Kiwis bounce back on drop-in pitch
I really can鈥檛 believe what I have watched today! Just as New Zealand鈥檚 media had written off its team after their , England produce .
True, the drop-in pitch was slow and did nothing to encourage strokeplay, but England鈥檚 batsmen lacked energy and were utterly bereft of ideas to cope with the conditions. No one batted out of his crease.
There was no attempt to get the score moving by taking quick singles, and the lack of vitality led to three unnecessary run-outs - it really was a ghastly performance.
Traditionally, New Zealand relish conditions like this. Bowlers like and Gavin Larsen used to trundle up, dob the ball on a length and were impossible to get away.
Today it was who turned the clock back and produced an excellent, controlled spell of medium pace, mixed up with clever variations.
But England鈥檚 batsmen did not attempt anything to knock him out of his groove. - normally such an attacking player - needed 60 balls to score 31 and he barely played a shot in anger. I wonder if he has half an eye on securing a place in the Test series?
The most curious innings of all came from Ravi Bopara who used up 21 balls in scoring three! What was he doing?
I must commend Daniel Vettori's captaincy which was both imaginative and reactionary. One obvious difference between his field placings and Paul Collingwood鈥檚 was that the men inside the circle were very tight indeed, making single-taking very difficult. England's fielders tended to hang back on the edge of the circle, allowing the New Zealanders to rotate the strike.
I suppose the series will benefit from this result. , and this should ensure that good crowds attend the remaining four matches.
I can鈥檛 believe that England will play as badly as this again - it would hardly be possible - and it will certainly remove any possibility of complacency.
The game also did little to allay the growing feeling that 50-over cricket has become jaded and dull in comparison to Twenty20, and added fuel to the suggestion that two Twenty20 games played on the same afternoon with a short interval between them would be a better bet.
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In 5 years time there will be no more 50 overs cricket, except perhaps in India, and everywhere elsewill play 20/20
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Much as i admire your knowledge of the game, you do come out with some very odd suggestions sometimes.There is nothing tired about the 50 over format, and you(and others) only seem to mention this when we lose.I don't find any of the ODI games involving Australia and India as "tired".
Two twenty twenty games on the same afternoon is a ridiculous idea, and would only perpetrate further the lack of skills required for the longer formats. There is definitely a place for "T20", but it is correct to place it as a third tier format, and not start elevating it beyond its' status.
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unreal. really dissapointing from england. i live out here i moved from portsmouth about two years ago and went really confident after the 2020. shocking, kiwis were way more energetic. getting alot of stick from alot of mates right now.
only good thing today was the barmy army.
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i totally agree.
it goes to show that a captain can't always just win the toss and bat.
we have to read the wickets better. too long have groundsmen produced tracks that are just full of runs. i pleased to see new zealand put up a good performance just as sri lanka did after their dismal start to the test series.
im expecting a fantastic contest in these one-dayers. the conditions are familiar to both teams, both have suffered from loss of players in the last two years and are both of similar one day standard (dont forget, we beat new zealand as well in the cb series in australia last year, and new zealand went on to beating australia in the chapple-hadlee trophy after that).
new zealand are a good side. but england can beat them.
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Spot on, as usual, JA. All the same, "reactive" might have been your term of choice rather than "reactionary" to describe Vettori's captaincy.
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Don't play two matches in one afternoon - rather play one two innings match of 20 overs in each innings. That way if the first innings is a lop sided affair there is a chance for the team to recover in the second innings and keep the match alive
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This shows how far behind Australia England are. The Aussies would have a result like this once every 10 years, we seem to do it once ever 10 games. Its not just cricket, the general mentality of British athletes is not right. In the areas where it has been addressed (cycling, rowing, sailing etc) we have seen results. Come on ECB, you took all that money from Sky (preventing a majority of cricket fans from being able to watch the sport, when are you going to start using it!
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Aggers, we've had one game of this ODI series and already you're sharpening the knives for 50-over cricket. If you think back to last summer, you might remember a rather fabulous England-India series that had an awful lot of tense exciting cricket. The pitch meant it was never going to be a dashing run-filled affair. Any 20-over slap played on that pitch would have been somewhat dull compared to the two matches played earlier this week.
