Are we about to lose to Bangledesh?

2-0 down and 2 to play. Bangles about to set us 250+ . Can we fight back?

2-0 is bad enough, can't even bare to think about losing a series to Bangladesh. Wouldn't surprise me though, look at our team... Redmond, Bennet, Watling... not really any good young players coming through, hoping Williamson can perform.

All out for 241.

We gotta bat yet tho...

Also I should mention that the Black Caps are trying new players and rotating the squad hard so we gotta take it with a small grain of salt. Still, no shame in losing to the Bangas at home these days! They've beaten everyone now.

...not looking for excuses or anything...

Oh fuck. :-/

There are some days I'm glad to be born in New Zealand and there are some days when I wish I hadn't been born in New Zealand...

hmmm,

well it was only a matter of time before the bangas stepped it up to play with the big boys. But I think this was more a case of NZ taking a step down. Does not bode well for NZ world cup chances.

Yup! Some inexplicably poor play throughout this series. Does anyone else think that Grant Elliot is a waste of everyone's fucking time!?



gc.

Quite true what dalai and neil said, epecially at home. But 3-0 probably going to be 4-0 series loss will be pretty bad. Elliot is clearly woefully out of form and there def some signs he wasnt that good to begin with. Watlings demises are excruiatingly obvious the way he consistantly plonks his foot halfway to nowhere ...I m not sure if he is actually an international player either. Cmon you kiwi-safas! .. not to blame yous but we have enough inconsistant mediorce slumpy batsmen tx. I think jamie how will be back in the side very soon

Vettori is also out of form and we are missing a batsman like Styris to shore things up. Stewart doesnt look the goods from what Ive seen. How can we expect to compete when we have 3 actual batsmen? ...and one of thems a bowler and one of thems a keeper! massive hopes for Wliiamson obv

Note: If Taylor didnt manufacter some ridiculous way to get out in 20% of his innings... he would be a legend averaging in the 60's

Taylor has the most insane brain explosions when holding a piece of willow.

Whether you like Ian Smith or not- he raised some very good points.

Right lads... Interested to see everyone's thoughts on just where NZ cricket is actually at right now. Are we in a position to make drastic or wholesale changes? Or do we just consider battling on with more of the same? Well done to Bangladesh, but I'm thoroughly disgusted with that pathetic bunch of losers that went out there and got spanked 4-zip.

I'm pretty much over Brendan McCullum. His hot headedness and awful decision making are the best indicator of our problems at the top. His record is little better than Craig MacMillan, and look at all the stick we used to give him. He was lambasted by all comers, especially towards the end of his career. The time has come for Brendan McCullum to grow the fuck up, I can't even believe that he considers himself capable or proven enough to play solely as a batsman in international cricket.

Dan is out of form with the ball, and maybe with his age I'm not sure he'll ever get it back. We've gotta be realistic and say that he's never going to be a match winner any more. He can hold teams down, but in particular with test cricket it's all too obvious that his lack of turn means that teams can just defend him out of the game. Thankfully his batting has come through - but let's be serious about this, he's a #7 and should not be batting in the top order.

Aside from Vettori our bowling lacks any control, and if you include him then EVERYONE lacks penetration. That's not to speak of our horror show of a top order... So does anyone know where the hope comes from? Do we just sit back and watch our team plummet to the depths of the international rankings?



gc.

well i've been staying for ages that mccullum should stay as keeper and bat down the order... his temperament is not suited to being at the top of the order and he doesn't have what it takes play only as a batsman (besides, NZ needs the extra batsman)

Just quickly ....I think we need to do soemthing aboutte structure of the backroom. dan is doing far too much. Also...I had some dealings with Mr Greatbatch way back when I was involved in cricket, and a more arrogant self serving azzhat you could not hope to meet. jeff Crowe was exactly the same. How the biggest tossers get positions of power is annoying as hell. John Wright = super nice guy and very switched on and has been told he isnt good enough. Figures Paddy has just manipulated his way in there. I have not no time for Justin Vaughn either. As always it starts at the top. Why are we so terrible @ sports admin in this country

anyway...time for a real coach. Fleming could be the go if he actually wants the job, which he prob doesnt given what happened to him

damn...i sound like a bitch

In ODIs, Kyle Mills is still fucking world class bro.

Why does he get carted every time I watch him play then? He wasn't 'world class' enough to any damage against this bloody Bangladesh team was he... Seriously, he might be 'adequate', but he's not going to help us win a World Cup that's for sure.



gc.

