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*Official* New Zealand in England 2015

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Literally every NZ poster on here is, from what I've seen. Hard not to be really, with zero preparation for arguably the four most key players. And in KW's case, he hasn't been getting any game time, let alone in the red ball format.
From my perspective, the most annoying thing about this is the fact that it'll give the anti-England trolls and the brigade of pessimistic over-critical England fans a great excuse to talk about how **** England are regardless of the result.

If England lose, NZ's lack of prep will just add fuel to the fire as they relentlessly bag everyone who didn't perform, pointing out that they lost to a team that had only just got off the plane. If England win, this alliance of baptists and bootleggers will just poo-poo any suggestions of them playing well by pointing to NZ's lack of preparation. Really not much to gain for England on that front, although obviously public opinion is far from the most important thing in the world.

The lack of prep will have an effect, but I do think it's probably being slightly overblown. It's a feature of modern cricket; if you want to win overseas then you need to adapt quickly to the conditions.
 

El Nino

School Boy/Girl Captain
This game is my bread and butter. NZ vs my county side, so I naturally felt the urge to travel half way around the world to be at it.

Annoyingly enough Rutherford did actually look pretty steady at the crease, as opposed to Guptill who got beaten quite a few times by Charlie Morris who bowled really well. I thought they bowled really well, hadnt seen Morris bowl live before and was suitably impressed, debutant Barnard was sharp and lively and Rusell hit great spots for his first 6 or 7 overs before Ronchi gave him a bit of tap, however eventually got his man.

Lathams dismissal was a fairly standard edge, looked like it was jagging around a bit early. Guptill looked okay in patches but a little like he wanted to feel bat on ball too much. Put a short balk from Leach over the fence well and another trademark straight six whick looked nice, but his dismisall was the softest of the day, just a chip to cover. He stood on the wicket for about 20 seconds in disbelief. Taylor was the same player we've seen for the last 12 months, scratchy. Still looks to be having balance issues, hit a couple of nice straight ones but then snicked off attempting a big slash through the covers.

Ronchi got undone by the short ball guiding it to slip, trying to evade it, after looking really good. Quickfire 25 odd, hit through the covers especially well. Was impressed by how the lower order batted, especially Bracewell, Wagner and Craig. All pretty patient but hitting the loose ball, Bracewell played some of the best strokes of the day.

Wheeler was exceptional with the ball, really looked like it was moving around alot, had the measure of Oliver on quite a few occasions. Two good battles at the end of the day made for good viewing; Craig vs the strokeplaying Moeen and Wagner vs Mitchell.

Good days play, Worcester probably having the better day, NZ seamers should be able to make some good inroads with an overcast morning forcast tomorrow.
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year

Wheeler beat the bat ten times in his 30 balls to Oliver ftr. Hitting the unlucky length a lot.
 
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Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Cook, Lyth, Ballance, Ali, Stokes (Broad and Anderson).

So it turns out Hesson's craftiest third seamer pick, to nip it away down the Lord's slope to all their LHBs, and to create more footmarks for Craig as an added Moneyball fringe benefit is .....Wheeler!

 

Goughy

Hall of Fame Member

Wheeler beat the bat ten times in his 30 balls to Oliver ftr. Hitting the unlucky length a lot.
He is intentionally pulling the bat inside most of those. I'll give you, maybe, a couple of played and misses in that lot.
 

Raffski

School Boy/Girl Captain
Really looking forward to this series, expecting it to be close and perhaps dominated by the bowlers. Imo the key will be Williamson- remove him early and in seaming conditions and England would have a good chance of taking control.

Would like to see Wood picked ahead of Jordan- as good a slip fielder as he is he's not been good enough with the ball and will always be limited by his run up
 

Days of Grace

International Captain
The aim for tomorrow will be to give Taylor and Anderson some substantial time in the middle. Latham is a bit of a worry, but he's got enough credit to hold onto one of the opener's spots. The third seamer battle is very intriguing. Wagner did himself a huge favor on day 3. Is there a worry that Wheeler and Henry lose some of their effectiveness after the new ball?
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Was Wagner bowling with as much control as his figures suggest?
No, he wasn't.


He wasn't as bad as that compilation suggests either, but it's safe to say Worcs aren't the most macho batting side in the world, and a lot of Wagner's bouncers were too short for anyone in the world to have a go at.
 

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
No, he wasn't.


He wasn't as bad as that compilation suggests either, but it's safe to say Worcs aren't the most macho batting side in the world, and a lot of Wagner's bouncers were too short for anyone in the world to have a go at.
Nah some of those could've been played at. Maybe they read up on Wagner and his plan of drawing batsmen into top edges.
 

Bahnz

Hall of Fame Member
The aim for tomorrow will be to give Taylor and Anderson some substantial time in the middle. Latham is a bit of a worry, but he's got enough credit to hold onto one of the opener's spots. The third seamer battle is very intriguing. Wagner did himself a huge favor on day 3. Is there a worry that Wheeler and Henry lose some of their effectiveness after the new ball?
That's always been the worry about Henry. Would still probably have him ahead of Wagner though.
 

FBU

International Debutant
England haven't played for three weeks. They will be a bit rusty. Only Ali is getting match practice.
 

Kippax

Cricketer Of The Year
Is there a worry that Wheeler and Henry lose some of their effectiveness after the new ball?
Yeah the tightness of Wheeler's pitch map (even with the new ball) has plenty of room for improvement. Edgar did say one of the reasons he impressed him enough to get a chance on this tour though was because he saw him reverse swinging the older ball. There he is last night with a 45-over old Duke -

 

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