The two Twenty20 matches earlier this week were far from classics. New Zealand's batting failed and the competition was effectively over by the 10th over of each Kiwi innings. Where's the tension there?
When discussion comes to replacing 50-over cricket with more 20-over cricket, there is a question that I would ask of those running football's Premier League: with regard to playing league matches abroad and replacing 50-over cricket with 20-over cricket, is the decision taken to improve the sport for the players or simply a commercial decision?
I don't think two 20-over matches played back-to-back on the same day is a great idea. That smacks of overkill to me. I'd much rather have the women's game get a match before the male equivalent, get some more promotion for women's cricket. Alternatively, perhaps under-19 teams could play before the senior XIs compete. It'd be a great way to introduce the upcoming younger players to competing before large crowds and might serve as a tantalising taster for those making their way in professional cricket, something to whet their appetite and make them hungry to perform at the highest level.
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England's performance with the bat was poor and bereft of ideas. But the bowling was on the whole not to bad. I think James Anderson needs to spend a bit more time at his county to instill some consistency into his game.
I hope the players rebound from this loss. Do they not realise that some of us have to get up at some very unsociable hours to follow their progress! They are capable of so much more, today they looked like headless chickens with the bat...
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"The game also did little to allay the growing feeling that 50-over cricket has become jaded and dull in comparison to Twenty20, and added fuel to the suggestion that two Twenty20 games played on the same afternoon with a short interval between them would be a better bet."
Can't see how this is anything other than a completely unnecessary comment. How does England putting in an abject performance say anything about 50 over cricket, other than we still aren't very good at it? It's an argument for England being stripped of their ODI status maybe. In other words, only bother playing games where the format will make up for one team's deficiencies. You might as well use the same argument to abolish "one-sided" Test cricket.
Twenty20 is great for short term excitement, but leaves very little memorable behind. Although given the number of England players out playing across the line, some have obviously remembered far too much.
And playing it as the exclusive limited overs format, with the inevitable knock on at lower levels of the game, will kill off the traditional role of the bowler for good and bring about the end of test cricket. As Australia show repeatedly, despite the niche role for the "One day specialist" bowler in the 50 over game, it is still proper test match wicket takers such as Brett Lee who make the difference.
It is only England who think a half decent performance in a containing role is evidence for selection in a test match (Ravi Bopara).
And in twenty years all that will be left is baseball.
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Couldn't agree more aggers, shocking performance
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And if there was any complacency, it can only be due to the idiots in the media who think the two forms of the game are at all comparable.
One only has to consider the two teams in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup to dispel that notion.
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Couldn't agree more with Jonathan, There was absolutely no interest shown by the English players. They seemed to be going through the motions. Bopara has had a fair few chances now and has produced precious little. Looks like he could be another 'golden' boy who turns to brass.
Surprised that there has been no mention of Jessie Ryder's association with the Iriah team for last year's First providence trophy, and his failure to turn up for a match and subsequent sacking.
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I believe the England side travelled with a complete lack of respect for NZ, and were taught a lesson. Surprised by the slow wicket..... so ADAPT for heavens sake.
Where was any urgency shown in the field? And can we please ban the phrase 'We can take some positives out of this' Oh how I'd love to hear the words 'we were awful' I live in forlorn hope. Did I hear we have employed a fielding coach? He has to start earning his money.
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i tottaly agree with aggers on this one.you would have thought that england's twenty20 win would motivate them even more than they was when they arived.i would give ambrose a go with the gloves because we can have a wicketkeeper for one day and one for tests becasue there is competition for both places by everyone.
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was mascarhenas injured? otherwise why was he not in our team, hes been our best one day an 20twenty player
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i agree with aggers on this one.you would have thought that england's twenty20 win would motivate them even more than they was when they arived.i would give ambrose a go with the gloves because we can have a wicketkeeper for one day and one for tests becasue there is competition for both places by everyone.i predict england can bounce back from this defeat like they did in sri lanka but it will be a tough challenge to do so
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Spot on Aggers. One of the most pathetic batting performances I've seen from any team in a long time. The standard of running between wickets wouldn't even be worthy of playing for a village cricket team. I sense a hint of complacency especially with the Collingwood run out where he just assumed Ross Taylor(who is a very good fielder in his own right) would just miss the ball. Shah also seemed to worry more about himself than trying to get through with the quick singles.
