England are back !!!

[George.Hinton]

Well this morning England should wrap up a win and secure a 2-1 series win in New Zealand.

Pretty good achievement for mine as the Kiwis are a good team at home.
And hey we didn't win in New Zealand back in 2001.

This should give England a lot of confidence moving forward ---
I like the look of our squad .....The batting has considerable potential with a top six of (Vaughan, Cook, STrauss, Pietersen, Bell and Colly with Shah) on the bench.
And Sidebottom and Broad both look very good in the bowling dept. I reckon if we can Freddy back to 100% (and from what I hear this is a distinct possibility), a lineup of Cook, Vaughan , Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Freddy, Ambrose, Broad, Sidey, Hoggard/Tremlett and MSP can give the Aussies a real run for the Ashes in 12 months time.

I honestly believe we are the only ones who are good enough to beat Australia......the Saffie batting lacks real substance other than Kallis and their bowling is really more geared to perforiming the very pace friendly wickets on the high veldt. Also throw in the fact that South Africa;s best talent invariably defect to England anyway
India are getting old and they have no ready replacements for their fading batting stars.
England I think also have more potential surprisingly enough in the spin dept than India with MSp and Adil Rashid looking promising. India I think will struggle to replace Kumble.

So I forsee good times ahead for England.....sure one swallow doesn't make a summer and there is a long road ahead but the nucleus of a very, very good England team is there and I think we have witnessed some of its potential in New Zealand.

 

[Jono]

Back to what? 2005? Because since then they've been mediocre.

Too early to say that they're a significant threat to Australia yet.

Will be a good series win however (providing they get the last 5 wickets)

 

[George.Hinton]

Back to what? 2005? Because since then they've been mediocre.

Too early to say that they're a significant threat to Australia yet.

Will be a good series win however (providing they get the last 5 wickets)

Back to the winning feeling - especially since the Ashes 2005, we have been in freefall.

This will be only England's 3rd test series win since the Ashes triumph.

 

[GIMH]

Pleasing though the potential victory is, even a stark-optimist like myself isn't jumping the gun. Presuming that we do need to win tomorrow, that will be twice whereby we've needed a second day to bowl the opposition out - am I being too critical, maybe, but I was disappointed to awake to NZ just 5 down this morning. Also, the batting is a real concern of mine at the moment, great improvements will be needed against South Africa.

Nonetheless, if we do go onto win tomorrow, well what a great feeling it will be to win a series away from home again. Biggest buzz since Mumbai is what it shall be

 

[UncleTheOne]

kiwis ftw now.

 

[Goughy]

as the Kiwis are a good team at home.

IMO, this is not a good NZ side

 

[Richard]

Pleasing though the potential victory is, even a stark-optimist like myself isn't jumping the gun. Presuming that we do need to win tomorrow, that will be twice whereby we've needed a second day to bowl the opposition out - am I being too critical, maybe, but I was disappointed to awake to NZ just 5 down this morning. Also, the batting is a real concern of mine at the moment, great improvements will be needed against South Africa.

Nonetheless, if we do go onto win tomorrow, well what a great feeling it will be to win a series away from home again. Biggest buzz since Mumbai is what it shall be

Bigger still IMO - much was made of that victory, but truth remains that all we did because of it was draw a series. This will (presumably ) be a victory, our best series victory since The Ashes in fact.

I'm certainly not jumping the gun and I once more fully expect South Africa to win the series this summer (and who I'll be supporting I'll only find-out when the thing starts) and knowing them they'll probably find a way not to. But I'm extremely pleased at this victory, I was never in a million years expecting it after we went 1-0 down. And I certainly hope we can beat New Zealand again this summer.

If we'd only beaten Sri Lanka and India at home in 2006 and 2007, as well as won in Pakistan in 2005/06, we could be said to have had a decent time from 2004 onwards, being second-best only when we were expected to be. And much the same could be said of the 2001/02-2003 period really. Likewise the 1990-1999 one.

Too much nearly and should have and not enough dids with English cricket though, unfortunately.

 

[GIMH]

Bigger still IMO - much was made of that victory, but truth remains that all we did because of it was draw a series. This will (presumably ) be a victory, our best series victory since The Ashes in fact.

I'm certainly not jumping the gun and I once more fully expect South Africa to win the series this summer (and who I'll be supporting I'll only find-out when the thing starts) and knowing them they'll probably find a way not to. But I'm extremely pleased at this victory, I was never in a million years expecting it after we went 1-0 down. And I certainly hope we can beat New Zealand again this summer.

If we'd only beaten Sri Lanka and India at home in 2006 and 2007, as well as won in Pakistan in 2005/06, we could be said to have had a decent time from 2004 onwards, being second-best only when we were expected to be. And much the same could be said of the 2001/02-2003 period really. Likewise the 1990-1999 one.

Too much nearly and should have and not enough dids with English cricket though, unfortunately.

A draw in India not to be sniffed at though, especially when you look at our track record there and the squad that we took out there. I think "all we did" is a little harsh, I'd have bitten off any hand that offered me 1-1 prior to that series and that victory in itself was emphatic. Makes me yearn for Flintoff talking about it though

What I meant anyway, though, was that this match, if we win, will be give me the biggest buzz a victory has done since Mumbai. The series itself, best since the Ashes undoubtedly, first away win since South Africa as well, about time.

Now let's just hope we don't go **** it up tonight!!!!

