England must beat weakened Kiwis
Michael Vaughan has admitted the obvious: that with a measure of consistency which at least gives them a chance of regaining the Ashes in 2009.
It rather sums up England’s progress over the last couple of years that Tim Ambrose will become the seventh wicket-keeper to pull on the gloves since midway through the last Ashes tour.
Vikram Solanki only kept wicket for a couple of Twenty20 games in South Africa in September because Matt Prior was injured, and there are separate one-day and Test squads these days but even so - seven!
Geraint Jones, Chris Read, Paul Nixon, Prior, Solanki, Phil Mustard - it really is staggering.
Consistency on the field will only come about through consistency in selection and whatever people's individual preference for England’s wicket-keeper might be, every supporter should be hoping that Ambrose settles in easily and successfully.
New Zealand are a team ripe for the taking - and if England fail to knock them off here it will be a serious dent to their ambition for 2009.
truly threaten the stability of New Zealand cricket - players are vulnerable to any decent offer to lure them away - with Scott Styris, Craig McMillan and Shane Bond already retired, and Stephen Fleming calling it a day after this series.
There is also an argument raging about when Daniel Vettori - the team captain - will join the forthcoming tour of England.
So there's plenty bubbling in the background for England to capitalise upon, but they need to focus on getting their own basics sorted out.
The pitches here will be slow and flat, so batsmen must play patiently and sensibly as pressure created by large first innings totals seems the most likely route to victory.
England's seam attack is much more experienced and talented than New Zealand's, and we can expect only Steve Harmison to find any bounce - as long as he is fired up, that is.
And how will Monty Panesar perform?
Here he will undoubtedly be compared alongside Vettori - a fairer position than against Muttiah Muralitharan in Sri Lanka before Christmas.
But the fact is that his experience there left many people wondering if Panesar has both the variety and the capacity to expand his game in order for him to be a long-term success at Test level.
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Good intelligent blog as usual aggers !
keep up the good work.
The selectors must be nearing the end of their list of selectable english wicket keepers...if Ambrose doesn't work out, where next?
I must disagree a little with your comment about Panesar...a young and relatively inexperienced bowler, you compare him to Muraly and Vettori : the two most experienced and successfull spin bowlers left on the internationnal circuit!
Also in Sri Lanka Panesar was up against some of the best players of spin bowling in the world...
I say give the lad some more time to mature and praise him for being the best english spin prospect for years!
Hope England do well though, they have to...
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Good summation Aggers. I fear the wicket-keeping position will continue to be a revolving door unless Ambrose truly stamps his authority in this series.
I cannot see the Kiwis lasting 5 days in any of the Test matches. They are always a threat in the shorter version but lack the determination and patience in the longer form. I would call it an abject failure unless England win at least 2-0.
I have high hopes for Monty though but if things do go awry then I expect several of the senior players to put their arms around him and give him some advice and encouragement which, disappointingly, didn't happen in Sri Lanka.
I also feel that this series is a defining moment for the future career of Strauss as an England player; fail and there are plenty of others knocking on the door.
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Are NZ ripe for the plucking? I think England will win the series but it may not be as clear cut as many commentators are saying. I remember the comments that England would 'wipe out' the kiwis in the ODI's and we all know what happened. The two teams look fairly close on paper with the english having a bit more experience and ability in the test arena, however it may only take a couple of outstanding efforts for NZ to cause an upset. Chris Martin has taken a lot of test wickets in NZ and Vettori could prove a major factor - don't underestimate the NZs bowling attack!
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heavy rain here in Hamilton this afternoon, hope fine for mornining, but with the humidity the ball should swing first thing. toss win vital imo.
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Didn't all the English cricket commentators say the same thing about New Zealand before the one-day series? England are too quick to write off other teams pre-games, and then when they are inevitably shocked by the supposedly astonishing performances by other teams, decide its time to completely reorder their team in a knee-jerk reaction. More moderation may be desired.
I am not saying that N. Zealand are a particularly strong test side. They were hammered rather soundly by S. Africa recently. However, given England's recent performances in test series, it does not do well to expect easy wins over other teams.
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New Zealand are ripe for the taking?
Oh dear, why is it that the English media (when not having a go at the English team) automatically assume that the opposition will be defeated? It shows no respect to the opposition and only causes them to be more fired up.
With the exception of Bangladesh no test side is ripe for the taking - as South Africa found against West Indies and Aussie found against India.
The same was said about the Kiwis before the ODI's - and what was the result in those? Show them some respect!!!
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Shaun E
Aggers made no assumption that England WILL defeat New Zealand: he said that they need to win to keep their ambitions for the Ashes on track.
As a team with a lot of quality and high aspirations, England need to capitalise on a weakened New Zealand team to prove themselves. They will obviously still have to be at the top of their games to succeed.
Chris
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Will you take any responsibility for England's wicketkeeping merry-go-round Mr Agnew?
It all began when certain sections of the media thought it would be fun to mount an anti-Geraint Jones/pro Chris Read campaign.
Think what kind of a cricketer Geraint Jones might have developed into by now if you had shown more patience. Think about it. We might have an English Mark Boucher.
Think how that might have led to greater success for England.
A long period of silence on the subject of wicketkeepers is appropriate.
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NZ will win the series 1-0. The Oracle has spoken.
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hello aggers,
so before he has bowled a ball its lets knock monty again time, when are you ever going to give the bloke a break,to win a test match you usually have to take 10 wickets, and wickets is what he takes. so hes no great shakes with the bat, so here's a novel idea why dont we get the batsmen to do that, also we should pick the best glove man instead of one that can maybe bat but drops vital catches and misses vital stummpings of the bowling of you know who. so sorry about the rant but lets have a little faith in northants spinner
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Personally, Jonathan, even if England do manage to beat this weakened New Zealand team - and that's a big 'if' -I think it would tell us very little.
