One rule of thumb about declarations is that they typically come about an hour after all the commentators and analysts think it ought to have come.
Agree with the 'out of form' assessment. If none of England's top 5 can get a century on this pitch, something's very wrong. Don't ever count on Bethell to get more than 10 in the first innings. Brook needs to rediscover the form that got him elevated to no. 1 batter in the world; it seems once he got that ranking, his head went to pieces and he started thinking he was superman.
In an unexpected twist to a cancelled match this Sunday, ot looks as though I will be playing at Cheltenham College on Sunday! Oxon over-50s friendly 3rd XI, or some such.
<cough, cough> No declaration as NZ lose 6 wickets for only 46 runs. Followed by Duckett amassing 113 and Bethell still batting with 74. <cough, cough>
<cough, cough> No declaration as NZ lose 6 wickets for only 46 runs. Followed by Duckett amassing 113 and Bethell still batting with 74. <cough, cough>
That is quite a fight back, but Emilio Gay, one of England’s openers who has looked pretty good so far, got out to a poor shot. That can be forgiven as opening the innings is always risky, doubly so in England where the ball simply moves more early on. England have scored at nearly 5 runs per over, which is in accordance with their high-risk strategy.
Who knows, maybe Bethell will get a first innings hundred!
Am not watching any more cricket. Three of our principal batsmen, including the two well set from yesterday, are already out and we have subsided from 224-2 to 235-5.
In the hope of invoking the opposite of commentator's curse, I expect Stokes' poor Test form with the bat to continue, Brook will throw his wicket away and the tail was collapse like a house of cards in a gale.
In the hope of invoking the opposite of commentator's curse, I expect Stokes' poor Test form with the bat to continue, Brook will throw his wicket away and the tail was collapse like a house of cards in a gale.
I suppose Atkinson and Archer put up some resistance until Archer got a brute. Mind you, New Zealand’s out cricket was very good.
For some reason our bowlers didn’t get the same response from the pitch: some but not enough, and we need to roll New Zealand over quite early to stand a chance.
I did say I wondered what Stokes would do after his suspension and my opinion is that Stokes retirement from international cricket is not unconnected. He’s delivered a heck of a lot with huge expectations and at times he has been treated appallingly by the establishment. Had he gone to a Good School, things might have been different.
Taking that wicket the very moment the news was announced is pure Stokes.
Well, I really did play at Cheltenham College today. I did OK too - I would have had former Gloucs player Dom Hewson out stumped had the square leg umpire actually been watching.
In our innings I made 33 (my equal best ever score) of a partnership of 94 for the 6th wicket but frustratingly got out with 3 overs to go, and we couldn't quite get across the line.
Still a good fun game though.
The rest of the cricket world has been pretty lively today as well, what with India losing to Ireland *again*, Australia's women knocking India out of the T20 World Cup, and all the shenanigans at Trent Bridge.
'Well, I really did play at Cheltenham College today. I did OK too - I would have had former Gloucs player Dom Hewson out stumped had the square leg umpire actually been watching.
In our innings I made 33 (my equal best ever score) of a partnership of 94 for the 6th wicket but frustratingly got out with 3 overs to go, and we couldn't quite get across the line.
Still a good fun game though'.
Surely this lovely posting shd. be in the 'Thanks and Praise thread'? It certainly raised my spirits. Which they need. I fear the worst today.
The England second innings was very odd. A sort of two-fingers to the anti-Bazball naysayers in solidarity with Stokes. But he has clearly inspired immense loyalty and achieved some tremendous things as player and captain.
At some point, they do need to address the preference for prospects over form. If you expect your middle order to be the driving powerhouse of your scoring, then England's just didn't motor. The core middle order was Bethell, Brook, Root, Smith and Stokes. Between them, they batted in 26 innings and not one of them achieved a single century. I'll let Bethell off for that one low bounce he got, but that 5 had a sum batting average of just 121.3 in the series. Compare that to New Zealand's middle 5 of Phillips, Nicholls, Mitchell, Ravindra and Blundell, they had a sum average of 213.4 between them, including 3 centuries.
The trouble is, where they have picked on form, they haven't always lived up to it at Test level. Josh Tongue was great for Notts last season and deserved his call up. After a strong start to his Test career, this series saw him take just 8 wickets at an average of 50 runs per wicket; severely sub-par.
Of the players who played more than 1 Test, I think only Duckett can hold his head up as having had a half decent series, though if I were him, I'd still be muttering curses to Emilio Gay about that run out.
I thought Tongue looked quite good and might have taken more wickets. I think the correct bowling attack is Archer - Atkinson - Robinson - Tongue in that order with occasional spin from Bethell and Root. Bashir does not look good enough sadly.
The "wicketkeeper up to the stumps against fast bowling" idea is interesting but I think requires a better keeper than Smith to work for England.
With Stokes retiring that leaves a batting spot up for grabs. How about giving Dan Lawrence another go - he's in form?
Duckett
Gay
Bethell
Root
Brook
Lawrence
Smith
Atkinson
Robinson
Archer
Tongue
If Robinson can get fit then he must be an automatic selection, Mark Wood still seems to be injured which is disappointing.
