*Official** New Zealand in England

[SpaceMonkey]

Richardson's 100m race is starting to become quite famous..he's now 1 win (Kaneria) & 2 losses (McKenzie & Giles)

Let me get this right...he LOST a 100m race to Pie-Man Giles?

Was there a Pie Shop at the end of the track or something?

 

[Loony BoB]

so what's the verdict re Fleming as an option for Opener?????

do we persist with him & open up the batting options for the likes of Sinclair / Fulton / Vincent / Marshall at #3,

or do we look to keep Flem at #3 but still look to have Fulton & Co at #4, with Styris moving to #5 & Astle #6?????

Richardson
Papps
Fleming
Astle
Styris
McMillan/replacement
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Tuffey
Bond

We don't need another opener unless we try (try) Taylor over Papps - we need a "specialist middle order batsman" for when McMillan isn't playing well. Marshall would be an interesting prospect, I guess... but we'll see how things go. Oh, that team I just listed is my ideal fit'n'form team of the moment. Not sure on Tuffey but I'd give him one more chance when he's truely fit again. Either way, we'd still bat down to Franklin (and we know Tuffey can hit a few fours), and a nice bowling attack to boot, with Tuffey and Styris going 80mph, Franklin giving the swing (if he can keep that up, I'll love it), Bond the speed and Vettori the spin. Not bad, really.

 

[_Ed_]

Can somebody tell me the history and reasoning behind Richardson's 100m races?

Is he trying out for New Zealand's Olympic team?

It started with a race between the Auckland cricket team's two slowest runners, Mark Richardson and Aaron Barnes, and I think Richardson may have won that, and enjoyed the thrill of it so much he has challenged the slowest runner of each international team he has played against this season to a 100m race.

 

[twctopcat]

Let me get this right...he LOST a 100m race to Pie-Man Giles?

Was there a Pie Shop at the end of the track or something?

Giles has the physique of Linford Christie i'll have you know. He's a dark horse when it comes to athletics (pig, make that dark pig).

 

[tooextracool]

Richardson
Papps
Fleming
Astle
Styris
McMillan/replacement
McCullum
Vettori
Franklin
Tuffey
Bond

care to explain why oram isnt in the side?

 

[tooextracool]

Giles has the physique of Linford Christie i'll have you know. He's a dark horse when it comes to athletics (pig, make that dark pig).

lets leave the pig as brad williams

 

[Loony BoB]

care to explain why oram isnt in the side?

Oh, bugger, I knew I was forgetting someone! Thanks. In that case:

Richardson
Papps
Fleming
Astle
Styris
McCullum
Oram
Vettori
Franklin
Tuffey
Bond

Sorted.

 

[Loony BoB]

Brilliant. It's little "bits on the side" like this that really make cricket so much more fun than it would be without the real characters that play it.

 

[superkingdave]

Richardson even dressed up in an all-in-one suit like Marion Jones! Apparently Giles might not be the slowest in the england side, but i don't know who would be slower - Tresco? Hoggard?

 

[twctopcat]

Richardson even dressed up in an all-in-one suit like Marion Jones! Apparently Giles might not be the slowest in the england side, but i don't know who would be slower - Tresco? Hoggard?

Hoggard?? Give the guy some credit. I know he isn't the fastest bowler in the world but he can run from the looks of his run up. Not far off with regards to tres though.

 

[Piper]

Hoggard?? Give the guy some credit. I know he isn't the fastest bowler in the world but he can run from the looks of his run up. Not far off with regards to tres though.

Yeah Hoggard can run, but i wouldn't fancy him stopping a boundary!

 

[superkingdave]

Hoggard might be ok over 20m in his run-up, but i seriously doubt his 100m ability

 

[anzac]

Oh, bugger, I knew I was forgetting someone! Thanks. In that case:

Richardson
Papps
Fleming
Astle
Styris
McCullum
Oram
Vettori
Franklin
Tuffey
Bond

Sorted.

ok so I take it you're not fussed with Fleming as an Opener, and would go with a 5-1-1-4 mix...........

 

[Neil Pickup]

ok so I take it you're not fussed with Fleming as an Opener, and would go with a 5-1-1-4 mix...........

5-1-1-4 works for us!

 

[anzac]

5-1-1-4 works for us!

yep and it's better than 5-1-2-3...............but I was thinking of 6-1-1-3 regarding the frailties of the NZL batting (providing that you have genuine 'strike' bowling options) - I don't think that just replacing McMillan will solve the problems in the middle order re batting collapses...............

 

[Loony BoB]

yep and it's better than 5-1-2-3...............but I was thinking of 6-1-1-3 regarding the frailties of the NZL batting (providing that you have genuine 'strike' bowling options) - I don't think that just replacing McMillan will solve the problems in the middle order re batting collapses...............

None of the 6-1-1-3 for me, given how much our bowlers suffered. In this series, it was our bowlers, not our batsmen, that truely let us down. Surely you saw that! I don't think one extra bastman will help us immediately, either. And to be honest, I don't care about specialist batsmen when McCullum, Vettori and Oram all have averages worthy of any specialist batsmen that might come into the squad.

Oh, and Adams as 12th man - he took 6-14 in his latest league game...

 

[Tim]

I was really disappointed with Adams after the 3rd England test at Auckland. He played the match with plenty of fire, bowled quick & got some nasty bounce off the pitch..but since then he has completely lost the plot.

He started WC 2003 so well after taking 4/20 odd against The West Indies..but im sure what followed in the rest of the tournament affected him very badly.
I've always maintained that if Adams managed to find his rhythm again, i'd pick him because he's competitive, bowls quick & likes to hit the deck hard.

 

[Loony BoB]

I was really disappointed with Adams after the 3rd England test at Auckland. He played the match with plenty of fire, bowled quick & got some nasty bounce off the pitch..but since then he has completely lost the plot.

He started WC 2003 so well after taking 4/20 odd against The West Indies..but im sure what followed in the rest of the tournament affected him very badly.
I've always maintained that if Adams managed to find his rhythm again, i'd pick him because he's competitive, bowls quick & likes to hit the deck hard.

He's very firey. I love firey players. And I do believe that, until he can mature his pace a bit better, he's more suited to test matches than ODI's because he seems to try to overdo it in ODI's, and his bowling suffers. In test matches he seems to be a little smarter with how he works things. I think he suffers from the "You only have ten overs" pressure quite a bit in ODI's.

 

[marc71178]

And to be honest, I don't care about specialist batsmen when McCullum, Vettori and Oram all have averages worthy of any specialist batsmen that might come into the squad.

But will these numbers last as their careers continue - with a specialist bat they are much more likely to.

 

[Loony BoB]

But will these numbers last as their careers continue - with a specialist bat they are much more likely to.

Only time will tell. At the moment, though, there's no reason to make any changes until those averages do come down too far for NZ's comfort, and for that reason my ideal NZ team stays as stated.