However, credit to NZ for bowling good lines and lengths and keeping the pressure on all the way through the England innings
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Excellent.As soon as England lose a 50 over game,suddenly it is dull and 20/20 is interesting and to top it all they lost to make the Kiwis more interested in cricket.Amazing!I would have never thought you can spin it this way!!
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As a pom living in NZ I was eagerly looking forward to a great contest especially after the encouraging signs in the 20/20. But no, England resorted to the negativety of old, playing with too much caution and then throwing wickets away with suicidal running. Thought Bopara was poor and how Dimitri was left out was a mystery. Interesting to see Macullum batting some 3 feet outside the crease. The momentum has well and truly shifted back to Kiwis and England will have to produce something out of the ordinary to get back into this series
Peter (Wellington)
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just a conspiracy to deprive me of sleep.Scott Styris has done it before. ala Mark Ealham and various other dobbers.If reading the pitch is so difficult get some glasses.Cold nights in febuary are not conducive to good humour but that was worse than the last twenty minutes at Twickenham.grrrr
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When an English team starts talking about taking confidence from the first games of a series/tournament, you know its time to head for the bookies for some easy money...sad but all too familiar today.
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I was at the game and have to day it looked like we were spooked by the pitch and didnt know what to do. NZ were very sharp in the field with a couple of great run outs and plus we gave away two wickets playing on. i didnt understand bopara and cook playing especially when writhy and dmitiri looked so good in the other games.
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The subject of the one-day game needs to be addressed by all concerned. It is indeed looking like a tired beast that has been flogged too often. Some years ago a suggestion was made of having two innings of 25 overs allocated to each team. This should be introduced in order to mitigate, to whatever degree, the vagaries of the pitch, climatic or temporal conditions. Tardiness in bowling the first 25 overs could also be deducted from the second 25 overs to be bowled by the respective sides. Such a system would encourage more attacking bowling and more attacking batsmen but most importantly there would be a greater chance of a result if 25 overs became the new cut-off point for calculating a result. Perhaps this system has already been trialled but it should be reconsidered.
As regards that England performance little can be said other than the form of Stuart Broad.
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Wow, just when you think England can't play any worse....... they take it to a new level.
NZ are very average at the best of times, currently they are in crisis. Missing many of their best players including guys like Bond.
England will need to respond and respond quickly.
There is an opening for a young fringe player to step up and cement their spot in the team...... will anyone take their chance? I fear not.
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I think the problem with England is they have always lacked a good leader. Collingwood is a great allrounder and has produced some of the best individual innings in recent times but I would not want to play in his team having seen some of his on field behaviour. Sometimes he is childish. At present England has a decent amount of talent and experience and I think they need a better leader to guide them in the right way. Flintoff blew it up - KP is even worst choice then Collingwood. I think they should groom somebody like Bell.
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Absolutely agree about the end of the 50 over game. One in twenty five provides interest, the rest is rubbish.
As to the team, why was Bopara there instead of Mascerenhas (or even Wright) ? He didn't even bowl.
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My word, what a shambles!
England would have been better off batting like it was a Twenty20 match, at least they would have scored the runs quicker and saved us from 50 overs worth of dire batting.
Cook is so overrated in one day cricket.
Bopara is only in the team due to a brave innings against Sri Lanka at the World Cup. His bowling isn't that good either.
Bring back Luke Wight and Dmitri Mascarhenas right away, I would never have dropped them in the first place!They are bright exciting cricketers that play positively.
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Absolutely agree about the end of the 50 over game. One in twenty five provides interest, the rest is rubbish.
As to the team, why was Bopara there instead of Mascerenhas (or even Wright) ? He didn't even bowl.
