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

well done England, well done YJB, well done Matty Potts.

good captaincy from Stokes... positive, agressive captaincy from Stokes. It'll be interesting to see how Stokes approaches a declaration when that situation arises. We've had years of ultra cautious captaincy from Cook and Root, but that looks to be over now. Stokes might turn out to be a bit too gung ho, but hey.... lets ride the wave while we can.

Not in my wildest dreams could I have foreseen a 3-0 whitewash of the world test champions. If we can do this against India in the postponed test as well, South Africa will have a few more decisions to make than perhaps they thought they would. This approach is going to test everyone's nerve this summer

Brilliant isn't it

England are going to have to buff up their playing against spin skills. NZ left themselves short in that dept, really. I doubt India will

Well England made sure neither possible nerves or weather threats interfered with their cause today ! Not to surprising given the NZ pace bowlers had looked pretty cooked last night , and Bracewell is no Ashwin - nor yet a Roston Chase

Even so : that was some extraordinary batting on a fifth day pitch . Bairstow must have been seeing it like a watermelon after his first innings and was totally in command from the moment he took guard - and Root was as reliable - and busy - as ever. A great finish to a series that was arguably closer than 3-0 suggests : there were a fair few sliding doors moments across the three games.

That is actually the most encouraging thing I take from this from an England viewpoint : several times they looked in dire peril (55/6 for one ! But also facing 553, among other instances) ; but while in the recent past they have tended to fold (confidence deficiency ?) they kept rebounding each time and repeatedly turned the game on its head... And different players were part of these efforts so it wasn't just a couple of men having a great series. How the ultra aggressive approach fares over time , we will have to wait and see ;but I'd like to think this new found attitude isn't going to be put back in the bottle any time soon.

Will comment further on players and prospects tomorrow perhaps but just happy to soak this one up for now and enjoy a (relatively) early night...

Anderson and Billings are in the squad for the India Test. Crawley keep his place.

England back to having that long tail again.

Yeah very long tail...and Billings at seven probably not as reliable as Foakes has been lately in support of the top bats. Hopefully the top order can avoid being six out for peanuts this week.

Interesting also to see Stokes saying he deliberately didn't bowl in the last match in order to test his main bowling stocks : guess they came through pretty well ; but it does make me just slightly concerned over the load that has been placed on Broad and Potts with three games in short time , going into a fourth. At least Jimmy has had a nice rest. And Ben is rested too ; though if he bowls in the this one I'd hope he's fixed his radar from last week !

India batting could be vulnerable here : not sure what actual line-up they will put out ; but have a few form worries as well as fitness issues. But I rate their bowling : England might need to dial back the all out assault plan , at least until they're set at the crease.

Feels a bit odd , this one-off Test. Technically finishes last year's series ; but with both side changed massively that seems a bit artificial. But never mind : could still be a very entertaining contest. Hoping for decent weather...

Forecast is pretty iffy today and tomorrow...

Should we move thread for discussion of this game?

probably a good idea