***Official*** England in New Zealand series 2013

[straw man]

potatos and carrots too, I'm told

[Flem274*]

Rutherford batting so well was surprising but pleasing. The way the commentators described him he sounded very fluent.

Here's hoping the English offer up plenty of width in the tests for him early on. He's not the finished article by any means.

We weren't 150/5 for once!

When I was listening they didn't think Broad looked in top form, but Onions and Woakes didn't have much success either. Finn a c'd starter then?

Keen to see if any highlights get provided by NZC.

[Immenso]

Some video highlights here, from ECB

Watch England cricket highlights | Sport | guardian.co.uk

[Kippax]

Carlchopa beating a forward defence! Itstl.

[Kippax]

Day 2 on their YT channel later I guess -
Video from the ECB - YouTube

[straw man]

Good start for Watling and Anderson against the new ball this morning. Anderson thrashing some boundaries (and a couple of edges), while for Watling, just staying in against the new ball is an achievement at the moment.

[straw man]

Heh, Onions taken for 22 off his last over and now has 0/100. In that brief guardian highlights clip I didn't think he looked particularly fluent in his approach to crease, and has his action changed a little since a year or two ago? Though perhaps it's just the camera angle.

[Neil Young]

Originally Posted by straw man

Heh, Onions taken for 22 off his last over and now has 0/100.

Well, that's gotta bring tears to your eyes (that joke has probably never been done before).

Good to see Anderson in the runs and, particularly, Watling. I am really starting to like Watling as a cricketer. I think he's made of the right stuff.

[straw man]

I think so too. I think he and Brownlie are mature batsmen with enough ability that they will fairly consistently accumulate runs down the order for NZ, on the occasions when they're not in at 50/4 after 20 overs (perhaps may struggle on spinning wickets too). Don't think they'll throw their wickets away too often.

If they can do this, it'll be great for NZ. We need a few batsmen that are perhaps not as talented as Taylor, Williamson (and perhaps McCullum) but have a method that works, a calm head and can regularly contribute. As I've written before, I think the last test batsman of this type that we've had was Styris. We need these sorts of batsmen.

[Bahnz]

Good to see Anderson having a bit of fun with the bat. If his back injury is serious, it might be time to shelve his bowling completely, and just focus on making runs.

[Immenso]

Originally Posted by Bahnz

Good to see Anderson having a bit of fun with the bat. If his back injury is serious, it might be time to shelve his bowling completely, and just focus on making runs.

It is a side strain, rather than back.
Comma said this is a "new" injury, not something he's injured before.

[straw man]

Big question of the day. Will the English openers pass the McCone test?

[BeeGee]

Gillespie has been woeful.

So I guess it's Wagner and Rutherford for the Test team.

[straw man]

Oh wait, blackcaps scorecard showed McCone opening the bowling but it's now changed to Wagner. I assumed McCone had been allowed to be subbed in since Patel is sick and Anderson cannot bowl, but perhaps not - proper FC match then.

Just hearing the radio comms say players said Neesham and Broad were the quickest bowlers on the park so far. Surprising tstl. Must be that special ball that's a couple of ounces heavier that Neesham pulls out of his pocket whenever he comes on to bowl. Also surely an indictment on Gillespie, Wagner and Onions' bowling in this match.

[theegyptian]

Feel a bit sorry for Onions. Spend the whole winter touring but on the sidelines must be pretty depressing. Especially when your on the wrong side of 30. Just need Broad to breakdown now and Woakes to come into the test team to really finish Onions off. Not that England should be particularly blamed for mismanaging him.