Mills is international class for sure but I tend to think "world class" as the elite. Perhaps wrongly. But by my definition we dont have any world class players (like a Ponting or Kallis) with Dan and Ross getting closest

I read recently we had a run of not losing a test series for 12 years like 1980-92 or something . Those were the days, real cricket with real characters. Gutted the way cricket is going with 20/20 and general debacles like Muli and match fixing.The only thing decent about year 2000 cricket imo is the increased technology with decisions and televison. The rest of it sucks and Im pondering switching to baseball

PS I vote we carve India up again and make 2 countries. They have enough batsmen. Would slow down their $ domination too

add to my gripes the demise of Zimbabwe. Wouldnt be suprised to see the same thing happen to South Africa

World class by Vads definition means top 5 in the world.

also, this summer's tours will be good to determine whether india really deserves the #1 test ranking. I don't think south africa deserves it either, but india's away record is too shitty for it to be a legitimate #1.

Well his figures vs/ Bangla in the latest series were...
8 wickets @ 19.50 (not exactly carted)
He also averaged a touch under 30 with the bat

Mills RPO that series was 5.402, which is way too expensive for a medium pacer against inexperienced international batsmen, and of his 8 wickets only 3 were top order batsmen, taken early in the match, the rest were in the latter stages when guys are going for it, so therefore easier to dismiss. Not world class any more imo.
Our problems in that series come from complete inability to be mentally tough when required, catastrophic slot selection by everyone in the top order, arrogance from playing supposed easy beats, our bowlers inabiity to bowl one side of the wicket and a visible lack of ability in playing left arm orthodox, which is ridiculous with us having one of the best ever practitioners of the art as our captain.
Danny's form will improve, he bowled significantly better in the last game, getting his loop and dip back in order. Spins not an issue with him, or any s/l/o bowlers, its all about getting just enough turn to straighten, creating doubt through flight, and clever use of the arm ball.
I seriously believe our batsmen (Ryder, McCullum, Watling, Guptill, Williamson, Taylor) are physically capable of performing at this level, but fuck knows who gets into thier heads, cos thats where the problem lies. How many guys do we have who start there careers with runs and then implode? Fuckin too many thats how many.
We need John Wright. If you can instigate the change that has, in less than a decade, turned India from easybeats out of thier home country to an impressive International force home and away, with a constant stream of quality players knocking on the door, then i have no doubt that getting NZ to our potential is possible.
Agree with the administrative call, the day we lost Martin Sneddon to the rugby fags was an epic day of mourning for all who new and cared.

Average of 19.5 means the most they score is 195 even if they're going at 5.42
you do realise that, right?

no shit Sherlock. You did actually watch the games right? And saw Mills bowl?

It's always the same - he can't bowl after the first 12 overs. His length gets fucking hammered and he can't pull out yorkers nearly often enough. He's a total liability at the death unless he's bowling to total bunnies.



gc.

... and Dan Carter can't win lineout ball
... SBW is a horrible hooker
... Jay Cutler can't punt to save his life

Your point is? Maybe "do what he's WORLD CLASS at, and not what he SUCKS at?"

I saw him take wickets

Argue all you want. A good ball is a ball that gets a wicket. Mills got wickets. Mills got wickets <20 avg.

Mills is far and away our best ODI bowler as his stats show.

Are this career stats better than Dans? I doubt it

He is clearly our best ODI pace bowler and I do love Mills but the reality is just as MarkR said on CGW a few nights ago.....its time we stopped bleating (quite so much) an realised that our players are just_not_very_good.

btw the assertation that one bowlers average = opposition score is far too simplistic a maths calc for a game as complex as cricket. What about the impact of run outs on that stat ( i estimate .8 run outs per innings not sure how accurate that is) OR.... the variation on whose wickets are actually being taken. Removing Ponting at an average of 19 is so much different than a career average of knocking over guys batting 9-11. This is where baseballs stats are superoir cos altho confusing to laymen they really magnify true issues

Only 3 of your 8 wickets taken isn't very good for an opening bowler Vads.

178 wickets at 25 with a 4.7 er
270 wickets at 30.9 and a 4.12 er

Dan. PWNED.

Not really. Dan has 50% more wickets than Mills and goes for .6 an over less as well. Its pretty close though given their respective roles

Just posting to get everyone excited that theres a post in sports to read...

F U IRON_FIST!

heh. Soz. Ok I do have something to say. Anyone see the Biond iunterview this week? What JG said earlier about Sneddon was spot on. I doubt we would have lost Bond for 3 years with Sneds at the helm.

NZC CEO is a position (esp these days) that takes balls and business acumen to avoid being run over. Sneddon has this. JV does not. Anyone can see in TV interviews he does that he's a jellyfish. maybe time to bump up the pay in the role to attract and keep higher quality administrators

Talk of McCullum at #3? http://es.pn/bJYdeY

WHUT



gc.

I wish they would stop pretending McCullum is a batsman. Put him further down the order where he's actually useful to the team.

Big Tour for BC to rpove that what he wants is also what is good for the team

Kane will play tests too which shoud be interesting

Will be another failure for McCullum, and all will continue to be forgiven because there is noone better.



gc.

