Posts
Loading ...england in new zealand
« Previous EntriesBlu Tack England
By Will 1 month ago, 12 Comments »
I urge you with all my might to watch this video by LeftArmChinaman. It is a thing of majestic beauty and brilliance.
If you can’t see it above, head to his blog.
12 Comments »Strauss not out 114
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago, 8 Comments »
Well, it’s tea. Andrew Strauss is 114 not out. It’s yet another infuriating twist in the tale.
It’s infuriating, not because I didn’t want him to score runs, but because it delays still further the day when I finally make up my mind about him. I really was beginning to formulate a definite opinion of him: a nice-looking player but too limited in his range of strokeplay, prone to playing away from his body, iffy against spin, etc etc. Then he goes and scores a hundred. Fair enough, it was chancey, the attack was county standard at best, the pitch is a belter and Bell’s hundred was better. But it is a hundred, and one that matters. Vaughan and Collingwood can’t buy one of those at the moment. And, at the age of 31, it seems he’s finally discovered the straight drive.
So since I can’t muster an opinion of my own, I reckon I might be swayable by somebody else’s. Do leave yours below…
8 Comments »Highlights of Sidebottom’s 7 for 47
By Will 2 months ago, No Comments; be the first!
Some highlights of Ryan Sidebottom’s 7 for 47.
No Comments »Average batting or brilliant bowling?
By Will 2 months ago, 7 Comments »
What on earth is going on? I spent last night in a public house and got a text message at 21.35 saying “Broad out first ball of the day”. Any lingering temptations I had of finding another pub with Sky went straight out the window…so I’m finding it hard to believe the scorecard this morning. Sidebottom seven-for, and England have a lead?
Having not watched any of it, I’m trying to work out if this Test has been crap batting or brilliant bowling. It seems to be a mixture of the two, though heavily swayed in favour of the former. Amazing, isn’t it? Give two teams a cracking surface and they all collapse like a pack of cards, though no one predicted this pitch would offer so much movement.
Sidebottom’s 7 for 47 was England’s best since Steve Harmison’s 7 for 12 at Sabina Park four years ago. He’s not only passed 50 wickets in quick time, but has taken 23 wickets in this series. 23! England now lead by 176 but there’s absolutely no point in me sticking my neck out and making a prediction. So it’s up to you lot.
7 Comments »New Zealand v England, 3rd Test, Napier
By Will 2 months ago, 2 Comments »
The third and final Test of this series is intriguingly poised. Out go Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills for New Zealand, in come Tim Southee - a promising nineteen-year-old swing bowler - and Grant Elliott, a South African-born allrounder. On paper, England are favourites, but the pitch at McLean Park is as flat as an ironing board (so say the experts) and, although five days is a long time (cliché alert), all indications point to a run-feast of a draw.
There is plenty to play for - not only for this series, but the return series in May. As one of New Zealand’s lot said, they’re treating this match as the third of six, which is an interesting way of looking at it. Here’s the scorecard for when play gets underway in a couple of hours.
It’s Stephen Fleming’s 111th and final Test, and he still needs another 113 runs to achieve his ambition of averaging 40 in Test cricket. He couldn’t have a better pitch on which to give it a fair crack. It’s also Christopher Martin-Jenkins’ last Test as The Times’ cricket correspondent. He’ll still be commentating, and occasionally writing the odd feature (for Cricinfo, hopefully), but it brings to an end a fine and distinguished reporting career by one of the most respected writers in the industry. Cheers to CMJ.
2 Comments »Is Sidebottom the best left-arm seamer in the world?
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago, 15 Comments »
England have won a Test match, so let’s get carried away…
Here’s a list of the best left-arm seamers in Test cricket since 2000, with a qualification of 2000 balls.
1) Franklin (NZ) 76 wkts @ 28.2
2) Sidebottom (Eng) 45 wkts @ 28.4
3) Vaas (SL) 223 wkts @ 29.5
4) Wasim Akram (Pak) 31 wkts @ 30.0
5) Pathan (Ind) 100 wkts @ 31.4
Franklin tops the list, but take away two series against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and he slips to fourth. Do the same to Pathan and his average soars to 44.
Sidey’s got a long way to go, but he’s definitely got more to his bowling than someone like Vaas, who tends to bore batsmen out these days.
