1st Test New Zealand v England

[ack]

All of this countries teams are press led,take the bring back Beckham headlines,he too old to offer anything in future championships,but the papers hail him.Rugby is another 1,who cares if we lose a few tests or six nations,lets buld a team for the next world cup,as Clive W did when he took charge,and I still believe Ashton is trying to do.
Banner headlines on every English defeat whatever the sport dont help anyone.

 

[vulture]

nz 470 allout

 

[Stumpy Tim]

England's obsession with Harmison baffles me. He was the weakest of the Ashes 05 bowlers, and has been GASH ever since. He's been living on a good year he had when we beat the WIndies home & away a few years back.

England need to rebuild their bowling attack in truth. Sidebottom is a toiler but he's not going to bring England back to the 2005 levels, and even Hoggard seems now to be going through the motions

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Disagree with you re Hoggard and Sidebottom. They have been England's best two bowlers over the last 2 seasons. Problem is when you get a flat wicket like the one in Hamilton, and the swing disappears they look a bit military. You then need that bit of guile or pace that someone like Murali, Warne or Lee gives you.

I am also running out of patience with Harmy. He has all the skills, but every series he comes into he is under-cooked or carrying an injury. Surely he is on his last chance on this tour. I would give Broad a go in the next test instead of Harmison and that also gives our tail a bit of a better look.

As for the batsmen, I don't see anything wrong with that top 6 they have at present. Bell is class and needs to start scoring big hundreds, and Collingwood has shown he cuts it at test cricket.

 

[sten_super]

Disagree with you re Hoggard and Sidebottom. They have been England's best two bowlers over the last 2 seasons. Problem is when you get a flat wicket like the one in Hamilton, and the swing disappears they look a bit military. You then need that bit of guile or pace that someone like Murali, Warne or Lee gives you.

I am also running out of patience with Harmy. He has all the skills, but every series he comes into he is under-cooked or carrying an injury. Surely he is on his last chance on this tour. I would give Broad a go in the next test instead of Harmison and that also gives our tail a bit of a better look.

As for the batsmen, I don't see anything wrong with that top 6 they have at present. Bell is class and needs to start scoring big hundreds, and Collingwood has shown he cuts it at test cricket.

I agree that Hoggard and Sidebottom have been englands most consistent bowlers. However, you can't play them both in the same side unless you are 100% SURE that the pitch will swing. I'm not sure about Anderson, he is wildly inconsistent, but he may be worth a go instead of a (not-match-fit) Hoggard, who has struggled. And Broad for Harmison is a complete no-brainer. I don't understand why Harmison gets picked for tour after tour.

There also needs to be more pressure on the batsmen. Ian Bell is frustrating to watch; he seems to get a few runs, and then get out by lofting to cover. I'm sure he gets himself out far more than he gets out to a decent ball. I think there are problems in other areas as well though, there is no pressure for places if someone has a poor run (unless you are the wicketkeeper!).

The fundamental problem it seems to me is the central contracts. When they came in they were supposed to represent more stability, and more competition in that players would compete for the contracts. What has actually happened is that the board can decide who to give contracts to, the 'jobs for the boys' attitude has continued at contract level (see the awarding of contracts to Strauss and Harmison) and then there is pressure to pick these players, as they are on central contracts. Where is the sense in that?

 

[Seagull over NZ]

Can't disagree really about the central contracts other than to say when we beat the Aussies in 2005 they were lauded as great things as it protected them from ijury etc. Strauss has shown he is test quality so in my opinion its right that he gets the nod. Feel for Shah a bit but I am happy with that top 6 batting order.

With regards to Broad, I may yet be proved wrong but I'm still not quite convinced.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Hopefully the next two tests. Will have a decent pitch, because this one in Hamilton is absolutely diabolical.