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Do you know what, if England had bowled out the kiwis for 130 and then we knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets, would you have mentioned anything about the 50 over game being tired and on its way out. Be honest, I really want to hear your answer. We use every excuse under the sun, and why, because we are absolutely pathetic at playing cricket. We blame the toss, we blame the wicket. The 50 over game is fine, its just that we are not very good at it or anything else. However, that said, I am really looking forward to this series. Long live cricket in all its formats.
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The idea of Twenty20 replacing the 50 over format based on this result is pretty ridiculous.
England failed to score enough runs, yet 130 is actually defendable. I don't think this is 'one of England's worst ever performances' either because they managed to get over 100 runs too.
Too much drama into basically a few players not making enough runs.
To talk about Englands inconsistancy and selection over the years is a better issue, because the occasional score tends to paper over cracks.
The likes of Robin Smith, Ramprakash, Hick, Caddick etc, all dropped when they were the best players around is the real issue. It's created a trend.
Example..If, Ramprakash (who's a proven run getter) scores 15, the media labels him as 'past it'. If a young Bopara makes 14, he's 'yet to establish his true potential'
Cricket is a statistical game. Nobody cares about comments post match, its ALL about scores. In this situation the guy who made 15 is better than 14 statistically.
The selectors seem to think if a player is young and promising, he's a instant 'Tendulkar'. Little it seems do they know Tendulkar was better than the current crop of indian players which elevated him into the side. We can't play players based on promises. The side should be picked on the best players around, like the successful sides seem always to do.
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NZ pride was hurt by those two 20-20 defeats, and they obviously took the field with no intention of losing this one!
Attitude is very important.
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I don't see the point of back-to-back 20/20 matches. 20/20 cricket is the solution to the problem of busy people not having the time to spend a whole day at the cricket ground or watching cricket on TV. So a "double-header" (to use a baseball term) makes no sense.
50-over cricket has deficiencies, but it can provide a showcase for good bowling and good batting technique, and, unlike test cricket, it allows several different venues to host matches in the same week.
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WHAT FORM鈥!
I was not lucky enough to see the two 20twenty games as I was away in Switzerland where there鈥檚 no cricket on tv, however as usual I follow everything via the web and especially after the 鈥榁aughan joy at England form鈥 video interview here on the 大象传媒 website, I thought I would return home to watch England win last night.
What form had Michael Vaughan been talking about, by the thirty third over I couldn鈥檛 believe what I was watching? The England batters looked nothing like a side that had just won two 20twenty鈥檚 and there was absolutely no 鈥渇orm鈥 that I could see.
All credit to New Zealand鈥檚 bowlers who were well backed in the field and especially to Scotty Styris who brought back memories of old. After all the recent issues with players joining the ICL and the ensuing pressure applied upon the New Zealand board by the BCCI and the ICC, they should have been the team on the back foot and somewhat demoralised by the whole fiasco, therefore my regard grows for Vettori and the whole team for such a tough performance in the face of grave despair.
England on the other hand performed badly with both the bat and ball, but to be fair to the bowlers they had a nothing total to bowl at and therefore my annoyance is with our batters. Firstly my personal opinion is that Ravi Bopera is at best a club player, I think it takes more than he鈥檚 got to really stand up and perform in the international arena. The same goes for Owais Shah, who I think, although strutting around at the crease looking very confident, is actually a nervous wreck on the inside when at international level. The both should be dropped and replaced with Mascarenhas and Wright for the next games if we are to do well. During the game both Bopera and Shah looked uninspiring compared to Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas who both have that infectious confidence that the England squad so desperately need.
The next game will be crucial as New Zealand will not let up now, while being at home will make them want to do even better for some fan-love. England need to put in a lot of thought about the tracks they鈥檙e going to play on and the approach they must take to counter New Zealand鈥檚 style of play, tactics if you like, that they use so well especially at home.
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England win a 20/20 matches...when its the serious format we see the same old collapses...come on England. Should win the next four matches and should comprehensibly outclass and outplay and win the test series...easily.
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Excellent.As soon as England lose a 50 over game,suddenly it is dull and 20/20 is interesting and to top it all they lost to make the Kiwis more interested in cricket.Amazing!I would have never thought you can spin it this way!!
