admartian]

Look for the Blackcaps to lose 3-5 quick wickets here.

 

[Darwin]

he got 4 wickets >.<

Yes he did. That doesn't mean he is in any way a quality test spinner. Indeed it just emphasizes how poorly England batted

 

[SelimNiai]

Im not sure that days cricket could have gone any worse for England, I suppose the only tiny, tiny crumb of comfort is that at least we are still leading. Until over 5 tomorrow that is.

 

[Darwin]

Quite a phenomenal day of cricket - I can't remember the last time we so completely dominated the first day of a test against quality opposition. Rutherford has continued on where he left off yesterday, scoring his maiden ton in his debut match (currently 115*). We need to build a good lead, as the pitch looks like it is getting easier to bat on by the minute...

 

[Larksea]

Hamish has 100 on debut and in fact he's now 137*

At this rate he will outscore the entire English first innings on his own!

It's been so long since NZ had a genuine quality stable world class batsman, Rider is our best right now that's why I added in the word stable lol.

I hope this is a sign of things to come from him, I think NZ can seriously climb the rankings in the years to come with Hamish, Williamson and Latham coming through as young batsmen of quality.

 

[admartian]

Hamish has 100 on debut and in fact he's now 137*

At this rate he will outscore the entire English first innings on his own!

It's been so long since NZ had a genuine quality stable world class batsman, Rider is our best right now that's why I added in the word stable lol.

I hope this is a sign of things to come from him, I think NZ can seriously climb the rankings in the years to come with Hamish, Williamson and Latham coming through as young batsmen of quality.

Let's not speak too soon.

Remember Matt Sinclair scoring 200+ on debut? We get these types of players - full of promise, but the team culture and history eventually wears them down to almost nothing. Nz Cricket is nothing but a zombie.

 

[Darwin]

Let's not speak too soon.

Remember Matt Sinclair scoring 200+ on debut? We get these types of players - full of promise, but the team culture and history eventually wears them down to almost nothing. Nz Cricket is nothing but a zombie.

Sinclair also had some pretty glaring technical flaws that were exposed at the top level. Like you I'm pretty cautious about new players such as Rutherford - I'm hoping he manages to establish himself at test level, but there will certainly be some bigger tests to come!

 

[SelimNiai]

I was so pleased and proud to wake up today to see Compo scored his 1st Test century. Its always good when someone from your team does well at the international stage and hopefully that should stay the critics for a while.

Batting all day to save the Test, I think we can do it, the pitch is devoid of life and provided the batsmen's concentration keeps up we should be ok.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Compton was under a lot of pressure to score a ton, effectively he was not only trying to save England from embarrassment but he was also playing for his England career. England still got a lot of work to do.

 

[SelimNiai]

I dont think the coaching staff were considering dropping him, it was more people who saw Root, who plays for a fashionable county I'll add, do well in the ODI's and have in true British sporting media tradition massively overreacted.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

I don't think Root is an opener, looking at what he has done in ODI's and T20s. But I really do believe he was under pressure for his place.

 

[SelimNiai]

I'm not sure how someones first 3 tests in India averaging just under 34 is suddenly worthy of replacing? Root I think is Bell's successor at 3/4 and on that note Bell may need to score a decent score soon or he'll be next to be talked about replacing

 

[Darwin]

Looks like we are headed for the draw. This pitch is completely dead - Finn could get a century the way he is going....

It really shows how poorly England batted in their first innings!