*Official* New Zealand in England 2015

[kiwiviktor81]

Superb batting from Cook, I thought we bowled well to him yesterday but his judgment on when to leave was outstanding. He was leaving balls from Boult that pitched on off counting on them moving away or bouncing over the wicket.

 

[Hurricane]

i don't think we were patient enough with our plans to cook.
Boult went wide of the crease for two balls and caused him trouble then gave up on the ideA.
At other times we attacked his stumps and then gave up.
Even if we had just bowled it outside off stump maybe after an hour of dot balls he would have broken down and slashed at one. Either way he wouldn't have scored.

@bahnz I am on my phone and don't want to chew up bandwidth looking at a YouTube clip but I presume it is his 300. You are right of course
I guess after witnessing his first inning knock I am wondering if his temperament has altered.
In the first inning he was batting at run a ball and then decided he was too slow.
Perhaps he did that because it was seaming around and he thought make hay while it shines but it didn't seem to be a test match inning.

 

[NZTailender]

It's been a pretty even game overall. When our bowlers have dismissed all or most of England's top order, Root and Stokes have turned it around. When it looked as though we'd go through and make 600+ plus, England's bowlers turned it around. At this stage, the most appropriate outcome would be a draw.

I think England should look at carefully adding 60-70 in the morning session, get a few overs at NZ before lunch and set a target of 350-360 in 70 theoretical overs. Baz would take it on, I think, and we're still not immune to spectacular batting collapses. I wouldn't necessarily open with Baz either, ftr, and the only case for doing so would be to relieve a tired Latham of the role. Having him down the order able to finish off a big run chase or steer us away from collapse would be more beneficial than having 70 (40) and relying on Williamson, Taylor, Anderson and a one legged Watling to get the runs in quick-time. Guptill can be a dasher, and I think we should let the top order get a bulk of the runs rather than go with the temptation of a Baz special to obliterate the game our way. Sure, that's the biggest gamble and the one way that seems most likely to give NZ a win 'given how they play' but there's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Brilliant from Cook, Root and Stokes. Hat's off.

That is a disgusting apostrophe.

 

[Hurricane]

That is a disgusting apostrophe.

Maybe it is deliberate. Might be short for hat is off as Hendrix grudgingly felt like only doffing his own hat.

 

[SteveNZ]

That is a disgusting apostrophe.

Either that or he didn't want to type 'My hat is off' ?

 

[Hurricane]

two comments

1 how exactly did England lose to Sri Lanka ? They have been quite impressive in this match

2 Ben stokes will always be an inconsistent player. Some series he will look awesome if you let him play well and in other series if you stick to rigid plans for him he will get caught behind quite regularly. Does look impressive on the hook shot however.

 

[Bahnz]

two comments

1 how exactly did England lose to Sri Lanka ? They have been quite impressive in this match

2 Ben stokes will always be an inconsistent player. Some series he will look awesome if you let him play well and in other series if you stick to rigid plans for him he will get caught behind quite regularly. Does look impressive on the hook shot however.

If memory serves, Jayawardene, Sangakkara and Matthews were all in god mode for pretty much the entire series, and the pitches were extremely dry and slow so that Herath was able to play a part. But a huge element of it was England just still being shell shocked in the wake of the ashes and as a result their batting fell to bits as soon as they came under pressure.

 

[hendrix]

That is a disgusting apostrophe.

no, my hat is off.

I cannot and will not speak for everyone else.

 

[Bahnz]

@bahnz I am on my phone and don't want to chew up bandwidth looking at a YouTube clip but I presume it is his 300. You are right of course
I guess after witnessing his first inning knock I am wondering if his temperament has altered.
In the first inning he was batting at run a ball and then decided he was too slow.
Perhaps he did that because it was seaming around and he thought make hay while it shines but it didn't seem to be a test match inning.

I worry about this too. It's struck me that ever since he scored that admittedly jaw-dropping 200 v Pakistan, he's kind've decided that he's not going to bother with playing like a proper test batsman - which is a shame because he showed in that series v India last year that he certainly can play that way.

 

[straw man]

Slightly disappointing scorecard but you gotta give credit to the english. We bowled our arses off in the first session, on a different day against two different batsmen we could've been running through them. But Cook and Root produced some of the best defensive batting I've seen. Inevitably, we couldn't quite maintain it since Craig was especially disappointing.

This pretty much sums it up for me. Southee and Boult may not have been at their absolute best but they were pretty good and so was Henry, but Root and Cook batted very well. Didn't see Stokes innings but sounds very good - also shows that Southee in particular is quite hittable if batsmen have the ability and courage to target him, which I think we'll see more batsmen doing in test cricket in the future.

Agree with those saying Cook's going to want to bat until NZ chasing the runs is not achievable. And in calculating 'achievable' they'll probably over-account for McCullum, making it even more defensive. So that leaves us to bat out the day.

 

[Bahnz]

This pretty much sums it up for me. Southee and Boult may not have been at their absolute best but they were pretty good and so was Henry, but Root and Cook batted very well. Didn't see Stokes innings but sounds very good - also shows that Southee in particular is quite hittable if batsmen have the ability and courage to target him, which I think we'll see more batsmen doing in test cricket in the future.

Agree with those saying Cook's going to want to bat until NZ chasing the runs is not achievable. And in calculating 'achievable' they'll probably over-account for McCullum, making it even more defensive. So that leaves us to bat out the day.

Very true and I think this is currently Southee's biggest weakness as a test bowler. I remember when Gayle went after Southee in last year's test series in WI, and when it came off, Southee's line and length completely fell apart. Same was true during the World Cup qf and final.

 

[Stapel]

About Cook's declaration: It won't come before lunch. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I really can't see him taking too mnay risks. In his defense (if he indeed refuses to declare), it can be said that if only 4 wickets fall on the 4th day, it's probably still good to bat on the 5th day.

Ben stokes will always be an inconsistent player. Some series he will look awesome if you let him play well and in other series if you stick to rigid plans for him he will get caught behind quite regularly. Does look impressive on the hook shot however.

A bit harsh, not? He's quite young.

 

[Jono]

Typical Lords track fellas? Or any chance of some deterioration? Eng a sniff?

 

[Howe_zat]

Typical Lords track fellas? Or any chance of some deterioration? Eng a sniff?

There were a handful of balls that misbehaved yesterday. For the most part it's still a pretty true wicket but that just means the swing more important. There's been plenty of that every morning.

People still underestimate how hard it is to chase good totals on day 5 too.

 

[Jono]

Thanks.

Fmd if eng win this it's all time great win material.

 

[Hurricane]

A bit harsh, not? He's quite young.

He isn't tight enough outside off stump. He is not compact in his approach.

He also has career number 6 written all over him, so he probably won't get much exposure higher up the order to play innings that value that style of play (Compact) more highly so hence I doubt he will learn it.

Apologies if harsh - all early career assessments of players are overly judgemental and are partly provided just as entertainment value and conversation starters.

 

[Hurricane]

Thanks.

Fmd if eng win this it's all time great win material.

I am counting on the spectre of McCullum delaying Cook's declaration long enough that England won't have enough time to bowl us out.

In some ways England have played with more determination than us in this test so they deserve to have the upper hand. I think in hindsight, that they had a point to prove after Westpac.

 

[Antihippy]

I think in hindsight, that they had a point to prove after Westpac.

Didn't get good enough interest rates?

 

[Shady Slim]

not happy to see england do this but hopefully they're using all their luck pre-ashes