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Not seen the game yet but surely it cannot have been worse than the shambolic display against South Africa in the World Cup last year. That reigns far above anything else as the Worst England one day performance ever. If todays display is worse than that then I cant say I look forward to witnessing it.
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I've been away from the game far too long -- many years overseas in a baseball country (yech!). I still follow England's fortunes (?) though, especially through Aggers'beautifully written game summaries. This morning I'm lost, however: what is a "drop-in" pitch?
Do the batsmen pay a casual visit before leaving -- maybe that's too near the mark -- or is it a prefabricated chunk of clay that fits a cut out rectangle in the turf?
Please clarify.
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I think ditching 50 over cricket is a possible solution to this problem with player burnout we keep hearing about. It does represent a good taster for international cricket for young players though ...
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Having watched a lot of domestic one day cricket at Hove and a lot of international cricket on tv I feel entitled to say that the 50 over form of the game is becoming very stale and predictable.
I do not think that the answer is to just play 20-20 games though. There is already a form of the one day game that is still worth watching; the much maligned Pro40.
Every home game last season was better attended than the 50 over ones and the games were played at a pace closer to that of 20-20's.
40 over cricket has a long history of popularity in England and would definately be better at international level than an unbroken diet of 20-20 or a continuation of the 50 over game, which would, no doubt, be tinkered with further to try and maintain its appeal.
England were very poor today, maybe this will make them realise that they have to adapt their game to suit local conditions.
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Well done New Zealand! Especially satisfying after being so arrogantly written off by the English media (and many in this blog). It grates reading all the constant comments about how boring this series will be and how boring the Black Caps are - you're so one eyed. We haven't been consistantly ranked in the top 3 or 4 in ODIs for the last few years, and made it to many World Cup semis, for no reason. Sure, we can be inconsistent, but being put done for inconsistency by the English is very ironic indeed.
Even after losing many big names, we do still have some or the best strikers of the ball in the game in Oram, McCullum and Styris and exciting younger players like Taylor and Ryder. Even without Bond and Franklin, we have some quality seemers in Martin and Mills and top spinners in Vettori and Patel (I know he got spanked in the first 20/20 but thats going to happen to spinners in that form of the game). And we are one of the best fielding teams in the world. Remember it was only a year ago NZ beat the world record run chases! Twice! In 2 games! Against Australia! And the second game we didn't have Bond or Vettori. Doesn't sound very boring to me. Sounds pretty damn exciting. Last time I looked England were ranked 7th in ODIs.
Sure, we did play terribly in the 20/20s, and England played very well. But 20/20 is pretty much a lottery anyway which is why it MUST NOT replace the 50 over version. It is exciting spectical, perfect for people to watch after work and to get people who wouldn't normally watch cricket interested. But in terms of judging how good a team is - it means very little. The only change that needs to be made to the 50 over game is there should be far less of them.
Blaming the pitch for being slow is no excuse. Part of what makes cricket interesting is seeing which team can adapt to the conditions better (clearly the Kiwis todays). If all pitches were exactly the same it would be too predictable.
So maybe now England (the team and the nation) won't be quite so cocky and eager to patronize, and will actually treat a very good side with some respect.
I think the tests might be far more in England's favour because, for some unknown reason, we hardly ever play it these days. We have only played a handful in the past couple of years, so it's pretty hard to improve when you never play. Having said that, England will write them off at their peril, given England's record in winning a couple of games, building themselves up way higher than they deserve to be and then crashing back down to reality with shocking performances. This happens in most sports. You have very short memories.
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I imagine Daniel Vettori's captaincy was 'reactive', rather than knee-jerk right-wing.
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I agree.. Days of boring 50 overs and test matches are over. England has devised game of cricket and also 20 over game. and they should be allowed to change the rules of the game. No other country owns cricket more than England. England are emerging superpowers of 20 over games. Australia will be really worried
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someone please explain why on earth ravi bopara was playing?
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I think 50 over cricekt should be reduced to 40 like the revamped county cricekt league....in theroy you would have the fast starts and fielding restrictions for 20 overs and then pretty much teams hitting out from the 25/30th over mark...
no more boring middle period cricket
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50 over cricket is great when it's played right by quality teams.
