2nd Test - England v New Zealand (May 29 - June 2)

[Aidan11]

Well this is looking a lot worse than an hour ago.

Ballance must be on borrowed time now.

A rare failure from Root too.

Who's next in line, James Taylor, or will Hales be given a go?

I'm guessing Taylor but either could get the nod.

[Durhamfootman]

I imagine that England must be feeling a bit disappointed losing so many wickets after the huge opening partnership. Depending on how the morning goes tomorrow, they might not even end up with a lead.

Excellent to see Lyth get his maiden test century, but by golly, he didn't half ride his luck a bit. Still.... when it's your day, it's your day.

Also good to see Cook continue his form, and to break Gooch's record. He could easily have another 5 years at test level, and end up scoring 12,000 runs.

I think the NZ bowlers generally outbowled the England bowlers, but had very little luck. Unfortunate that Ballance ran Lyth out, because that seemed to spark the change in NZ fortunes. Judging by the highlights, Broad bowled some utter filth this morning. Odd that he can bowl garbage and pick up a 5fer one day, while on another day he'll bowl much better and pick up nothing

[backfootpunch]

Well this is looking a lot worse than an hour ago.

Ballance must be on borrowed time now.

A rare failure from Root too.

Who's next in line, James Taylor, or will Hales be given a go?

I'm guessing Taylor but either could get the nod.

im not sure how a guy with 4 hundreds in his first 12 tests and an average over 50 can be on borrowed time

he should at the very least be given the ashes series

[dan08]

Well this is looking a lot worse than an hour ago.

Ballance must be on borrowed time now.

A rare failure from Root too.

Who's next in line, James Taylor, or will Hales be given a go?

I'm guessing Taylor but either could get the nod.

im not sure how a guy with 4 hundreds in his first 12 tests and an average over 50 can be on borrowed time

he should at the very least be given the ashes series

[meninblue]

Gary averages 55 in 12 tests. 4 * 100 and 5 * 50 in 21 innings. What more does an inexperienced player at international level needs to average

[alfie]

It is very quiet on this , isn't it ? To be honest I haven't been commenting here mainly because there seems so little enthusiasm for the match - despite the highly entertaining cricket the teams have been playing in this all too brief series. And seeing several regular posters openly affecting to support NZ due to disapproval of the English team management has left me a little bemused ; though I guess opposition is a more positive approach than mere indifference...

I am surprised people are calling for Ballance's head already. True he has looked out of sorts - but only for three innings ! I think he's earned a little more credit than that ! As many have said , these NZ bowlers are no mugs.
That said , his struggles are a little concerning with an Ashes Series fast approaching. The technical issues which have always been evident despite his fine early Test record were sure to be most highlighted by top class pace bowling ; so he does need to adapt his game to succeed in this and the next two series . Time will show if he can do so or not ; but I think he should be given some.

This match is intriguingly poised. At one stage England looked set to bat NZ out of the game - 250 for two or three would have set up a likely 500 by late Sunday ; but those late wickets have changed all that , with England now deprived of two of their most likely sources of quick runs , and also faced with a serious battle to face down the rest of the new(ish) ball attack and somehow achieve any sort of a lead. You wouldn't think any lead they can now hope for will be significant in any case , so the second NZ innings is of paramount importance.
NZ for their part will be keen to push on as quickly as possible when they do bat , in view of likely weather disruptions. So Cook will need to strike the right balance between attack and discretion in the field . I never expected to say this , but I wonder if England might not have been better served on Friday afternoon with some slightly more defensive settings against Ronchi once he got "in" . Not complaining , mind ; I was pleased to see the attacking approach , which will usually be correct more often than not. And so I should also make clear , I am not advocating England should be looking to seek a draw ; just that there may be times against McCullum's NZ where a little defence may constitute the best form of attack. Let them overreach , then counter attack...
Must offer congratulations to Cook on the record. Not the most exciting batsman to grace the game ; but 8900 runs prove the man can bat. And he has come through a fair amount of personal pressure to get there , so
I hope he will go on for a few years yet , with or without the added cares of captaincy. No question England need his batting.

[meninblue]

Every cricketer has had technical issues or weakness. Ponting against spin , Sehwag with non existing footwork, Saurav was very weak on leg side and short pitched ones, Sachin against in cutters (Aaqib,Hansie), Rahul with tendency to fall early in innings. No wonder Gary too has weakness. Also every cricketer has flops series between the good ones. Good players are those who manage to cover up that by making up the runs when they get set by converting starts into 50's and 100's. The strengths should be stronger than weakness as seen with other high averaging players. Ultimately what matters at end of the career is how many runs they are scoring, how much they average. Any player with that sort of performance in 13 tests deserves to be one of the first few names in the team, rather than deserving to be dropped.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Ballance does deserve his place in the Ashes but number three in the lineup is such a critical position and traditionally occupied by your best player. If Ballance were to continue to be a walking wicket then if one of the opening pair fails early in his innings then not alot for two could become a regular score for England in the Ashes.

[Aidan11]

It's not so much Ballance's average that's the problem, it's his technique.

Not sure what he was doing yesterday but everything was all wrong with him when he lost his wicket.

[braveneutral]

Yorkshire Tea hoardings subliminally messaging me.

[backfootpunch]

It's not so much Ballance's average that's the problem, it's his technique.

Not sure what he was doing yesterday but everything was all wrong with him when he lost his wicket.

Cook has a rubbish technique and he's had a half decent career

[meninblue]

It's not so much Ballance's average that's the problem, it's his technique.

Not sure what he was doing yesterday but everything was all wrong with him when he lost his wicket.

In Gary's case it is difficult to spot what he lacks severely in technique. He imo is well equipped technically, although on some days one needs better concentration to ensure that the technique the batsman has is implemented right from the first ball and thereafter ball after ball. It could be that concentration or something else (good bowling other influencing factors) made him look like struggle in some innings as it happened even to Rahul in some matches. But he has the technique and temperament, patience, value for wicket characteristic imo. It can be seen in the way he builds some innings in short career. On the back foot he is excellent square of the wicket. On the front foot his knees do not bend as much, but he does has decent enough footwork on front foot as well imo. Against spin he can be analysed properly when he plays full session bowled by spinners from both ends on spin friendly wickets. The willingness to give himself more time to settle at start of the innings is a very good sign to build up a long test innings. This along with good temperament and better patience seem to be his strength which is helping him fight it out when batting and average 55. Overall i feel he is very well equipped to play the role of a number 3 batsman. Indeed in some innings he will be clueless and struggle but every player has struggled in some innings/matches in career.Not even great Bradman could avoid the low scores so who else can. Some failures have to be ignored for every cricketer. With an average of 55 he looks to be a very good find result wise as well as other abilities required for a number 3 imo.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Where's the rain?!

[ddb]

England's tail gonna bail them out here.

[backfootpunch]

Bell didn't even give himself a chance

In this situation should have had a look for a couple of overs