Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

Arthur Crabtree wrote:According to BBC, NZ have pitched the ball half a metre fuller than England.

That's quite a difference.

and don't forget that A and B are generally bowling a yard fuller than they were a few years ago. Maybe the enforcer bollix is still lingering

England completely outplayed in this series and thoroughly deserve to lose it

Probably also deserve the humiliating nature of the defeat.

From releasing the IPL boys, the replacement selections and the social twaddle, to the woeful batting, the modest bowling and the unbalanced attack, this whole series has been a monumental fcukup of gargantuan proportions

At least there isn't another match for England to try and paper over the cracks with, for once. They've been completely exposed and will have to take a long hard look at their decisions

back to the drawing board

Thank goodness they haven't got to worry about having to face another top side like India, or an overseas Ashes tour any time soon


oh wait!

With two big series coming up, presumably England have been working towards peaking about now. Which they're not, so it's a difficult choice whether to keep faith with players who are failing, or whether to take a chance on new people who they don't have much belief in.

Durhamfootman wrote:England completely outplayed in this series and thoroughly deserve to lose it

Probably also deserve the humiliating nature of the defeat.

From releasing the IPL boys, the replacement selections and the social twaddle, to the woeful batting, the modest bowling and the unbalanced attack, this whole series has been a monumental fcukup of gargantuan proportions

You forgot the fielding!

Worst of all, Captain Steely is back in the commentary box.

Durhamfootman wrote:England completely outplayed in this series and thoroughly deserve to lose it

Probably also deserve the humiliating nature of the defeat.

From releasing the IPL boys, the replacement selections and the social twaddle, to the woeful batting, the modest bowling and the unbalanced attack, this whole series has been a monumental fcukup of gargantuan proportions

Could not agree more. Another Ashes humiliation is on the cards. Somehow despite allegedly spending two years building to this point, they've managed to be just as bad, if not worse, than two years ago.

Broad and Anderson continue to be class, but they can't be expected to keep getting the team out of trouble when they're bowled out for not much. And how often does not picking a spinner actually work, even in England?

Don't think the lack of a spinner had much to do with this debacle...when has Jack Leach ever done much in the first innings of a Test Match ? And obviously there won't be (much of) a second innings to worry about.

Bowling is generally OK. This was a decent batting track , NZ bats play much more soundly in defence than their English counterparts : dismissing them for 380 despite several disappointing fielding lapses was fine. The issue is a batting line-up with only one player of true Test quality , at least at this stage of their careers. And that won't change anytime soon ; even though the mercurial Stokes will certainly add some spirit and probably general confidence to the mix.

NZ are a good team. They are in the WTC on merit , despite the scepticism of some. Not a shock England are losing. But too much messing about with the team ; rest/rotation etc - for whatever arguably good intentions - has come back to bite them. And so the defeat is messier than it ought to be.

Hopefully a bit of a repair job to come against India. Because Root is already looking a bit worn down by responsibility : that second innings was uncharacteristically poor. I certainly don't want to see him wrecked as a batsman! And Silverwood may not survive if we see routs at the hands of India and Australia .

Thinking to be done.

And don't forget that NZ are treating this as a warm up exercise for their main event at Lords, so they're rotating players to give everyone a run out without over taxing them and taking the opportunity to bed in a couple of newbies. And their best player isn't even playing in this match

Makes the England debacle even worse than it already looks

I have no doubt that England will point to a couple of key injuries and the unavailability of others, but every bit of that stemmed from their decision to send the IPL boys over to India in advance of the WT20, despite already having a very strong squad of players for that event anyway

As usual England seem prepared to risk sacrificing test cricket in pursuit of the shiny baubles that they already have excellent chances of winning. Their white ball squads are as good as any other of the nations taking part

Six each for Boult and Henry. Boult had seemed a bit past his best in Tests, and the boat looked to have sailed for Henry, so encouraging returns for them.

TB hasn't taken a 5-for for over two years, but his average has been ok over that time.

POTM will be Henry or Boult I would have thought. Hard to separate them. Maybe Henry for decisively taking control at the top of England's second innings.

Will Young faffing here and he pays the price.

NZ win. Plenty of competition for places in the final.

Doubtless Bracey will now be sent back broken to Gloucester and they'll have to spend the rest of the season trying to get him back to being the player he was when he got called up as a bit of emergency cover with little chance of actually having to play. Fringe players always get sent back broken... it's what England do

I suppose the irony is that England's problem for the last 2 or 3 years is that they've always had too many keepers in the side

perhaps they were just a bit unlucky, really........... or will that not work any more?

How long is it since we've introduced anyone into the side who can actually bat?

Root and Stokes debuted in 2013, and in Stokes' case it took a fair while to reach his potential. Root on the other hand seems to have gone downhill from early highs, but is proven test class.

In eight years, we haven't found a reliable test bat. Not one. Just a revolving door of people who look as though they perhaps could be good enough, but aren't. I hear people speak very highly of Zak Crawley and forecasting he'll have a long England career. As many have pointed out on these boards, one good test innings in 10 games and an FC average of 31 suggest maybe not...