So i wouldn't judge 50 over cricket based on england vs nz games.
Both teams have no clue about what it takes to dominate 50 over cricket.
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Yes, we were dreadful.
It seems that just bringing Vettori and Oram back seemed to make such a a difference.
Can't understand why Bopara was in ahead of Mascarenas either. Such a powerful hitter, and a great bloke to come in at number 7, and probably a better bowler than Bopara as well. Bopara rarely bowls these days either. And do we overbowl Collingwood in the one dayers too?
Can understand Cook opening ahead of Wright, the selectors are trying hard to make Cook part of the one day team.
Still worried about Anderson and not yet totally convinced about Bell either.
And would love to see Trescothick and Flintoff in too, that would certainly add some power to the batting!
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Before we get carried away with how bad England played, look what happened to The Best Team in The World on this pitch this time last year....
Australia all out for 148 from almost 50 overs, Blackcaps easily knocking them off...Hussey blaming the slow pitch....It all looks very familiar. Whilst blaming the pitch is no excuse, it obviously had some influence on this match. The Blackcaps are suited to these conditions and probably knew what to expect a lot more, and England made them look very good today. Having said that, England's lack of adaptability (not playing out of the crease, bad field placings, not looking for singles) was shocking, and doesn't bode well for the future. I expect an even ODI series though, with varying conditions in the remaining 4 venues.
Some proud kiwi made a comment on here about being written off by the English media, well the Kiwi media and some of their public wrote them off a long time ago, so i don't think you can accuse it of purely being English arrogance.
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Aggers
Excellent summary. It really was dire. But England has bounced back in ODI series in recent memory and they can do again. But they mustn't go 0-2 down I think.
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Ramprakash is NOT a 'proven run getter'. In over 50 test matches he averages around 20. In fact many people label him as 'the worst player ever to get more than 50 caps'
He is just a good club player, as is Bopara and Shah (and Hick too). They are decent at FC level but cant make the step up to international level
Smith and Caddick were very good players that were only dropped due to age (Smith) or injury ('Dick). Hick was average at best, and Ramprakash is tripe.
Bopara constantly gets into the team despite failure after failure because of one good innings against SL, just like Dinesh Karthik constantly gets into the Indian team despite failure after failure because of one good innings against England
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Jonathan, I bet you where absolutly delighted when England thrashed the Kiwi's ..in Christchurch and Auckland...on drop-in pitches!
the fact is, England batted poorly. Collingwood had no quarreles about the pitch, he got it wrong batting first. acknowledged the Black Caps's bowling was excellend, openers came out very possitive.he finished.. we where not good enough on the day.
good sportsman!
now we could go on and on here. matter of fact..you lost to a better team, still 3rd in world ranking.
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As a pom living in NZ I was eagerly looking forward to a great contest especially after the encouraging signs in the 20/20. But no, England resorted to the negativety of old, playing with too much caution and then throwing wickets away with suicidal running. Thought Bopara was poor and how Dimitri was left out was a mystery. Interesting to see McCullum batting some 3 feet outside the crease to the quicks. The momentum has well and truly shifted back to Kiwis and England will have to produce something out of the ordinary to get back into this series
Peter (Wellington)
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It seems that no matter how 'poor' or 'weak' an international side has the reputation of being, England always somehow find a way to be outplayed by them.
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Could someone point me in the direction of JA dissing the 50 over game when England gain their occasional wins?
This is not good journalism, simply bad losing - as ever. Just because England win a couple of slog fests doesn't make them an adaquate one-day side. Discussion of "form" based on 20-20 is ridiculous and simply ignorant.
At least the England cricketers can be safe in the knowledge that they're better at their trade than the country's cricket journalists are at theirs.
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england lose and we should change the format ??
haha wat a joke
format doesnt need to change .. just teams especially england need to learn how to play
only pietersen is a genuine world class player .. colly n sidebottom r ok , rest r avg!!
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1. Mustard should actually be complimented for planting himself in the middle, particularly at the top of the order when pitch is doing a bit. I am surprised at your suggestion that he possibly was playing for a spot in the test side...disappointing come from someone like you.