 

[Richard]

TBH New Zealand have played far better throughout this entire series than India did in that Third Test. Honestly, for a team who should've been as good as they should've been that game they were truly woeful. I've rarely seen a worse performance, magnificent as Flintoff was in that game.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah that's true, but take nothing away from it. I have the DVD of that game, "Freddie's Heroes" it is a personal favourite of mine. It's odd when you watch Cricket, like if it had been a massive away win in football I would probably have cracked a few open, but it was a Wednesday morning so I celebrated by, um, well sitting on CW all day haha. Ah, being a barman with days free did have its perks.

 

[cover drive man]

Back to the winning feeling - especially since the Ashes 2005, we have been in freefall.
This will be only England's 3rd test series win since the Ashes triumph.

We've felt like that a lot of times since 2005.

 

[Richard]

A lot before then too, truth be told.

 

[chalky]

Both England & New Zealand have gone backwards this winter.

New Zealand is explainable losing Bond, Astle, Styris, Vincent, McMillan, Tuffey to retirement & ICL.

England's is less so I I hope It is just a case of a lot of players collectively out of form however I get the feeling that some of the players are not living up to early promise, are in decline, have been worked out or are just not good enough.

Pietersen, Bell, Strauss Vaughan, Hoggard, Harmisson, Anderson, Panesar, Collingwood

Obviosly most of those are still good enough for their place in the side (with the exception of Harmisson, Anderson & Strauss IMHO) I wonder though how much the team can improve with those players, who make up a decent chunk of side, who aren't going to be getting much better any time soon.

The big pluses for the Winter Definately - Sidebottom
Possibly - Ambrose an English keeper who can catch & bat surely not

 

[Richard]

Both England & New Zealand have gone backwards this winter.

New Zealand is explainable losing Bond, Astle, Styris, Vincent, McMillan, Tuffey to retirement & ICL.

England's is less so I I hope It is just a case of a lot of players collectively out of form however I get the feeling that some of the players are not living up to early promise, are in decline, have been worked out or are just not good enough.

Pietersen, Bell, Strauss Vaughan, Hoggard, Harmisson, Anderson, Panesar, Collingwood

Obviosly most of those are still good enough for their place in the side (with the exception of Harmisson, Anderson & Strauss IMHO) I wonder though how much the team can improve with those players, who make up a decent chunk of side, who aren't going to be getting much better any time soon.

The big pluses for the Winter Definately - Sidebottom
Possibly - Ambrose an English keeper who can catch & bat surely not

I'll assess things fully at the end of the final day's play of the winter. I don't think it's quite so bad as you portray TBH.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Well this morning England should wrap up a win and secure a 2-1 series win in New Zealand.

Pretty good achievement for mine as the Kiwis are a good team at home.
And hey we didn't win in New Zealand back in 2001.

This should give England a lot of confidence moving forward ---
I like the look of our squad .....The batting has considerable potential with a top six of (Vaughan, Cook, STrauss, Pietersen, Bell and Colly with Shah) on the bench.
And Sidebottom and Broad both look very good in the bowling dept. I reckon if we can Freddy back to 100% (and from what I hear this is a distinct possibility), a lineup of Cook, Vaughan , Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Freddy, Ambrose, Broad, Sidey, Hoggard/Tremlett and MSP can give the Aussies a real run for the Ashes in 12 months time.

I honestly believe we are the only ones who are good enough to beat Australia......the Saffie batting lacks real substance other than Kallis and their bowling is really more geared to perforiming the very pace friendly wickets on the high veldt. Also throw in the fact that South Africa;s best talent invariably defect to England anyway
India are getting old and they have no ready replacements for their fading batting stars.
England I think also have more potential surprisingly enough in the spin dept than India with MSp and Adil Rashid looking promising. India I think will struggle to replace Kumble.

So I forsee good times ahead for England.....sure one swallow doesn't make a summer and there is a long road ahead but the nucleus of a very, very good England team is there and I think we have witnessed some of its potential in New Zealand.

From what I've seen of the series I wouldn't get too carried away, there seems to be some form issues in the top order for a start.

As for England being the only ones who are good enough to beat Australia...did you miss the last series down here with India? I think England would have to perform a bit better than they just have in NZ, but then there's time.

 

[Somerset]

I honestly believe we are the only ones who are good enough to beat Australia......the Saffie batting lacks real substance other than Kallis and their bowling is really more geared to perforiming the very pace friendly wickets on the high veldt. Also throw in the fact that South Africa;s best talent invariably defect to England anyway
India are getting old and they have no ready replacements for their fading batting stars.
England I think also have more potential surprisingly enough in the spin dept than India with MSp and Adil Rashid looking promising. India I think will struggle to replace Kumble.

TBH I seriously doubt England are the "only ones" capable of beating Australia. In fact I can't see England beating Australia any time soon. Yes England played very good cricket in the last two tests and outplayed New Zealand to win both matches fairly comprehensively. But given New Zealand are ranked seventh in the world, a series victory against the Kiwis is a bit of a difficult base to judge where England are in comparison to Australia.

To say the South African batting lacks substance is also a bit suspect, given Kallis and Amla dined out on the New Zealand attack in our recent series in South Africa - which, excluding O'Brien, had basically the same mix of bowlers for the England series - and Smith and McKenzie have scored double centuries in the last month. Boucher, Gibbs, Prince and de Villiers give the batting line up a bit of bulk too IMO.

I'd say every side get old, not just India. Agreed that they possess some ageing players but what side doesn't? To say they have no replacements for the the batting lineup is also harsh IMO. They just won the under 19 World Cup!! Not sure what sparks your theory that there is a lack of talent in the Indian resource camp. Piyush Chawla looks decent from what I've seen of him and given hes a leg spinner could be a very able replacement for Kumble.