**Official** New Zealand in South Africa

[ohnoitsyou]

Originally Posted by NZTailender

Yeah, who said that originally? Even with all our bowlers, batsmen and having a unified team and management system, we'd probably attain 4th spot, and be able to compete more with the top 3 than we do now, but that call is over-optimistic.

It was suggested by quite a few people in the what will the teams be ranked in 5 years, somehow its changed to 3 years over here

[jcas0167]

Originally Posted by sonnench

...
Take away Bangladesh and Zim, how many of your batsmen average more than 25 in Tests???

I realise this was a rhetorical question but anyway here are their averages after removing those teams. Overall average is in brackets:

McCullum 30.82 (35.33)

Guptill 24.72 (30.29)

Williamson 29.03 (30.82)

Brownlie 32.46 (32.93)

Flynn 22.8 (26.61)

Watling 19.92 (29.78)

Also, unavailable for this test series:

Taylor 40.32 (42.57)

Ryder 37.93 (40.93)

Vettori 24.53 (30.10)

[Zinzan]

So what are people's thoughts re Doull's pre-match comments that Patel shouldn't ever play for the Blackcaps again after his running away from the bowling in the first test? Fair or over the top?

[kykweer.proteas]

Now you kiwis know how we felt after the tri nations last year lol....


And tbf, the way steyn bowled yesterday he would have made most teams look ordinary, I rate if he starts today with the same rhythm the game won't see a fourth day.

[Zinzan]

Originally Posted by kykweer.proteas

Now you kiwis know how we felt after the tri nations last year lol....

At least the Springboks always compete with the All Blacks, even if NZ have won more head-to-head matches.

[Mike5181]

Originally Posted by Zinzan

So what are people's thoughts re Doull's pre-match comments that Patel shouldn't ever play for the Blackcaps again after his running away from the bowling in the first test? Fair or over the top?

I agree with him. It's only one of the reasons though, not the main one. His bowling hasn't been test standard since returning to the side.

[Kippax]

Originally Posted by Zinzan

So what are people's thoughts re Doull's pre-match comments that Patel shouldn't ever play for the Blackcaps again after his running away from the bowling in the first test? Fair or over the top?

Trying to paint it as 'he was psyched out by the South Africans' shows just how little of Jeets' batting he's watched over the years. He'd back away to Matt Quinn ffs. The idea presumably being the guy will bowl a long half volley at middle or a bouncer to a guy in a normal position, where he'll then surprise them with his best shot, the uppercut over third man.

Jeets vs. Philander, Match-Winning 43* - YouTube

[Hurricane]

I've been thinking about Jeets' bowling. He did not use his arm ball enough.

I thought there was enough turn on offer yesterday for him to be very effective if he used the arm ball more.

They were letting balls go that would have crashed into off stump if they had've been arm balls. Instead they gripped and turned (a wee bit but enough) and missed off stump to the left hander.

He needed to plant a seed of doubt in their minds as to whether it was going to spin or not.

[Spiced]

Originally Posted by BeeGee

Nah, we're going to be negative.

But as far as SA are concerned, you're the undisputed No.1 team in the world, you've just returned from series victories in England and Australia, you have the first and second ranked bowlers in the world and three batsmen ranked in the top seven.
Why do you think you need to wait for Pakistan to see how you've developed?

The last decade we really did not perform well in SA. Our players played silly shots when well established and got out and our bowlers tend to release the pressure and bowl crap every now and then. First test day 2 was a good example. This test we did really do well the first two days and with the wind from the east the ball will move around the entire third day. We could see a win today for SA.

To your question. I would like to see us win all our home tests. We need to perform more consistently at home. With Pakistan the strongest opp this year if we beat them 3-0. The last time we white-washed a test team at home was in 2008 against Bangladesh (2-0). We have never won all test at home against a top6 cricket nation at home in the last 20 years.

[Hurricane]

Pretty direct talk from Pollock on the batsman's shortcomings.

[NZTailender]

Beautiful placement by Watling, then a giant agricultural waft...

[NZTailender]

Shotttt

[wellAlbidarned]

Originally Posted by Zinzan

So what are people's thoughts re Doull's pre-match comments that Patel shouldn't ever play for the Blackcaps again after his running away from the bowling in the first test? Fair or over the top?

Nah unfair. As has been said, he often bats like that. It's not a "I'm so scared of the big fast bowlers" thing it's a "we're ****ed so I'm going to have a bit of fun and try to whack a few" thing. His bowling is innocuous alone to get him dropped anyway so idgaf about his batting.

[BoyBrumby]

Originally Posted by thierry henry

Elgar just looked completely crap. This doesn't mean he's not better than all of the NZ batsmen or that he won't be able to turn his talent for not getting out into consistent test runs, but he still looked crap.

Originally Posted by NZTailender

I watched replays today. Elgar is just weird. I mean, we point to guys like Katich, Collingwood, Chanderpaul etc who make success out of different, awkward type techniques (though I love(d) watching all 3 of those guys bat), Elgar just look like a completely different kettle of fish. I swear the ball didn't go where he was intending for a lot olf his shots, and he even jumped backwards, both feet off the ground for a shot. Streaky as. Against a better, more refined and consistent bowling attack he'd struggle. If he can turn his weird shot style into an unorthodox success, then fairplay to him. I just didn't see anything from him that puts him in the same class as the six above him, nor will he reach those dizzying heights.

Yeah, looks very much a technique designed for the limited overs. Very, very bottom handed and an over-reliance on the cross-bat shots.

It's the kind of MO that needs a great eye to pull off at the highest level.

Ha, Polly talking up Watling as a potential opener as I type.

Looks a well organised player, to be fair. More than capable of playing as a specialist in the current NZ line up, IMHO. & showing a calm head &, more crucially perhaps, some old fashioned gumption here.

[BoyBrumby]

Ah, Jeezarse Douglas. Bat on a ****ing curtain rail.