*Official* Australia tour of New Zealand Feb-Mar 2024

[Bahnz]

With the way this morning is going we can now look forward to SP scoring an arsey 40

 

[SteveNZ]

Sounds like Lyon has been superb this morning. He really has done some great work since the India series.

At least there will be no great victory to spare NZ. Drive the sword home into the underperforming good old boys rapist including team.

He's been exactly as he generally is. Turns it one way, gets good bounce...but he's not drifting it, nothing is spitting or running underground, it shouldn't be insurmountable.

 

[Dick Rockett]

How NZC and the Provinces recruit for governance and leadership positions is to always look at ex-players or people from within the system.

Which is a dodgy tactic given that pro athletes are simply not very intelligent. We're a long way from the likes of David Kirk or Jeremy Coney representing their country and even back then it was hardly an array of shining minds in the dressing room.

 

[King Kane]

Sounds like Lyon has been superb this morning. He really has done some great work since the India series.

At least there will be no great victory to spare NZ. Drive the sword home into the underperforming good old boys rapist including team.

I wouldn't say Lyon has been superb this morning, it's been more bad batting from us than great bowling from him that contributed to the 3 wickets.

 

[Skyliner]

How NZC and the Provinces recruit for governance and leadership positions is to always look at ex-players or people from within the system. Totally agree that people from in the system need to be in there, but they need some people with other views to be in the mix too IMO.

Those people with other views could include people with expertise in the necessity of change, and how to implement change. Sticking with the status quo for too long will result in staleness in any organisation; fresh voices & fresh ideas bring new energy and new ways of looking at things, and generate renewal within the set-up.

 

[Meridio]

100% this. We are a reasonably skilled team that is not well led and is not going anywhere near delivering on its potential because we don't prepare well enough.

Dumb cricket really, really pisses me off. Unlike basically any other sport, in cricket you have time to think, and captains who actually have the ability to influence the game through tactical thinking. It's not like football or rugby or whatever where everything happens quickly, it's a series of discrete events where patterns emerge and plans can be enacted.

There's this cliche that always floats around (mostly courtesy international media tbf) that NZ only succeed because of some vague 'smart cricket' guff but it does us a disservice, we have a talented team that lacks clear direction. And it's very obvious why we fall to pieces against Australia, you can see it in the media and the commentary and the fans and former players - they get totally caught up in the anti Australia ****, suddenly all the terrible jokes about sandpaper/the underarm appear, they bring up rugby at every opportunity, every bad umpiring decision that ever went against us, all real or perceived slights made in our direction by any Australian who's ever lived. And the inferiority complex kicks in and we can't function.

 

[Dick Rockett]

You have to give Lyon some credit - you don't take 500+ test wickets at 30 bowling offspin in Australia without being pretty decent.

This isn't on the level of our capitulation to Phil Tufnell, or any of a plethora of other no-name spinners to visit these shores and humiliate us.

 

[Bahnz]

I wouldn't say Lyon has been superb this morning, it's been more bad batting from us than great bowling from him that contributed to the 3 wickets.

Think you're selling Lyon a little short here. Yeah Rachin's dismissal was weak, but Blundell was a classic Lyon dismissal, using overspin to generate awkward bounce from a good length. Then GP's dismissal was a consequence of all the good balls that came before it - worried about the bounce and going back to a ball that he should've gotten forward to.

 

[SteveNZ]

I wouldn't say Lyon has been superb this morning, it's been more bad batting from us than great bowling from him that contributed to the 3 wickets.

I feel like the Phillips one was well bowled - flatter, knowing GP likes to play back. Blundell was in the right area, but yeah nothing deadly...and the Rachin one was just a plan that worked because the young guy wasn't smart enough or experienced enough to combat it.

So yeah, he's a superb bowler but he's only been as good as he generally is today, not incredibly good or unplayable

 

[_Ed_]

It'll probably be enough to keep his place in the XI, too.

 

[Burgey]

I wouldn't say Lyon has been superb this morning, it's been more bad batting from us than great bowling from him that contributed to the 3 wickets.

I was going to pop in this morning and comment on the tone of a few posts from yesterday which are in a similar tone to this one, namely “if everything bad which happened to nz in the test hadn’t happened then they would have won.” We had all reasons this is totally on nz and nothing to do with aus, and it’s crap.

“oh they dropped some catches, oh we bowled badly at this point, oh we batted badly at the start of our first innings.”

Spare us this ****. They won the toss and had the best of it on a sporting pitch and the Aus batting is as fragile as I’ve seen it since the late era Clarke captaincy. The difference is the Aus bowlers typically give you nothing. Lyon has had a great game - runs and wickets. Despite Green’s ton he should be MOTM easily. The quicks have been on the money as well.

Both sides turn up to have a crack. The idea nz have somehow thrown this away is laughable, especially given the way Aus batted yesterday.

They’ve copped a job in’. End of.

 

[GotSpin]

Carey keeping like his batting

 

[Burgey]

@Burgey can you sort these ****s out plz

Yeah enough of this **** ffs. Diabolical. Morgie tbf is often pessimistic, but come on fellas ffs

 

[SteveNZ]

Carey keeping like his batting

It's incredible that of a generation inspired by Gilly, that this guy is considered the best of them in 2024

 

[Bahnz]

Hate to admit it bit SP has had the best plan to Lyon of any of our batsmen this morning. Get as far forward as possible to smoother the bounce, leave anything shorter and if you're going to play anything on the leg stump line just try and moose it.

 

[Burgey]

Which is a dodgy tactic given that pro athletes are simply not very intelligent

Fmd what a stereotype.

 

[morgieb]

Well about ****ing time.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Hate to admit it bit SP has had the best plan to Lyon of any of our batsmen this morning. Get as far forward as possible to smoother the bounce, leave anything shorter and if you're going to play anything on the leg stump line just try and moose it.

lol

 

[_Ed_]

Good riddance.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Fmd what a stereotype.

I stand by it.