New Zealand in England

[irottev]

I think I should apologize a bit to the NZ side. The pitch really was difficult. If I were England I wouldn't worry. It wasn't a pitch suitable for One Day Cricket. In saying that, it was a closeish finish and a great bowling performance to win it. However boring for 70% of it.

Well done bowlers Kyle Mills and Elliot gave us 50 more runs than I thought we'd get. Brilliant. I'd consider keeping Elliot instead of Flynn once Oram returns. e hasn't put a foot wrong and his bowling is more than handy on these kinds of pitches.

 

[Sureshot]

So because he hasnt gotten out all the Kolpaks he is unleashed on a weak New Zealand side...

What happened to earning your spot, cricket stats dont always show the truth.. but they give you a general idea

That's very hash, Griffo. Wright was the star of last seasons T20 competition and hit some big scores for us in OD Cricket. He has a lot of talent (in all 3 fields), but he is 23. All-rounders aren't expected to start churning out consistent performances till 26/27. Personally (from a Sussex fan), he is better batting at 7 in this England side. As said in my last post, Mustard opening fits the side better.

 

[evertonfan]

I still don't think the pitch was too bad to be honest. Both batting sides just failed to perform. Kyle Mills showed us in his innings that an aggressive approach was what was needed.

 

[Will_NA]

Wow. Almost didn't realise it was England playing until the batting collapse. It wasn't that difficult a pitch in my opinion. England just played poor shots. You got the feeling Bopara was going to get out playing a shot uppishly since he'd been doing that all innings.

That's about all I can be arsed to say. Shoulda killed them off, poor shots, etc. NZ were better but Ebgland weren't battered so they can take heart from that. They just need to drive home their advantage when they get into positions like this. Too often do you see England get a team 50-5 and let them get 170+.

 

[irottev]

Wow, Mills was really creaming the ball. He hits it as good as anyone when he's in. His straight six was gorgeous. Those drives went like a rocket. I guess if he can bat on it, it really does make you wonder why the others couldn't.

 

[Howsie]

That would have to be one of the better ODI's I have seen in a while. Very good watching I thought, it was sought of like test cricket, well the scoring was anyway. England really did botch that game, should of won it by atleast 3-4 wickets. They just seemed to throw there wickets away. Great bowling by Southee, and he showed some good pace for a 19 year old to.

How long is Ambrose going to stay in this England team, in the 10+ innings I've seen him play he has only looked good two times. And like someone said before Wright should bat lower down and Mustard should come back in, Ambrose isn't a finisher.

And why does Collingwood always bowl him self when a team is in trouble, like in the first ODI he bowled and picked up four wickets, someone trying to improve on there own stats.

 

[Griffo]

If he isnt ready why is he in the team! If he does bat at 7 and only gets through 5 overs what is he useful for... Pick players that are in form.

As for your wicketkeeping issue you need to proritise.. do you want a keeper or a batsmen. When Chris Read was down here in Australia I saw him play and thought you finally had a solution to the problem. Its all the Adam Gilchrist and I guess now Brendon McCullum factor where everyone wants one who can do both things well, if you dont have that player dont try and make one

Note: Chris Read gets hundreds against me in ICC all the time... his batting is just fine

 

[angryangy]

And why does Collingwood always bowl him self when a team is in trouble, like in the first ODI he bowled and picked up four wickets, someone trying to improve on there own stats.

Because one day bowling restrictions are tricky; when one more spell means one less option later on, it's always a risk. On a normal day, the two opening bowlers bowl most of their overs by the 20th over; the 1st change may also have bowled half by then. In today's case, Broad had been bowled out completely trying to get wickets. In Broad, Collingwood had already rolled his dice. By the 24th over, he'd bowled Tremlett to 8 overs and Anderson to 6. Whether Tremlett bowled two overs there or two overs later, Collingwood had already taken the risk and he was now left with slow bowling and his least effective pacemen. The slow men did much better and in the end, Swann was arguably wasted, with Wright and Anderson struggling to tackle 9-10-11.

 

[TC Ink]

I still don't think the pitch was too bad to be honest. Both batting sides just failed to perform. Kyle Mills showed us in his innings that an aggressive approach was what was needed.

We get so many good batting pitches these days, as soon as it starts to favour the bowlers a bit more the batsmen get out of sorts. I think we need more games like this, make the batsmen work a bit harder than just going out and racking up 300 without much difficulty. It would sort out the men from the boys anyways.

 

[angryangy]

Even just a pitch that is a little slow, you will find batsmen either get out or get in and stay there. That can obviously lead to a variety of results.

 

[Griffo]

I think the only way to make the ODI more enjoyable is by making bowler friendly pitches, it would be a completely different game to Tests and Twenty20 this way, sure let the twenty20 pitches be flat but giving the bowlers something to work with will create a completely different game

I also do believe Southee will be better than Broad but I think Broad will also very sucessful, i say this because in 5 years time Southee will have to carry an attack and Broad wont (Chaminda Vaas comes to mind)

 

[Sureshot]

They are at different stages as bowlers, Southee is only 19. He's going to be a good bowler in the future, but as Griffo has said, he is likely to be carrying the Kiwi attack. Although Broad could be the spearhead, I doubt he'd 'carry' the team, so to speak.

 

[angryangy]

Both are going to have trouble avoiding over-use

 

[Sureshot]

Given how little Cricket the Kiwi's seem to play, unless that changes, it won't/shouldn't be a problem for Southee. Broad on the other hand, well England do play quite consistently, rarely having long breaks. It's a problem for most players in the world, not just those two.

 

[Howsie]

Sounds like Oram will be playing in the 4th ODI, and he should be fit enough to bat and bowl. This would mean McCullum back to keeper if fit, and Hopkins out.