Commonwealth Bank Series

[aussie1st]

Yes, they really hurt without those key players down the order. What is the eta on their returns? They've all been injured for a very long time.

Mills was playing a State game last I heard, but all 3 should be back for Adelaide.
Nothing wrong with Marshall (well I don't think) he is just out of form.

If you look at the players they are missing they are all vital to NZ.
Mills - One of the best bowlers in the Champions trophy also decent hitter.
Oram - Gets very good bounce with his bowling and is a decent striker of the ball.
Styris - Adds more stability to the middle order and can bowl a few.

 

[Mars Maximus]

:happy Woohooooo :happy great win to the great Aussie team! I admit I thought we were gonna get a run for our money when Talyor was at the crease. Glad it was a colapse in the end lol. Great batting, bowling, and fielding from the great Australian team! :cool:

 

[Dr.Cricket]

New Zealand were a real let down in the last ten overs when the Aussies
were batting, except the hat-trick - which really didn't mean anything as
it was to little to late.

It was good to see Ross Taylor stick in there for a while,
otherwise the Kiwi's could have struggled to get past a mere 100
and suffered an even bigger thrashing then the Poms have been getting.

When those 7 wickets fell for just 23, that made some of England's collapses
look medicore. The Kiwi's never really turned up for a fight today, they seemed
to throw a few good punches for a while, but they lacked talent to keep it up
and deliver a knockout blow.

Losing by 105 runs chasing 289 in a ODI is very poor and I personally
expected more from our old foes across the Tasman. Maybe they'll have
better luck when we play them in NZ, but it doesn't look good.

England vs' New Zealand should (I'm wishing) be a beauty to watch.
I'm going with the Kiwis to win that match. England seem to much of
a one man team in ODI's, and that one man isn't playing.

Oh yeah... Is there any news on Taylors' injury?

 

[langerrox]

Who is excusing who?

cricketmad likes to hear that we are the best over and over again, he takes no prisoners so you better give in angryangy...

 

[Sando]

If you look at the players they are missing they are all vital to NZ.
Mills - One of the best bowlers in the Champions trophy also decent hitter.
Oram - Gets very good bounce with his bowling and is a decent striker of the ball.
Styris - Adds more stability to the middle order and can bowl a few.

McGrath - one of the finest bowlers ever.
Lee - arguably the best ODI bowler in the world since the last world cup
Watson - handy runs, would strengthen the lower order and provide better bowling than White.

I'm not a big fan of Watson, but the Aussies had 3 guys that if fit would have been selected for the match, so NZ have no excuses.

And talk about perception being reality, I'm tired of hearing 'the Kiwi's always raise their game against the Aussies' and things of the like. From around the 99/2000 season...

ODI's
Head to Head
AUS 18
NZ 7

Head to Head Trophies
AUS 3
NZ 0
DRAW 1

International Trophies both were part of
AUS 3 (99 & 03 WC, 06 CT)

Three of NZ's wins came in that 01/02 VB Series when the Aussies failed to make the final (SAF beat NZ), so other than that there has been virtually no resistance.

They haven't won a trophy in a series AUS has been apart of in at least 7 years (probably more if you go back further). In that period they have won less than 25% of their matces against AUS, in a form of the game where anyone can win on their day and the toss can sometimes prove decisive. I'm sure some will say they've played AUS tough, but aside from the fact that the margins of victory don't bear this out, why in sport (which is about winning) would you applaud competitiveness. I suppose if your goal is mediocrity then fair enough, but who strives for that in elite sports (plus 25% is below mediocre)


Tests
Head to Head
AUS 7
NZ 0
DRAW 5

Series Trophies
AUS 3
NZ 0
DRAWN 1

Again, what is being aspired to. Yes it was a good effort to draw the series on Aussie soil in 01/02 (though the elements were the decisive factor), but not only have they failed to win a series in over 7 years, but FAILED TO WIN A SINGLE MATCH.

I'm not denigrating NZ, I like the Kiwi's and Bond is one of my favourite players in the world, but I guess I'm a little tired of this monumental myth that seems to resurface in the media prior to the two teams facing off that it is a keenly fought rivalry. I suppose you could say they are subjective terms, but to my mind, winning 25% of the games and 0% of the trophies in ODI's and 0% of the games and 0% of the trophies in almost an 8 year period does not amount to a close contest, and a rivalry involves more than one team winning.

 

[Dr.Cricket]

If all that info you posted is correct, then geez,
those Kiwis' haven't learnt a darn thing from us.
Slow learners me thinks...

 

[IloveGilly]

If all that info you posted is correct, then geez,
those Kiwis' haven't learnt a darn thing from us.
Slow learners me thinks...

You sure have a thing for trying to flame other countries, don't you?