2. You should actually take other seniors KP, IB and PC and ask hard question where they failed after seeing off early overs.
3. You also contradict by saying NZ fielders inside the ring made it difficult for Eng players to take any singles and then go on a blast Eng players for not taking singles and rotating the strike...!
Yes it was a poor performance from Eng (on the back of 2 T20 wins) but your criticisam is just ill placed.
BTW, I am neutral cricket fan as I am not English nor a Newzelander.
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Just to put this in context:-
Current World ODI Rankings*
1. Australia
2. South Africa
3. New Zealand
4. India
5. Pakistan
6. Sri Lanka
7. England
8. West Indies
9. Bangladesh
10.Ireland
11. Zimbabwe
12. Kenya
-both teams without a couple of their recent 'big names'
-New Zealand at home (Can you mention many other sports where home advantage means so much?)
If England can triumph in this series it will be no small accomplishment.
*cricinfo 10/2/08
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The reaction that 50 over cricket is dead simply because England are outplayed by a superior team is ridiculous. Incidentally, New Zealand are 3rd in the ODI rankings, and have been a consistently better side than England over the last 5-10 years. The dismissal of New Zealand as "distinctly average" by many of the posters here is condescending and ignorant. New Zealand may be a poor test match side, but have been a quality ODI side for some time. It is time this was recognised by the English cricket-following public. 50 over cricket requires skill and intelligence that Twenty20 slogfests simply do not. Do English fans simply want to see sixes hit, or do they want to watch a genuine contest between bat and ball?
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I was at the game and to be honest the England innings was DULL. Hence it was impossible not to think that the 20-20 is a more exciting format! Especially after paying 30 bucks!
Blimey it was like watching paint dry. In fact I would have preferred to stay home and 'read' the updates on teletext! Hmm does NZ have teletext?
Mind you, having said that, the Black Caps innings was entertaining. They went on the attack. So its clear to me as someone new to the game, that both formats have their merits. Its just on this occasion England were dire/outplayed/sluggish!
Ryder has quite a following with the kiwi's. He seems a bit of a character. He kept turning round and chatting wth the crowd. He even took the 'who ate all the pies' abuse quite well! Not too original I know and that was from his own fans!
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Your comment Aggers is well short of rationale analysis. Australia were all out for 148 on this pitch so it must have made some contribution to this defeat.
England have to keep their nerve. NZ opening pair intimidated England but they looked like sloggers. Their weaknesses can be targeted. Maybe they are better batsmen than they looked but I think NZ are missing the calibre of their former captain.
The NZ bowling was well adapted to this pitch but their fielding was in a top class all of its own. Fielding is usually ignored in summaries. England fielding in the 20-20 was also excellent.
NZ throttled England, they couldn't get singles, they couldn't find pace for boundaries. NZ also have a cunning way of turning to pick up the ball beyond the view of the batsmen so they think it's gone through. Two fielders have practised this.
England couldn't have done their homework on the history of this pitch. But we can't blame the players for that, but the staff supporting them?
Smarten up all round. Less talk about attitude and spirit and more analysis of the game itself? The schedule didn't help England either. No time to practise between the matches? This is bound to benefit the home side.
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Peter (message 38) - you ask what a "drop-in Pitch" is...well, wikipedia have a very helpful page which will explain it all to you. See
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England put up a totally unexpected dismal performance. The Kiwi side is a depleted one and hardly any match for a much better England team. On paper England should have won easily.
One-day cricket is surely stagnating. There have been two reasons behind this:
1) Australian dominance over this format of the game for five years. Cricket fans are getting get tired of Australia obliterating all oppositions. The renaissance of the Indian team in the CB series and South Africa's constant challenge are the only hurdles in the champions path
2) Lack of innovation for a long period of time. 'Innovation' does not simply mean adding random stuff as the ICC has been doing for the past decade. Some intelligent and well thought out changes have to be made. It's high time that technology is incorporated into the game.
Twenty Twenty is a very exciting element entering the cricket arena. It will be very interesting to see it's progress over the next decade.
