***Official*** New Zealand in South Africa

[andyc]

Yeah I agree with you there Tazz, Fleming really needed to declare a lot earlier than he did, and if that meant sacrficing the chance of a double or triple hundred, then so be it. Worst case scenario, South Africa comes out and scores more runs, and then the Kiwis just play for a draw. At least it would've given them more chance of winning.

 

[NZTailender]

Styris in at 3. I'll back him for a big score here. Well, big in the time that remains.

 

[Nate]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but everyone here seems to be saying how easy it is to score runs... yet on CricInfo and such, it seems every third ball has been dropped, edged or missed. Prince especially seemed to have missed or edged an extraordinary amount of deliveries.

 

[Nate]

Not to mention the Saffies run-rate was pretty poor for such a large score.

 

[Jono]

Looking at the stats, once Prince gets past 50 he's damn hard to get out...

Haha good point, I noticed that too after stumps on day 4 so decided to have a mini-punt and put $20 on him to score 100 or more (I think he was on 72 at stumps). Paid off. Only paying $1.50 mind you.

He is very solid once he get his eye in and has 40-50+ on the board, but before that he's fairly ordinary.

 

[Dasa]

Haha good point, I noticed that too after stumps on day 4 so decided to have a mini-punt and put $20 on him to score 100 or more (I think he was on 72 at stumps). Paid off. Only paying $1.50 mind you.

He is very solid once he get his eye in and has 40-50+ on the board, but before that he's fairly ordinary.

It's surprising to see how well Prince has done since his recall to the Test side. He played seven Tests upto 2002 for 185 runs @ 16.82. Since he was recalled in 2005, he's made 857 runs @ 50.41. Probably the best apart from Kallis in the South African team.

 

[Natman20]

Well so far there has been a pitch very hard to bat on and then there was one that was almost impossible to get wickets on whats next?

 

[Xuhaib]

Well so far there has been a pitch very hard to bat on and then there was one that was almost impossible to get wickets on whats next?

Something in between which hopefully means an entertaining match.

 

[Xuhaib]

I was wondering what happened to the good ol Daryl Tuffey. I remember him picking awful lot of wickets in his first over, quite a decent bowler.

 

[NZTailender]

I was wondering what happened to the good ol Daryl Tuffey. I remember him picking awful lot of wickets in his first over, quite a decent bowler.

Haha I was just thinking this. I know we haven't got the biggest resources for players but is Chris Martin really one of our best bowlers? At least we don't justify his selection in the side, like we do Vettori. Because justifying Vettori's selection in the side is hard given his average, but justifying Martin's position would be just plain stupid


Here's hoping we have Mills for the third test.

 

[NZTailender]

Styris in at 3. I'll back him for a big score here. Well, big in the time that remains.

50 not out is going to boost his average of over 100 @ number 3.

 

[Loony BoB]

Styris, now having batted at #3 on four occasions, has never been out for less than 100 in that position.

 

[Dick Rockett]

Only paying $1.50 mind you..

Only? That's an excellent return! Most pro betters only bother with odds around $1.10, if that.

 

[Sw1fty]

I was wondering what happened to the good ol Daryl Tuffey. I remember him picking awful lot of wickets in his first over, quite a decent bowler.

Daryl reinjured a bicep injury before the domestic season began last year, and managed to get it right and went down the the academy in Christchurch to play for the Northern Districts second team but only lasted a few overs before the bicep flared up again, so he was going to have surgery on it to fix the problem. He has played some cricket for his club since, but mainly as a batsman.

 

[NZTailender]

You know whats quite odd? NZ batsmen seem to play spin very well, despite NZ not having good spinning conditions at all. Yet they struggle against seam bowlers...

 

[Smudge]

You know whats quite odd? NZ batsmen seem to play spin very well, despite NZ not having good spinning conditions at all. Yet they struggle against seam bowlers...

I think that's a bit simplistic. We struggle against good spin bowling. Warne had it over most of our batsmen for years, while Murali has gone pretty well against us too - bar that series in Sri Lanka when Fleming produced the master class.

In the past, the likes of Abdul Qadir and even (ye gads) Paul Strang and Adam Huckle have spun webs around us.

 

[Dick Rockett]

I think in general, in recent years we've been a heck of a lot better at it. It's probably got a lot to do with all the video analysis and planning they do these days.

 

[Natman20]

Daryl Tuffey and Ian Butler have been playing for Counties and Pukekohe my hometown. They have both been doing well with the bat especially butler. I don't see either of them back in the New Zealand squad either for another couple of years or never.

EDIT: Did well with the bat in the season

 

[shaka]

butler cant bowl at all anymore afaik

 

[Smudge]

He's switched to bowling offies, hasn't he?