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

[_Ed_]

Bruce Martin: more wickets in his first one and a half Tests so far than Vettori has taken in his last six.

 

[Meridio]

It would be swell if England just collapsed after lunch.

Me like this thought.

Under 400 please.

 

[straw man]

Admittedly, early Vettori used to get his wickets when the opposition was attacking him too. Then the opposition started to see Vettori as one of NZ's only bowlers they needed to worry about, started treating him with more respect and then realised he posed no real threat and could still be worked for 2-3 per over.

Bartin is still in the first phase of the above - getting wickets when he gets attacked.

Though also admittedly, Vettori doesn't seem to get wickets these days even when the opposition batsmen do attack him.

Yuss!!! Boult.

 

[TT Boy]

Proper ****e from Broad. Didn't come forward, didn't go back.

 

[Pothas]

Would be nice if Broad scored some runs at some point.

I don't think this is the worst thing to happen though, considering the forecast. Hope Prior can get us up to around 430.

 

[Bahnz]

New Zealand's quicks really need to work on the accuracy of their bouncers. There've been a ridiculous number of high wides in this innings.

 

[Flem274*]

Boult with the goods.

I've been thinking about this recently and I'll just put it out there: we should introduce rotation amongst our quicks. They can end up doing a lot of bowling sometimes...

Southee, Boult, Bracewell, Wagner, Wheeler and one of Henry/Milne/Butler imo. Keep Southee, Boult, Bracewell/Wagner as the "main" attack and bring in the other two or three when needed.

 

[tooextracool]

Really shocking to me that Bruce Martin is playing in just his second test, the guy is bowling like a seasoned professional. Maybe the finest display of left arm spin I've seen in a very long time.

 

[Flem274*]

Bowled filth for a few years.

 

[Meridio]

McMillan talking total ****e about bowling to tailenders.

Meanwhile, Finn off the mark with a trademark squirt wide of gully. Kindly GTFO.

 

[NZTailender]

Hate to say I told you so, but...actually I love saying it. Told you so! <3 Martin

 

[_Ed_]

Admittedly, early Vettori used to get his wickets when the opposition was attacking him too. Then the opposition started to see Vettori as one of NZ's only bowlers they needed to worry about, started treating him with more respect and then realised he posed no real threat and could still be worked for 2-3 per over.

Bartin is still in the first phase of the above - getting wickets when he gets attacked.

Yeah, that's a good point.

Vettori's last six Tests make for ugly reading, though - 7 wickets @ 75.28.

 

[TT Boy]

500 is still doable if the Kiwi quicks still bang it in short all the time.
Bring back Wagner, bowls filth but at least some of it is pitched up.

 

[Kippax]

Martin to switch provinces after this, surely. Doubt he'll have the appetite to go back and get biffed fifty yards for six at Eden Park by Yovich and friends, now he appreciates he was so much closer to making the grade than he thought.

Panesar unchanged from $5 overnight to be England's top 1st inns wicket-taker I notice.

 

[Bahnz]

Wicket or no, Boult has been awful today.

 

[NZTailender]

Hmm can see an annoying 75+ partnership happening here.

 

[tooextracool]

Yeah, that's a good point.

Vettori's last six Tests make for ugly reading, though - 7 wickets @ 75.28.

To be fair to Vettori, he was never the same bowler after he lost that arm ball through injury. I havent seen every single Bruce Martin delivery in this test but I haven't seen him bowl an arm ball either. As a finger spinner, it really is crucial to have something that can play in the mind of batsmen - Swann gets half his wickets from balls that dont turn.

 

[Zinzan]

Wicket or no, Boult has been awful today.

Boult needs to work on his delivery stride, I'm convinced that's his major problem when it comes to his lack of control.

 

[TT Boy]

Martin looks a bit like Ian Smith.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah there's been a decent bit of turn. Not expected.

Really? Didn't Harbhajan Singh take us apart at the Basin a few years ago?

I feel like it's been offering turn to those who turn the ball for quite a few years. Just another thing making McCullum's decision even more head-scratching.

Really shocking to me that Bruce Martin is playing in just his second test, the guy is bowling like a seasoned professional. Maybe the finest display of left arm spin I've seen in a very long time.

Rangana Herath is classy IMO.