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could someone please explain to me why bopara is in the team and then not used as a bowler?
he cant be the best batsman in the country surely?
if he is not going to be used as a bowler then why are we not playing a dedicated batsman.
bring back dimi or wright immediately!!
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I cannot understand the muddled thinking that seems to pervade the english game.
Luke Wright and Dimitri Mascarenhas added something to the English performance in the two T20 games and their reward was to be left out to accomodate a test opener and an unproven all rounder. Bopara has had enough chances to 'prove' himself to be up to the job and has failed to deliver, give the job to Mascarenhas now and let Luke Wright have a decent run to establish himself in the side.
Instead of sticking blindly by Anderson and Bell England need to consider their options, Anderson lacks the control to do the job he is currently being asked to do in limited overs cricket, and Bell doesn't seem to find the demands of the limited overs game come naturally to him. We have some talented players and I partly agree with Nasser Hussain when he says we could be on the verge of another golden era, but lets not let that talent be wasted by playing the wrong players in the wrong teams for the sake of convenience or in the mistaken belief that the limited overs series is a good warm up for the test series.
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Im really not sure why people are so surprised that NZ beat England so convincingly. NZ is ranked 3 in the world and at home. Despite misguided and ill-informed assertions such as "NZ are very average at the best of times" NZ is quite clearly a much more consistent ODI team than England.
This result only goes to show how ridiculous T20 is.
Bring on the tests.
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Agnew, shows how little he knows about cricket.
Only McCullen for NZ scored more than Phil Mustard. Had he got out quick Agnew would have said he should have tried to keep his end going.
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who cares? it's only New Zealand.
hohum.
how long till the next Ashes?
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Twenty20 is a tired old format. A cricket match should be one over each way, with ten balls in an over.
There should be an advertising break between each ball and lots of cheerleaders.
Then it might get picked up by the US networks.
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I completely agree with Mike's suggestion - make 50 over games a 2 innings match (of either 20 or 25 overs each). This would not only encourage a similar approach to scoring as in "T20", but would have the further benefit of exposing both sides to unbalanced playing conditions e.g. moisture in the evening, or batting under lights. I'm sure more tactical permutations could also be adopted than in either the current T20 or 50 over formats.
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Aggers - regarding your comments about the 50 over format becoming jaded, do you think that two innings a side 20/20 matches would work, rather than two separate 20/20 games on the same day?
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Players make 50 over cricket boring the format itself is not. England just did not show up and when one team plays such amature cricket the game becames boring otherwise how can be an ODI between india-Australia was so enthalling even after team total of 159?? The quality of cricket between india-australia during current tour is so good that makes every format beautiful to watch.
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I have never liked 50 over cricket,and have always seen it as warm ups for the test series (when played first) It is two long to be as fast paced as 20/20 and to short to be as tactical and difficult as a test. Hopefully this increasingly dull form of the game will be replaced soon!
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Further to the English media's lack of respect for the Kiwis:
Since 2000, the Kiwis have beaten England 10 times in ODIs, England has beaten NZ four times. England's biggest winning margins were 3 wickets / 43 runs. New Zealand's [u]smallest[/u] winning margins in the same period were 4 wickets / 58 runs, and most of the victories were by larger margins. Since 1973, NZ and England have played 61 games, with NZ taking 30 and England 27. New Zealand is ranked 3rd in the world ODI rankings to England's seventh, and NZ currently has 2 of the top ten ranked ODI bowlers not including the top ranked Bond, Vettori no.2, & Mills at no.7. England's top bowler Anderson is ranked 15th equal with NZ's Oram. In the batting stakes, England has Pietersen a cut above the rest of both teams, otherwise the teams are fairly evenly matched. Overall however, England are playing a far superior team, and have the added disadvantage of playing away from home. Good luck to them!
As for the 50 over debate, since when has exciting cricket solely been a batsmens' game? If you can't appreciate a match where the bowlers dominate, the ball beats the outside edge, and the batsmen struggle, then no format is going to help you. Both the recent 20/20s were foregone conclusions early on, and limped to predictable finishes. The only difference is England won. What's your point? Blaming the form of the game for England's sorry efforts sounds like sore-loser talk to me.
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