Eng Test tour of NZ, Feb 16-28

[bigfluffylemon]

Broad might be getting tired now. Jimmy for a last flurry before the close?

[Durhamfootman]

bowled 10 overs straight. Not bad for an 'old man'

[Durhamfootman]

been replaced by Leach. 3 overs only for Anderson

[Durhamfootman]

finished for the day

90 overs bowled, by my reckoning

perhaps the people in the crowd will be asked to pay a supplement for getting a full day's play

[Arthur Crabtree]

If the collapse is aided by the lights, it undermines the credibility of the game too much.

[Durhamfootman]

Day night cricket has never had much credence with me. There are perhaps parts of the world where there isn't a lot of difference between conditions by day and conditions by day, but Blighty is certainly not one of those places... don't know about NZ, but I'm led to believe that there is a fair degree of similarity between the two countries. As far as I can tell D/N test matches just become lotteries.

I understand the idea about making test cricket more accessible to working people, but grounds for test matches in England are usually full and conditions don't suit, so leave it alone, imo

there may be parts of the world where D/N tests are a boon, so concentrate it in those places

[Arthur Crabtree]

Mostly for tv audiences. If you are going to the game, you still need a day off work.

[alfie]

Couldn't watch live today as playing myself ; watched highlights and unsurprised by results. England did exactly as expected , went hard to get the lead over 350 and ensured they could have a bowl under lights ...Broad in one of his magic spells did the rest

I agree day/night cricket does rather distort things , the difference in conditions makes a mess of game plans ...but NZ can have no complaints in this one. They won the toss , but England scored fast , took wickets in the night session , batted with intent when they had to bat under lights and then upped the game later to get the lead they wanted and bowl in optimum conditions. A very good job (almost) done

[bigfluffylemon]

Agreed, alfie. England might have got the better of the night sessions, but they really made their own luck. They batted positively and timed their innings to an extent to ensure they'd be bowling in the best conditions, then just as importantly, their bowlers were good enough to put it in the right areas and make it count, whereas New Zealand's were not, Southee aside.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Shame NZ lost Jamieson, plus Boult no longer available.

[bigfluffylemon]

And Matt Henry

Not sure it would have mattered though. NZ 4 more wickets down in less than an hour. 3 of them tailenders, admittedly, but Jimmy's too good for them today.

Tail wagged in NZ's first innings, but looks as though this will be done before tea.

[bigfluffylemon]

Anderson finishes it.

Hard to believe this is England's first win in NZ for 15 years, or that NZ were world test champs given how far down they've come in the last 18 months.

[Durhamfootman]

another excellent result for England. The ride continues

[meninblue]

Have England got rid of below 30 batting averages specialist test batsmen. I think there were 4 of them averaging between 23 to 30 about two years back.

[bigfluffylemon]

Well, Crawley is still playing, so no.