Black Caps summer 2010.

Im much more worreied about our bowling than our batting, at least with our batting we can see some potential. With our bowling its like we just have toi wait another 10 years or so for the next Hadlee/Bond to arrive. Oh...and hope this genius isnt injured all the time

Yak .If You want.....you can just ship me n gummi $25 now and $25 after the next test. I mean..... If that helps with your budgeting an stufft

Nothing positive to be taken from that bowling performance dude. It was woeful. Agree with Maestro though, at least some our batsmen have potential to grow into decent cricketers.

Our bowling just isn't up to international level. And though noone likes to admit it, it STARTS with the lack of pace. There is no point picking anyone who bowls under 130kph consistently - it is simply cannon fodder for these guys. Tuffey is *nearly* an exception because he gets more bounce than most due to being so tall, but even then he's hardly threatening.

What's the scope on Andy McKay's injury? He might get smashed around a bit, but can't be any worse than the crap we dished up throughout this test.



gc.

Ya Guptill, Ross etc. are pretty good and seem at home in test cricket.

But what the fuck is Ingram doing in the test team? I actually cringe when I see him bat

Skippy in for the next test for mine. I'm no great fan, but he's there so might as well pick him - otherwise it was pointless even bothering to put him in the squad.

Ingram has proven what we all suspected before he got picked, that he's not up to international level either. A dirty slogger with decent enough hand-eye to eek ahead of the myriad of medium pacers in our domestic comp. You cannot play 140kph+ batting like that. It's laughable. Even Skippy's feet move more than that!



gc.

Granted, I didn't actually watch any of the test first-hand, but have been following it on cricinfo and from that perspective it seems like you're being a bit harsh. Looked like good bowling from Tuffey on Day 1, Arnel was looking good etc. Aussie are clearly way better, so you can't just look at results and say we did shit. It's about how well we did compared with how well we're supposed to do.

Obviously agree with the lack of pace, but eh, what can you do. We don't spend the money/resources that the Aussies do in breeding em so we gotta make do with what we got.

Maestro, please to be dying in a fire cheers. I'll collect the $50 from your estate

Ummm, that's exactly what I can do. This is test cricket - one hour of accurate bowling on the first day does not mean we played well IMO.



gc.

That's not what I said? I didn't say "we played well". I said there were positive elements to the game. There were things we did well..

We bowled well for one session, when we had them at 4/180-odd but after that we were pretty much ineffectual. This is test cricket, you need to maintain that discipline for 5 days. We've just never been able to do that.

We're going to struggle to replace Tuffey. If they call up Michael Mason I'm not even going to bother watching a single ball of the test. They might be tempted to go for an extra spinner though. *ahem* Not to go on and on about something but this would be a great time to call up Kane Williamson. He's a solid spinner in the Michael Clarke mold as well as a solid batsman. Not that they'll do it however. The last thing selectors like to do is admit when they're wrong and they've already said they won't be picking him this season.

My point is that one session of accurate bowling is not a 'positive' - we should, and do, expect much more from ourselves. One session of 'ok' bowling is not even a par performance, thus not a 'positive' for mine. We could at least make up for our lack of talent by being consistent and/or mentally tough.

The biggest joke of all is Chris Martin IMO. I just wish he'd retire - but as mentioned our bowling stocks are desperate anyhow.

Can't believe I'm asking this - but when is Kyle Mills due back?



gc.

Not till the T20 World Cup I think. Even then, he's not that effective in tests either. Just another 130kph plodder and his genuine outswing is nullified by the lack of pressure built up by limited overs.

Still better than Mason and co mate



gc.

Yet he SLAUGHTERED NZ's quickest bowler?

]http://www.cricinfo.com/nzdomestic-09/engine/match/428947.html

Vettori: "the intent was there but the actions weren't" (deadpan)

you don't say mate

fuck he speaks some crap

Fuck. Vadz would be better than Mason and co.

Your point?



gc.

"you cannot play 140kmph bowling like that"

yet he did?

140+

Lulz one time. Ever heard the word 'fluke'?



gc.

Williamson is in.

Yyyyyeah! Crazy...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10634012



gc.

I'm going to take that as the Black Caps intending to play three pace bowlers and two spinners, with Williamson perfered as the second spin option over Patel, and adding an extra batsman.

Sinclair has to come in for Ingram, and our plan for this test will be to try and bat time and hope for a draw.

Such a weird batting lineup then though.

6. Williamson
7. Vettori
8. McCullum

??

Surely we can't just have sacrificial lambs at the top and then have our strongest batsmen coming in when we're 5/6 down.



gc.

Green pitch. No KW imo (and likely from cricinfo story).

Jimmy the Frank in the squad - likely to get picked, I think. As much as I don't like it, he's a much better option than Mason or any of the other trundlers around... at least he has *some* experience at test level and can hold the bat @ 8.

Interesting to see cricinfo says Williamson would bat at 6, just like I said. Seems a pretty crazy batting lineup imo. What are everyone's thoughts on Macca hanging up the gloves and trying to make a name for himself as top order bat?



gc.

why dont they just gamle on KW.

watling
mcintosh
williamson
taylor
guptill
mccullum
vettori
franklin
arnel
southee
martin

it must be better to try something new then put sinclair out again, whos shown hes not the best aganist quality bowlers and they surely cant play patel over KW.

should be an interesting lineup either way

Negative.

