***Official*** South Africa in New Zealand 2012

[Prince EWS]

Brownlie out of the first test and they're talking about Ryder as the obvious replacement (which he is, though another hair-brained ODI innings might make the selectors at least think twice).

I wonder who'd be next in the line after Ryder. Probably Nicol to bat 3 (as much as his Plunket Shield performances in the last couple of seasons haven't really justified it all) with Williamson at 5.

 

[DIRK-NANNES]

sinclair

 

[Prince EWS]

sinclair

I'd hope so but I find it unlikely.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Devcich, clearly.

 

[_Ed_]

Millsy's mad.

 

[Scaly piscine]

**** the next 15-16 months is insane for us
schedule-wise. We need depth to get through this:

South Africa- 3 tests (H)
West Indies- 3 tests (A)
India- 3 tests (A)
Sri Lanka- 2 tests (A)
South Africa- 2 tests (A)
England- 3 tests (H)
England- 2 tests (A)
------------------------ June 2013
= 18 tests
+18 ODIs and six T20s.

Hmm could see New Zealand struggling to win any of those series although they're short enough that if NZ's bowling wins a Test (which it probably will do) that it might be enough to take the series. The tour to West Indies will be interesting, should tell us a fair bit about both teams.

Anyway if NZ batsmen want to score centuries they have to substitute quality for random batting (see Ryder and McCullum for instance). Even relatively good random batting (Ryder, not McCullum) is still random.

 

[Mike5181]

West Indies, Sri Lanka and India are the best chance to pick up some wins personally.

 

[Days of Grace]

We've just been to ****ing India.

Our bowlers will break their backs on roads designed for Tendulkar to get his 100th ton.

 

[Mike5181]

If things don't change drastically we will have a better bowling attack and batting line up than the last time we were there as well.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Millsy's mad.

I agree with him - been saying the same thing for years. I used to get excited when a batsman top edged because it usually meant he was out. Now it's just six more.

Why don't we quit beating about the bush and just replace bowlers with machines?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Comes back to my idea about each bowler having their own ball of their particular brand, make and model with which to bowl with. Just like each batsman has their own bat, each bowler has their own ball. Sponsorship marks and the like. Different weights, different colours etc. etc. Stop letting the batsmen have it all their own way.

EDIT: 16Tins!

 

[Dick Rockett]

Comes back to my idea about each bowler having their own ball of their particular brand, make and model with which to bowl with. Just like each batsman has their own bat, each bowler has their own ball. Sponsorship marks and the like. Different weights, different colours etc. etc. Stop letting the batsmen have it all their own way.

You've never shared that one with me before... very interesting idea though.

I'd still rather bats were regulated, boundaries pushed further out and bowlers were allowed more leeway in terms of wides and bouncers. Y'know, like how it used to be. Showing my age, I know, but I found cricket a lot more exciting when a boundary or a six were a lot harder to hit. And when it was possible to run three.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

You've never shared that one with me before... very interesting idea though.

I was previously being tongue-in-cheek, but now they have new balls at either end at the start of an ODer, it's the logical next step.

 

[Jacknife]

You've never shared that one with me before... very interesting idea though.

I'd still rather bats were regulated, boundaries pushed further out and bowlers were allowed more leeway in terms of wides and bouncers. Y'know, like how it used to be. Showing my age, I know, but I found cricket a lot more exciting when a boundary or a six were a lot harder to hit. And when it was possible to run three.

Agree, one of my biggest pet peeves is when they bring the ropes in for limited overs cricket, it's just not needed in this day and age where you can almost hit a leading edge for 6, at least make the batsmen earn their runs. It's even more ridiculous when they bring them in on already miniature grounds, the bowlers must be staring to wonder why they bother.

 

[Dick Rockett]

now they have new balls at either end at the start of an ODer

Hmm, they tried that in the early 90s and discarded the idea pretty quick because teams were being skittled too easily. Clearly there's a willingness to accept the scales being tipped too far in favour of the bat but not the other way around.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I was previously being tongue-in-cheek, but now they have new balls at either end at the start of an ODer, it's the logical next step.

My original proposal was in this thread.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Agree, one of my biggest pet peeves is when they bring the ropes in for limited overs cricket

It's for safety, don't you know. After we had those boundary fence-related deaths and all that.

My original proposal was in this thread.

Haha, I know that was tongue in cheek, but the rampant consumerism aspect is pretty close to the truth. A large chunk of cricket fans get alienated because they aren't all members of the "white males aged 15-34" demographic, or whatever bunch of retards it is that corporates want to shill their crap to.

 

[SteveNZ]

I agree with him - been saying the same thing for years. I used to get excited when a batsman top edged because it usually meant he was out. Now it's just six more.

Why don't we quit beating about the bush and just replace bowlers with machines?

I don't know who you are, but I am a big fan.

Ignorant, Johnny come lately fans=want big hits=short boundaries. It won't change, so just bring in Merkin or whatever that machine was that was supposed to mimic Warne before the 05 Ashes.

 

[thierry henry]

Mills also called the length of the straight boundaries at Eden Park in Auckland "absurd".

Aren't the straight boundaries at Eden Park 68-70 metres, roughly the same as grounds like the MCG and the Gabba?

 

[Flem274*]

Mills