Four fast/fast-medium bowlers might be found wanting on a good wicket so I’d like to see Rehan Ahmed add variety and better batting than Bashir.
Oh, and Ben Foakes as ‘keeper.
I agree with the idea of Foakes as wicketkeeper, as you need your best person behind the stumps. It's just daft that he went and injured himself by bowling a few weeks ago.
Smith is not up to standard and his batting suffers when he is keeping. To be honest, I've not forgiven him for holing out to that filthy Labuschagne long hop in the Ashes.
Am still keen on James Rew as a batter in the team, but again, his keeping was found wanting.
Neither Rehan Ahmed nor Shoaib Bashir are currently Test-class spinners. There is only one thing England could do if they truly think it is essential to play a specialist spinner, which is "persuade Adil Rashid to return to Test cricket". He is the only English spinner clearly good enough to be in the England Test squad for his bowling alone.
I thought the New Zealand bowling attack was first class and the reason why they won.
Test Match batting is a different challenge compared with limited overs cricket. Aggressive batsmen can make a lot of money in the IPL playing short games in two short months. I think it’s good to watch but not in any way a comparable skill to Test batting.
I’ve got a feeling Stokes will offer his services to the IPL next year and probably get snapped up for a small fortune. Kohli is still going strong in that format
@Barnabas62 , I agree, Brook will get the job. Despite his brain farts he is the only player certain of his place.
In addition to Test match batting being different to limited over batting, first-class, ie, county cricket is nothing like it either. One or two bowlers may be class performers but most will not be near test level, so one can block the better bowlers and make hay again the others
Comments
Agree with the 'out of form' assessment. If none of England's top 5 can get a century on this pitch, something's very wrong. Don't ever count on Bethell to get more than 10 in the first innings. Brook needs to rediscover the form that got him elevated to no. 1 batter in the world; it seems once he got that ranking, his head went to pieces and he started thinking he was superman.
That is quite a fight back, but Emilio Gay, one of England’s openers who has looked pretty good so far, got out to a poor shot. That can be forgiven as opening the innings is always risky, doubly so in England where the ball simply moves more early on. England have scored at nearly 5 runs per over, which is in accordance with their high-risk strategy.
Who knows, maybe Bethell will get a first innings hundred!
Hmmmm .... you're losing your touch!
For some reason our bowlers didn’t get the same response from the pitch: some but not enough, and we need to roll New Zealand over quite early to stand a chance.
Taking that wicket the very moment the news was announced is pure Stokes.
Well, I really did play at Cheltenham College today. I did OK too - I would have had former Gloucs player Dom Hewson out stumped had the square leg umpire actually been watching.
In our innings I made 33 (my equal best ever score) of a partnership of 94 for the 6th wicket but frustratingly got out with 3 overs to go, and we couldn't quite get across the line.
Still a good fun game though.
The rest of the cricket world has been pretty lively today as well, what with India losing to Ireland *again*, Australia's women knocking India out of the T20 World Cup, and all the shenanigans at Trent Bridge.
*this is a joke BTW
In our innings I made 33 (my equal best ever score) of a partnership of 94 for the 6th wicket but frustratingly got out with 3 overs to go, and we couldn't quite get across the line.
Still a good fun game though'.
Surely this lovely posting shd. be in the 'Thanks and Praise thread'? It certainly raised my spirits. Which they need. I fear the worst today.
The trouble is, where they have picked on form, they haven't always lived up to it at Test level. Josh Tongue was great for Notts last season and deserved his call up. After a strong start to his Test career, this series saw him take just 8 wickets at an average of 50 runs per wicket; severely sub-par.
Of the players who played more than 1 Test, I think only Duckett can hold his head up as having had a half decent series, though if I were him, I'd still be muttering curses to Emilio Gay about that run out.
The "wicketkeeper up to the stumps against fast bowling" idea is interesting but I think requires a better keeper than Smith to work for England.
With Stokes retiring that leaves a batting spot up for grabs. How about giving Dan Lawrence another go - he's in form?
Duckett
Gay
Bethell
Root
Brook
Lawrence
Smith
Atkinson
Robinson
Archer
Tongue
Four fast/fast-medium bowlers might be found wanting on a good wicket so I’d like to see Rehan Ahmed add variety and better batting than Bashir.
Oh, and Ben Foakes as ‘keeper.
Smith is not up to standard and his batting suffers when he is keeping. To be honest, I've not forgiven him for holing out to that filthy Labuschagne long hop in the Ashes.
Am still keen on James Rew as a batter in the team, but again, his keeping was found wanting.
I thought the New Zealand bowling attack was first class and the reason why they won.
Test Match batting is a different challenge compared with limited overs cricket. Aggressive batsmen can make a lot of money in the IPL playing short games in two short months. I think it’s good to watch but not in any way a comparable skill to Test batting.
I’ve got a feeling Stokes will offer his services to the IPL next year and probably get snapped up for a small fortune. Kohli is still going strong in that format
In addition to Test match batting being different to limited over batting, first-class, ie, county cricket is nothing like it either. One or two bowlers may be class performers but most will not be near test level, so one can block the better bowlers and make hay again the others