 

[sten_super]

Can't disagree really about the central contracts other than to say when we beat the Aussies in 2005 they were lauded as great things as it protected them from ijury etc. Strauss has shown he is test quality so in my opinion its right that he gets the nod. Feel for Shah a bit but I am happy with that top 6 batting order.

With regards to Broad, I may yet be proved wrong but I'm still not quite convinced.

They are great when used properly; they do protect players, and they can provide an incentive to players on the county scene to perform. But there are clear double-standards being used. Prior wasn't given a contract, and told to go and prove himself (on tour or playing for Sussex). Harmison was given a contract, despite having at least as much (if not more) to choose. What example does that give to young bowlers on the county scene? Get a contract, and then you can be as shit as you want because you'll keep the contract? Is that the attitude we want to engender in our system?

I think Broad will get better with age. The reason I said him for Harmison is a no-brainer is because the only spare bowlers we brought on tour were him and Anderson!

 

[Pavilionaire]

England have a lack of test-quality bowlers. Without Freddie and Jones we look pretty ordinary. Harmison's form is poor and has been for some time, so he needs to be dropped for either Broad or Anderson.

I'm pretty happy with the batting. It's not often you get a high scoring draw these days but it looks like we'll have one here.

 

[Seagull over NZ]

The Hamilton wicket is very placid - a few years ago they were producing wickets that ended up with the game only lasting 3 days so they got their test status revoked. So they've gone the other way. Only England playing badly now can really force a result in this game. Not sure Wellington will be much better, it'll be low and slow, its not really a swinging ground as its normally quite windy. And then lastly there's Napiewhich will have more pace but is like a road.

 

[Beach Hut]

Day 3 and England 113/2

 

[Beach Hut]

Bollox Vaughan out 63 130/3

 

[Beach Hut]

159/3 at lunch

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Disagree with you re Hoggard and Sidebottom. They have been England's best two bowlers over the last 2 seasons. Problem is when you get a flat wicket like the one in Hamilton, and the swing disappears they look a bit military. You then need that bit of guile or pace that someone like Murali, Warne or Lee gives you.

I am also running out of patience with Harmy. He has all the skills, but every series he comes into he is under-cooked or carrying an injury. Surely he is on his last chance on this tour. I would give Broad a go in the next test instead of Harmison and that also gives our tail a bit of a better look.

As for the batsmen, I don't see anything wrong with that top 6 they have at present. Bell is class and needs to start scoring big hundreds, and Collingwood has shown he cuts it at test cricket.

I'm not saying either are bad bowlers, but I just think we need to reshape our attack. As you say, they're currently our best two leading pace bowlers and that's a real shame. What Fletcher did we he took over was look for lads who could grow into great bowlers. He took a chance on players like Harmison, Tudor, Jones, Schofield, Hoggard, Flintoff and more. Not all turned into great bowlers but he picked lads with potential. Turning to Sidebottom smacks of desperation to me.

The biggest worry to me about Moores has been that the team changes too much... It's well known that in the Ashes 2005 Collingwood played the last game, and he was the first change in the team that series. Changing Prior was a horrendour decision in my opinion - he had one bad day against Sri Lanka, but is definitely the batsman/keeper England have been looking for. Dropping him was rubbish.

Broad has to play, and not be expected to win us games. He needs to learn his trade in test cricket

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Hopefully the next two tests. Will have a decent pitch, because this one in Hamilton is absolutely diabolical.

Why exactly is it diabolical?

 

[ack]

Its the same pitch for both teams,ok it may wear but the guru's that look at it before 1st day play should be able to advise on the bowling lineup over 5 days.

 

[pasty]

Bell gone now. 203/5.

 

[Pevenseagull]

Why exactly is it diabolical?

indeed

Home side posting 1st innings 470 over 5 sessions is a good start to a series, we appear to be f***ing it up a bit, watched a bit earlier and Vetorri & Oram were making our batsman look very silly. Nice to see KP play conservative after his magnificent early 6, need these two to stick about.

 

[Pevenseagull]

oh dear