Cricket Thread

[TRF_Cymro]

Wales is apart of the England cricket team, the ECB is actually the England and Wales Cricket Board.

In the past Wales has played one off games against England.

 

[SelimNiai]

Could you tell me why there is no Wales national team? And why do Ireland not join YB40?

They were in previous seasons, I saw them play Hampshire at Southampton while I was at uni. I think they are focusing all their efforts in becoming a established International side and as such they dont thing playing in a domestic One Day comp suits their interests.

 

[admartian]

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport...itch-in-auckland-as-in-dunedin-and-wellington

So he wants the same pitch that he got smacked around on?

 

[Larksea]

I think bowling first was a good call, at the moment our bowling seems to be better/more consistent than our batting. And because of that if the other team bats first we stay in the game for longer.

likely scenarios

Bat first - likely NZ top order will get the glitters at some point and collapse, really not often the top order dominates to enable the bowlers 3 days to get 20 wickets.

Send the opposition in - If the bowlers do an awesome job then we are in a position to win and it will give the batsmen confidence. If the opposition gets away the batters know their job is to stay at the crease and hold for a draw

for NZ batting first is like putting your head on the chopping block, really should only be done when conditions absolutely demand it.

I think Baz has done well as a captian, he does have an attacking mindset compared to Taylor or Vettori and you can't fault his batting, I think in his last seven innings he has scored over 50 six times. That really is his job where he is in the order (which I think is much better for him than opening)

 

[Darwin]

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport...itch-in-auckland-as-in-dunedin-and-wellington

So he wants the same pitch that he got smacked around on?

McCullum got smacked around? Last time I checked it was still 0-0 in the test series

Anyways, test 3 starts tomorrow. The Eden Park pitch is expected to have a bit more bounce than the previous two pitches, which could help the English bowlers (specifically Finn). England are missing Pietersen, with Bairstow set to make his debut. Bracewell is back with the NZ squad, and could well play. The NZ bowlers have bowled pretty well (Southee's figures don't really do him justice), but they have had a heavy workload, so it wouldn't surprise me if Bracewell comes in for Boult or Wagner.

 

[sifplay]

England are getting stronger and stronger like they normally do. Third test would be interesting. In South Afirca Pakistan needed a 150 runs of a 150 balls to win

 

[SelimNiai]

I hope this test gets a result, this series has been fairly dull really. Theres been hardly any competitve cricket. It either all bowlers (England 1st innings 1st test, and NZ 1st innings 2nd test) or all batmen (the other innings).

I don't really rate Bairstow, decent player and forever destined to be the extra batsmen in the test squads but is very likely to be overtaken by younger players in the summer. So is the best way to nullify Bracewell's threat is invite him to a party?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Bairstow has something about him tho. Has filled in well when asked and he deserves another chance at test level. I expect him to revel out in the NZ conditions.

 

[admartian]

McCullum got smacked around? Last time I checked it was still 0-0 in the test series

Anyways, test 3 starts tomorrow. The Eden Park pitch is expected to have a bit more bounce than the previous two pitches, which could help the English bowlers (specifically Finn). England are missing Pietersen, with Bairstow set to make his debut. Bracewell is back with the NZ squad, and could well play. The NZ bowlers have bowled pretty well (Southee's figures don't really do him justice), but they have had a heavy workload, so it wouldn't surprise me if Bracewell comes in for Boult or Wagner.

That's because that's just cricket.

Let's not forget what actually happens during the game.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Pitch looks extremely flat!

 

[SelimNiai]

Yep, everyone saying its going to be fast and bouncy. Wrong again, this could be a tough watch.

 

[Darwin]

That's because that's just cricket.

Let's not forget what actually happens during the game.

During the game New Zealand have largely matched England this test series. They have far from been 'smacked around' as you seem to suggest. New Zealand were on top in the first test, while England were on top in the second. There could well have been a result in both matches had we not lost a full day in each due to rain, but I feel a tied series is a pretty fair reflection of the cricket played thus far....

Anyways... It does look like another rather docile pitch today, but I have been impressed with the way we have batted this morning. It was a bit of a fight over the first hour, but we actually showed some grit (for a change) which is great to see! It is good to see Fulton batting well too, as I had all but written him off before the start of this series...

 

[Darwin]

England fighting back a bit this morning: New Zealand 391-6. New Zealand were going along slowely, but Tim Southee is having a bit of fun now!

 

[TRF_Cymro]

England in a spot of massive bother.

 

[Darwin]

Indeed. New Zealand bowling really well this morning - last 4 wickets have all been LBW. Perhaps there is a bit more in this match than people were suggesting? There is certainly a lot more swing this morning.

 

[SelimNiai]

Its not as if the NZ bowlers are doing anything spectacular. All they are doing is pitching it up and giving the ball a chance to swing and seam, which it is. England tried it and soon gave up and bowled far too short. As they do every single innings the oppo aren't 3 down in an hour.

 

[Darwin]

England digging themselves into a bit of a hole here. They haven't lost any more wickets, but they aren't scoring any runs (indeed they have 7 runs in the last 10 overs!). I'm not suggesting they should be attacking or anything, but at the moment they are in such a defensive mindset that the NZ bowlers can build pressure by bowling 6 balls to the same batsman each over. I am quite enjoying this.. for a change.

 

[SelimNiai]

I think its a mindset of "let's survive to lunch and then we can sit down and have a chat as to how we recover".

 

[TRF_Cymro]

England got lot of things to think of at the break and Flower has one hell of a job to rally the troops. Presume England will be targeting at least 240 to avoid the follow on, and anything after that will be a bonus. NZ have bowled quite tidily, and some of the England's batsman's techniques have been shown up.

 

[SelimNiai]

Yeah, the follow on target has to be no.1 priority. Pressure on Root & Prior here as they can't trust the tail to wag as it hasn't in the last 12-18 months so they need to be there for the next 2-3 hours.