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***Official*** New Zealand in England series 2013
- Thread starter NZTailender
- Start date
theegyptian
International Vice-Captain
**** man did you think that joke up on your own. much more fun when stokes is batting at 6 and you can complain about a kiwi playing for england.
England would make a good IPL team, but they'd only be aloud 4 foreigners!
the big bambino
International Captain
As many Indians as they like though.
Cabinet96
Global Moderator
So an extra one to the three (and seriously, if we're classing people that grew up here and had grandparents playing for England as foreigners we're really pushing it) that will play in the first test?
That's nice. Who do we get?
Adders
Cricketer Of The Year
Haha, good one Einstein, but since you ask, yes we do.......and a fine No6 he'd be at that. Matthew Prior.
Don't let the fact that he moved to England at age 11 and has played all of his cricket there stop you either.
But back to the topic of the thread. England may not have yet resolved the troublesome No 6 position but IMO the options are looking are lot more healthy than they were 2 or 3 years ago.
Since Collingwood they have messed around with; Morgan, Patel, Bairstow, Bopara and Taylor with little success from any of them. I know it is still very early to make this call but the most comfortable player I've seen in the position and the one that just "feels" right so far is Joe Root. And I do know I say that despite 1 good test match in India followed by 3 poor ones in NZ........but I do see a lot of potential in this lad.
But the main advantage we have now that we really didn't have after the retirement of Colly is that Matty Prior is currently more than good enough to move up the order and make the No6 his own.......finding a No7 is now a much easier prospect with several viable candidates and gives us the real option of fielding 5 bowlers again.......an option I love but doesn't seem to fit with Flowers plans.
Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Unless we're playing in India that would be zero.
As many Indians as they like though.
hendrix
Hall of Fame Member
Liked what I saw from Root.
The real question for England is whether they can sort their bowlers out. Finn looked like Ishant Sharma.
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grecian
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
harsh.ag
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
That's not ***ing me.Hey, I thought he bowled poorly, but that's ****ing harsh
Flem274*
123/5
the big bambino
International Captain
Finn is more than capable. For all of the premature hailing of Australia's fast bowling talent we'd be happy to have him on our side.
theegyptian
International Vice-Captain
I don't really agree with this. Whatever you think of Broad, Anderson and Swann they are all solid international performers. Whoeveer gets the fourth spot (and finn was trash in nz) they're gonna be a decent bowler. Bresnan, Finn, Onions, Tremlett- they all average 32 or less in test cricket- and they're all back playing. I'm not too worried about the bowling. I feel in this case it will fall into place rather nicely. None of the bowlers are great but they're all experienced in english conditions and in test cricket.
The batting for me is the worry. There are question marks over 3 of the top 7. Compton will open with Cook but is average. KP is a crock and major worry. And finally whoever goes 6 isn't ready for international cricket. Root, Bairstow, Taylor none are really ready and are been forced to play too early imo but needs must.
I don't have high hopes for Compton, Root and whoever replaces KP against NZ and possibly AUS, and for this reason there is an added pressure on Cook, Trott, Bell and Prior. They have got to perform or we could lose to both NZ and AUS.
Adders
Cricketer Of The Year
Blimey mate......bit early for panic stations
Don't get me wrong, I know this English team has a way to go and I'm certainly not attempting to elevate them to a level where they are not........but I don't think I'm overstating them as a side when I say they are considerably stronger than both our test opponents this summer. If we lose at home in either of these series it will be a massive underachievement and well, extremely disappointing.
As for Compton and Root, this comes down to opinion I suppose as to what we see in them...... personally I'm very comfortable with both in the side and think the two of them have the potential to become very good cricketers. Performances to date have certainly been mixed though and only time will tell which of us have got them pegged right.
BeeGee
International Captain
The loss of KP is a big blow, but I think the chances of you losing the series against NZ are virtually nil. Barring wash outs, I expect 2-0 to England. England just seemed off their game for the NZ tour (for whatever reason), but I expect they will have put that behind them now.
Root and Compton will find it much easier in familiar batting conditions.
And any concerns you have over England's batting pale in comparison to Australia's current batting woes.