KW is not a top 3 bat. Not domestically and certainly not against Bollinger and (the unpredictable) Johnson. Despite the apparent stupidity we'd be better of with McCullum at 3, or (and let's get this straight I'm not legitimately suggesting this) having Taylor at 3, Guppy 4 and JF at 5 - with Williamson at 6.

Not sure why attempted such a coherent response to your nonsense, given my drunken state. You've listed Macca above Vettori and Arnel above Southee.

You might as well pick Neil Broom!



gc.

williamson scored 192 batting at 3

and lets compare his batting at 3 to anyother position,

@ #3 - 16, 6, 93, 170, 192, 33, 29

Anywhere else - 2, 18, 2, 15, 6*

now im not sure if wokring out cricket is exactly the same as normal averages but if it is.

@ #3 - avg 77
Anywhere else - avg 8.6

thats also just 2009/2010

His 192 was actually at #4. Albeit it with a nightwatchman, but none the less listed and batted at 4.

So it's actually 57 vs 51.

Still ultimately he's a middle order bat and that's where he has played most of his cricket.



gc.

Urgh I get so fucken frustrated with people that want to swap and change all the fucken time. NZ cricket need to have some consistancy and have the best people in the places where they belong and fit the rest in around them.

Taylor needs to be @ #3 and Guptil needs to be at #4 DV needs to move into #6 with Macca at #7 and then the rest needs to fit in around that.

Agree. Best bat should be at 3 - I think the main reason it isn't like that atm is because our top 3 is so fragile. If we had a half decent opening combo it wouldn't be such a drama.



gc.

LOL @ Shane warne....anyone noticed how awesomely the Indian conditions are showing up the huge amount of botox he has clearly had?/ His face looks like a giant shiny tomato! Vain git

cricinfo headlines really annoy me sometimes

"Vettori at home in 100th test - Captain wants to celebrate with a win".

The amount of times they just state the bleedin' obvious is getting out of control

Aussies usually start bats lower e.g. Ponting, M.Hussey and M.Clarke all started at 6 I believe

Yep. Punter & Clarke were def down the order. Clarke scored 150 on debut too. Pretty sure Hussey opened on test debut. Heh.



gc.

When was the last time we had OZ 205/8ish in a test? 1990? 2005?

Awesome Southee

Great day in the park for the Black Caps so far. Very interested to see how we bat - let's hope we wrap up this last wicket quickly and Southee gets his 5.



gc.

I did my best to put the mockers on our bet with yak gummi S Sorry bout that

Watson is LBW but referrs and survives, now he is unleasing hell on our spinners, This game needs to change and fast or there will be only 1 possible result. ga,me is too advnaced to be a draw without rain

Well, it has changed. Watson and Ponting out in the space of a couple of overs.

Just after I post Southee removes his enemy Watson and everyone elses enemy Ponting This is gonna be a great day for watching cricket

I still think NZ have blown it by not getting at least a 100 run lead on the 1st innings.

Can we please drop Chris Martin?

- We will get more wickets from the replacement bowler
- Our tailenders will hang around more adding an average of 20 runs per innings
- The replacement might score runs themselves.
- Won't be as many missfields
- Won't be as many dropped catches.

I know he's not in the team for his batting, but his skill level is just a joke. Over him.

Yeah his time seems to have come in a hurry. he was a decent trier in his day but age has blunted his small edge,that 6 overthrows he just let through was awful, he looked like he was 70 getting down to it

Few quick wickets here and we are right back in it

Resorting to bowling Skippy....

Double breakthrough! Katich and Hussey gone.

Maybe it will get interesting again?

World record chase coming up ...

Solid start!

classic maestro jinx on my part!

i cant believe we didnt get a decent lead, we should be chasing 350

Got a 5th of the runs required and have lost a 5th of our wickets. We're on target for a win!!!

jinxed!

Nah, we're sweet. Sinclair is going to score 200+ ...with Martin facing 50 balls without scoring tomorrow afternoon as we secure the win.

jinxed!!! lol

Maybe Guptil or McCullum could get a century and maybe make this look slightly respectable.

Wow how close was the Vettori decision!?



gc.

SOUTHEE :O

MARTIN Cover drives Johnson for 4!

The sky is falling!

Looking at the body language of Martin when he cover drove Johnson for 4...I think he will announce his retirement after this series. i think he has had enough

I think we've all had enough

Not "black caps" news, but whatever:

http://www.cricinfo.com/ipl2010/engine/current/match/419137.html

Fuck I wish could see that innings.
127 off 56, featuring *eleven* sixes
Epic.

I watched the highlights of that match today. It was some pretty impressive hitting.

Watched the whole innings.

Fkn epic. Bout time Vijay did something tbh, he's been touted as a prodigy for ages. But yeah that was magic... he pulled Tait in front of square about 88m! Then casually guided him over 3rd man a short time later. Morkel batted really well too and only sacrificed his wicked trying to rotate the strike amidst an insane barrage of 6s.

Royals only came 20 runs short too... Great game of T20.



gc.

LOL

http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/454749.html



sounds pretty retarded imo

Hate the changing of runs awarded idea. I also hate Steve Waugh so I'll take the chance to call him a retard

The bigger seam is interesting. Im assuming a bigger seam means more swing/cut. Perhaps there is a place for a more lively ball in those tests where both teams score 500 in the 1st innings on a road and only true cricket tragics are interested