Lets hope they don't keep "playing like dicks!"

BC is the first person I thought of when Greatbatch made the comment about batsmen thinking they are better than what they actually are.

This might not be so much the case anymore now he has given away the gloves. His spot will come under scrutiny very quickly without signficant runs. Quickfire 20s and 30s will no longer do. Im assuming he knows this and has a plan to approach his batting differently. especially in tests

I think this tour is ideal for us right now, no one expects us to do well vs the side that just pwned Australia so any drawn or (zomg) won tests will be looked apon favourably. Not too sure where the necassary 20 wickets are coming from though lol, there was mutterings about OBrien coming availbale again. Anyone know if the touring side has been named yet?

What has Brendan McCullum done over the entirety of his career that suggests he is even capable of sustaining a 'different approach' to his batting?



gc.

Mills gets his wickets at a faster rate you numpty

You can twist the stats all you like vadz, the numpty one is he who thinks Mills is a better ODI bowler than Vettori




Well nothing really, more wishfull thinking on my part than BM's batting will mature in the face of having to to keep his spot.

I think he, like most wicketkeepers, has a massive ego and totally believes that he's an awesome batsman and that he's an automatic selection gloves or no gloves....

...and he would be right. For the time being anyway

Anyway i dont blame Brendon for "batting like a dick". I blame the century he scored in the inargural Indian T20.

Heres a guy that learnt in one day that scoring a single streaky sloggy century could literally add hundreds of thousands of greenbacks to his annual income. More than he had made in his entire career. How do you expect him to react? If it was me ....every net I went to would be dedicated to trying to replicate the brief flurry of middled slogs. Brendon has clearly been doing the same, yet we expect him to act like a batsman. Its little wonder he is struggling and getting out to brainless heaves

this 20/20 is an ugly artificial beast that is just going to get more and more out of control. I hate it

Don't forget he won T20 batsman of the year (or was it best innings?) at the ICC International Awards just recently for his century against Australia at Chch.

I think his average is better in T20 than any other form iirc.

EPIC SIGH

http://www.cricinfo.com/india-v-new-zealand-2010/content/story/484749.html



gc.

Also from the safa files....Ntini retires

AND that cock smoker Gibbs shows his true form and rags out his mates for smoking a bit of weed on tour in the WI. I cant believe you like that guy *Re-Action* Hes a WORM

huh? Everyone knows they smoked some weed on that tour... what he's done is blame Cullinan for ratting on the pot smokers...

Oh true...I read that report wrong

He's still a nob


http://tvnz.co.nz/cricket-news/outrage-over-gibbs-signing-3814818

Hanse


In brighter news, the ASHES has sneaked up so theres quite a bit of test cricket soon

Obv we play 2 spinners then lose the toss.

Was excited about test cricket but watching Shewag vs Patel isnt much fun, Not sure why we would play Jeets at_all really. Warne averaged 45 in India ....how the hell is a borderline test quality right arm offie going to succeed

If Williamson can sharpen up his bowling, surely Patel's days are numbered? Williamson looks to have much better flight and guile. Heck he just looks like a better bowler already. Seems silly to play Patel as well.

>_<

gc.

Jeets is half the bowler he used to be. Remember when he used to rip it? Yeah... Whatever happened to that?

Good point....was just watching his action and it has changed hugely. Cant really blame him after getting so much stick

Very decent 1st session for us

Collapse!

Didn't watch any of today's play cos flatmates had the TV on lock down. Any chance we could post 300+ and push towards a draw?



gc.

Nope. Our batting sucks.... 69/2 and McIntosh's dismissal was a joke. such incredibly poor technique

Jeez our openers suck, its a crime Cumming wasnt given more tests

I think we can draw this test, assuming the pitch doesnt deterioate and the bounce get dodgy. faith in the Bmc to score 160 tonight

Gah Ryder... Great innings, just what we needed, gets the tonne then loses his wicket on the last ball.

Yeah he's a bit succeptable to brain explosions. Maybe he'll get a massive ton in the 2nd innings.

Can we start a new thread for this tour? This losing to Bang thread needs to be erased from memory.

I'll take 103 and a brain explosion over less than 103. every day

haha its like Auckland settling for a 5 point win over North Harbour. Whatever cranks your tractor bro.

This is awesome! 2 bowlers down and have them 2-3. can we WIn this test?

FKN EXCITE!!!!!!!!

I reckon India can get a bit wobbly under pressure so it's not impossible Maestro :>>>>

15-5!!!

Fuck one dayers, its all about the tests!!!

gogogoggogogogoggogogo!!!!!!!

Come on...

Gotta happen in the first session!



gc,

/leaving work early to catch every ball

Its not like the Indians were taking us lightly either, just awesome fielding and deliveries by Martin! Spinners def need to chip in with a few wickets quickly though. An hour of Harby coiuld just about ruin it!