15 Comments »Give Ambrose time
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago, 3 Comments »
Tim Ambrose played a very fine knock last night. Dare I say, there was something Gilchrist-esque about the way he took a sticky situation by the scruff of the neck and flayed it through backward point for four.
But, but, but, but, but.
We’ve been here before. You might almost say, if you were in a particularly jocular mood, that we’ve had Prior warning. Tim Ambrose will, at some stage, drop a catch. He will, at some stage, get a few low scores. But now what he needs a decent run in the side. A year, at least, before people start calling for his head on a plate. If he’s going to play innings like he did yesterday, he’ll need confidence, and job security. So by all means give him his due for a superb knock, but we should withhold judgment as to whether he’s The One for a while longer yet.
3 Comments »New Zealand v England, 2nd Test, Wellington
By Will 2 months ago, 8 Comments »
To windy Wellington we go for the second Test, with England lacking two of their most experienced fast bowlers, Matthew Hoggard (err - what?) and Steve Harmison. I’d have agreed with dropping Hoggard - if only to send shockwaves through the team that anything other than an excellent performance simply won’t suffice. But this is meant to be a green, seam-friendly swinger in Wellington - and as “talented” as Michael Vaughan thinks James Anderson is, reliable he is not. It’s all or nothing.
On that merry note, join us at Cricinfo for a full package of joyous fun and analysis and occasionally laughter. And, in between drinking yourself into a depressed stupor, leave a comment or three below.
8 Comments »England’s torpor
By Jonathan Liew 2 months ago, 4 Comments »
It’s not just the long tail. But it is, to a large degree, the long tail.
When you’ve got Sidebottom, Hoggard, Harmison and Panesar propping the team up, the opposition know that six wickets are as good as ten. But England - and this is the thing - also know this. They know that if the top order doesn’t score the runs, it’s unlikely anybody else will.
And so they dig in. But this doesn’t actually help, as it’s not their natural game (with the possible exceptions of Bell and Collingwood). Pietersen nudging and blocking is half the player he is when he’s trying to score off every ball. As a result, I reckon, they’re not staying in any longer than usual, and of course they’re scoring a lot fewer.
In England’s first innings Vaughan faced 177 balls, Pietersen 131 and Collingwood 182. That should have been enough for a century for each of them.*
The lower order needs strengthening, and fast. Broad for Harmison seems to be the logical step.
*Pietersen’s ten Test centuries have come off an average of 130.5 balls. Only twice has he faced as many as 131 balls and not made a hundred.
4 Comments »A deserved outcome
By Will 2 months ago, 7 Comments »
New Zealand deserved to beat this frightened, meek England side. It all happened so quickly, and I’ve had five (sorry to moan) hellishly awful nightshifts that I cannot string a proper sentence together. So - leave your more erudite offerings below. I’m off to sleep for three glorious days until Wellington.
7 Comments »Catching into contention
By Will 2 months ago, 5 Comments »
What a genuinely extraordinary day of Test cricket. My boss and I meandered through proceedings much as England did, as Stephen Fleming and Jamie How looked increasingly confident, before an hour of brilliance took over. New Zealand’s bravado cost them dear. (scorecard)
So flat did England look that New Zealand confidently mucked around with their lineup in an attempt to chivvy their run-rate. But in doing so, they let England through the backdoor and allied with some astonishing catching - the like of which I haven’t seen an England side take for years - we’re in for a corker of a final day.
Matthew Hoggard’s catch to dismiss Jamie How was a wonderfully athletic salmon-leap at deep midwicket. A Youtube classic for sure. But the real sensation - and that is what his catching has been in this Test - was Alastair Cook who added two more snaffles to his three in the first innings, one of which was an outstanding two-handed leap to his left. When an average fielder pulls off a fine catch, we all dismiss it as a) marvellous / wonderful / slightly hilarious and b) a fluke to be savoured, not expected. But when has one fielder, who was previously considered nothing short of a liability, taken so many corking catches in a Test? Remarkable.
However, isn’t it odd that a flurry of catches can make an average team look really rather good? England, as Andrew Miller points out in his verdict, probably don’t deserve to be in this situation; they bowled like drains in the first innings and their batsmen have showed all the urgency of an asthmatic mole.