Just because Australia are a dominant side doesn't mean other sides suck.

 

[Dr.Cricket]

Wasn't flaming, just an obvious observation... learn the difference.
Furthermore, my comment was aimed at their Cricket, not their nation.
I know it's not obvious in that post, but maybe you should ask before
jumping the gun and trying to be a hero.

The poms can and have learnt from us, and they are
over 10,000km's away. The Kiwis' are right next door.
Kiwis' play good Rugby League and superb Union because
of our long standing rivalry and close proximity. They should be
able to do the same in Cricket, but strangely don't.
If the Kiwis don't take Cricket as seriously as us Aussies do,
then ofcourse they will naturally be slower to advance in it,
and that justifies my earlier comment of being slow learners.

 

[evertonfan]

England and New Zealand don't suck. We are both very good sides who are being outclassed by the best.

 

[IloveGilly]

It was just my opinion on how I've been seeing your comments on this current series and your negativity towards other teams and biased at times, but if that's how you see it then fine.

And thanks for your "negative" rep.

 

[Dr.Cricket]

Ofcourse I'm biased at times, who in this world of ours isn't?
It just so happens I'm more biased when it comes to sports,
and that bias doesn't always swing Australias way either.

When England won the Ashes in 2005, I was caning the Aussies for
their performance and praising England for theirs, and there's fewer
countries I dislike more then England, funnily half my family are poms.

So given Australias current performances,
is it wrong for me to praise Australia? - No, they deserve it.
Is it wrong of me to bag England & NZ's performances? - No, they deserve it.
However, according to you, it is wrong. Maybe I should go hunting for
some of your posts and see if you have ever bagged another teams
performances, if you have, it would make you look like a real bigot, wouldn't it,
but I'm not going to bother looking, on a Cricket forum it's certain that you have.

 

[irottev]

Anyone who watches todays game would have seen that we can compete. But it's competing for 100 overs which is the current problem. We had a few poor overs early on, thanks to Franklin mainly who was unfortonatly under the weather. We recovered well from that, and whilst Vettori's figures look average, he was the bowler of the day. Fantastic performance. He was unlucky not to have White and that may have changed things a lot. Maybe 1-30 instead of what he finished with.

We were actualy really unlucky to lose Astle. When an umpire goes and gives the other team a wicket like that so early, it really does change the entire innings. He was very unlucky, and we have had our fair share of bad decisions against us lately. McCullum got out too, which will happe. Bracken is a top ODI bowler (And with the comparisons between Bond and Bracken, they both are great ODI bowlers and are simular, but you are tested in the test matches. I thought Bond was quite lucky to end with 4 wickets today, he wasn't bowling that well. He will improve though. He was quick which is good signs.).

But yeah, when we were 3-130 odd, I thought we were in a fantastic position after Fleming and especially Taylor played fantastic. Then once Fleming went out the wickets tumbled. I hope Taylor is alright, you got the feeling he was just going for the boundaries and ended up edging it. Gutsy innings.

Australia were too good, their bowling as a whole was average, but their batting to pull the game back at the end really set the target 20 runs extra then I expected. Makes a big psychological difference. Then that run out from Clarke summed it up. They don't miss out in any chances, they take everything. That was a freakish run-out. One of the best I have seen.

I think we exposed the Aussies spinners and Clark to an extent.

Anyway, there were positives to take away, it's one game of four against the Aussies and beating England shouldn't be difficult. I think we have some of the best ODI bowlers in cricket. Mills, Bond, Gillespie, Vettori, Oram sounds very strong to me. We just need to field them all together and we have arguably the best (at least top 2) all-round bowling attack around. The batting is what lets us down.

The argument with us having players out through injury, yeah it's no excuse, all three teams do. But us and England don't have players like Hilfenhaus who we can just bring out and have perform straight away. Or White. We don't have that luxary, so we need those players to challenge.

Aussies deserved victory and though the result says 105 or so run win, we played a bit better then that I felt.

 

[IloveGilly]

Makes me think this series is too long. Certainly if NZ can maintain there wickets and play a steady innings then they will be able to chase down/post some high scores. The bowling looked good to at times.

And btw Dr.Cricket I actually think that I haven't bagged any other team. I respect all teams and I don't mind/care if you do find anything because I usually only give my view on the team and not bags them.

 

[Mars Maximus]

lol will the New Zealanders bowl like this on Tuesday -



Haha anyways, now it's the Aussies time to shine, just like it was the West Indies in the past etc. Nothing lasts forever, so let's enjoy it while it lasts. I'm looking forward to the NZ Eng match alot. I always love the one day matchs here between the touring parties

 

[mattfb]

I Would love to see the kiwis hammer the pommies, love watching Freddies sad face at the end of the matches, it will be weird seeibg him with a smile