Some of you will no doubt tick me off for not praising England - and yes, Ryan Sidebottom richly deserved his hat-trick - and you’re quite welcome to call me a cynical old bugger. But for now, let’s just savour the fact that a dead Test match has fizzed into life with one day to go. Who needs one-dayers?
5 Comments »England aren’t kidding anyone
By Will 2 months ago, 5 Comments »
Judging by the way England’s batsmen pottered and tottered today, it’s clear their self belief has reached a depressing new low. Even Kevin Pietersen, for all his bravado in saying his 131-ball 42 was “one of his best innings”, struggled more than I can ever remember and New Zealand’s patience paid off. They nagged and nagged and waited and waited and each England batsman succumbed. Daniel Vettori bowled beautifully - and I’ve always rated Jeetan Patel, who looks like he belongs in Test cricket - but rare was the sight of a spitting delivery off a length. It was all about patience. New Zealand had plenty, England none. Their brand of aggressive Australian-style batsmanship, born in their successful run-up to the 2005 Ashes, is so utterly misplaced nowadays that when they encounter a low-and-slow surface, they have no answer other than to block.
Patrick Kidd wondered the other day what England’s lineup might be for next year’s Ashes, but I’m rather more concerned with the selection dilemma they face for New Zealand’s return trip here next month.
5 Comments »Alastair Cook shocks us and himself
By Will 2 months ago, 9 Comments »
Although it was slow going at times, the first day in Hamilton was quite engrossing. Both teams sparred in the first session, then New Zealand threw away a number of their wickets with some dreadfully sloppy shots, and they go into the second day pretty much on level footing with England. England don’t quite have their noses in front…though perhaps one nostril.
What a day Alastair Cook had, and how entertaining it was to watch the surprise on his face at each of his three catches. The first was a lifter in the gully which almost knocked him backwards - not a difficult chance but nevertheless expertly taken. His second, a salmon-leaping effort in the gully to dismiss Stephen Fleming, was an absolute corker (it’s not on Youtube yet - do leave a comment if you find it). Plucking it one-handed to his right, he threw the ball away in that nonchalant fashion which has become popular, but even he couldn’t believe he’d held on. Since his debut, Cook has looked more arthritic than athletic in the field, but perhaps this is the turning point. England need a good gully - Ashley Giles was as safe as houses there.
England’s outfielding was generally over zealous - overthrows galore and stupid shies at the stumps - but their catching today was faultless and as good as I’ve seen since the 2005 Ashes.
But it was a curious day, and not just for Cook’s catching. Steve Harmison rarely reached 80mph; Paul Collingwood averaged above 75mph; Ryan Sidebottom was comfortably the fastest with a mean mean of 86mph and Matthew Hoggard bowled like a drain. Sidebottom is decidedly slippery nowadays - what the hell’s going on?
9 Comments »New Zealand v England, 1st Test, Hamilton
By Will 2 months ago, 9 Comments »
Ah, Test cricket. We welcome it back with open arms, albeit wiping the sleep from our eyes as we prepare to reverse our body clocks in the pursuit of sport and entertainment. Still - it could be worse (it could be 12 months ago when we were weeping our way through the depression of the Ashes) and England have an excellent chance of gaining an upper hand over New Zealand.
Of course, New Zealand can never be written off or dismissed entirely. Like a particularly hardy breed of mosquito, they’re rather hard to swat; what they lack in quality they more than make up for in grit and a never-say-die attitude. However, with the absence of Shane Bond - who’s deserted them for the wallet-swelling lure of the Indian Cricket League - New Zealand’s attack looks flimsy at best; only Daniel Vettori and Chris Martin can boast 50 Test wickets to their name. That is a worryingly weak statistic.
So do chat away. We’ll be doing all we can at Cricinfo to a) stay awake during the inevitable rain delays and b) keep you amused on commentary, so keep an eye on us. I’ll leave this open for the Test for you night owls to dissect the teams’ performances.
9 Comments »Ambrose readies himself for England
By Will 2 months ago, 5 Comments »
When Tim Ambrose makes his debut on Wednesday, he will be the sixth wicketkeeper England have tried since Alec Stewart hung up his gloves in 2000, and the second with an Aussie twang after Geraint Jones. Andrew Miller met him yesterday.
5 Comments » « Previous Entries