Of course, winning momentum has to start somewhere, but the comments of alot of the 'stars' of the England team in recent times - inane rote phrases like 'learning curve' and 'taking positives from this' - and the tendancy to over-estimate their team-mates ('Freddie' and 'Monty' are not world-beaters, probably not even potential world-beaters), shows how out of touch with the realities of modern cricket they are.
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Good luck to Ambrose, I think Prior has been more of a success than people credit him for. I don't think selectors prefer an immaculate keeper to one who has a decent batting average otherwise Chris Read might have been given a fairer crack.
Having said that, I'm confused as to why Phil Mustard, who has seemingly batted and kept well in the ODIs, is now discarded.
England need a dominant start but if they do need yet another keeper....Craig Kieswetter perhaps?
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True enough about England's prospects in this Test Series, but Aggers - please don't leap on poor selection of wicket keepers and inconsistancy when it is pundits like you call time to those who have been handed the gloves!! Yes England need consistancy, but equally commentators need patience with selectors...
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With Michael in post no.8 100%.
And I do think when the circle finally is complete, it'll be back to Jones.
Just hope the press have got over their games by then!
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Why are the England players consistantly referring to the Ashes as their benchmark? Yes, it is the biggest series we have but surely the constant references to it are harming the current development. Tours and series against all other nations are perceived as inferior.
In my opinion, England need to toughen up and start playing hard cricket day in day out. Although, Nassar had his critics, he certainly installed that hard egde that was still present when Vaughan took over, helping them win the Ashes. Since then it appears that many players have been on cruise control without fear of being told to shape up!
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Good common sense comment once more Aggers. As for the keeper, England will only get a settled keeper when they realise that they are constantly searching for something which is not there and settle for the best alternative option. England do not have a Gilchrist (and neither does anyone else for that matter - Sangakarra apart, perhaps) and to keep changing keepers in the vain attempt to find a Gilchrist clone is stupid.
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If Ambrose doesn't work out, there's only one thing to do.....It's time for Warren Hegg to make an emotional return!!The team needs its good old Lancashire grit back!
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It's of little importance who England play - and that is not a sleight on the opposition.
It's more important that England play as a team (whoever is in that team at the time)
Great players are not often great team players.
England needs players to play as a team.
Think about it?
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erm, NO. Geraint Jones was never better than adequate behind the stumps - useful pinch-hitter? sure. but to justify his place in the test team he either had to score alot of runs or be conspicuously tidy behind the stumps. he did neither for the best part of a year and a half and then got dropped.
in fact, you COULD argue that the only reason he hung in there for as long as he did (in the face of mounting criticism from England SUPPORTERS - not just the press) was that he was managed by Neil Fairbrother and drinking-buddies with the Fletcher/Freddie clique.
for what it's worth, from what i've seen both Mustard and Ambrose have the potential to be good players for England.
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I think to blame the media for the lack of stability in the wicketkeeping position is unfair - the media's job is to comment, if you're not interested in their views fair enough and if selectors and players are influenced by them they're not mentally up to their jobs.
The selectors need to make up their minds what they want, and the change of coaches has had a big impact also.
Fletcher cared more about runs than quality glovework, hence Read being dropped, but since Jones was in the side for his runs when they dried up he could no longer justify his place. Read came back but Fletcher never gave him a chance as he plain didn't rate him.
Moores obviously puts mroe stock in glovework. When Prior put down catches at key moments Moores, to his credit, realized he wasn't good enough behind the stumps regardless of promising performances with the bat. This was really hammered home by the impact it had on tiring seamers' morale, with batsmen going on to make huge scores.
Nixon was only ever a stopgap, and Mustard, despite his place in the Test side, is only in reality an ODI prospect, and even here he has not excelled yet, averging 23 as an opener with one 50 in ten games, albeit with a decent dtrike rate. He averages about 27 in county cricket with 2 centuries to his name, giving no hint that he can bat 7 in Test cricket.
Ambrose averaged 45 last season including a double century, so has the more obvious talent. Fingers crossed.
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It's of little importance who England play - and that is not a sleight on the opposition.
It's more important that England play as a team (whoever is in that team at the time)
Great players are not often great team players.
England needs players to play as a team.
Think about it?
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It's not so much that we are underestimating New Zealand and expect to beat them 3-0; the question is that last time we met, in 2004, we DID beat them 3-0 as a prelude to the Ashes and if England are to regain credibility they must win the series and win well. The comments above from other fans really show the extent to which England's standing has been eroded by poor results over the last two years in that a statement that "this is the kind of opposition that we need to beat" is transmogrified into a "England underestimate New Zealand and are going to pay for it". The two statements are completely different!
No one doubts that New Zealand are doughty fighters at Test and ODI level. I attended the series in 1983 where New Zealand won a Test in England for the first time and then went on to win the return series in New Zealand well. Since that breakthrough they have been highly competitative on limited resources. England fans though will not accept another series defeat or draw in extremis against an opponent that we see as beatable and, what is more, in some turmoil: the excuses for potential failure will not wash this time!
I hope that England will win 2-0. But if we are to show that we are going to beat the best again, we need to win a series like this 3-0 and show no mercy. And show no mercy in the return series in the summer, because South Africa, sure as hell, will want revenge for defeat in the 2004/05 series.
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Hi Aggers,
(you have my dream job)
I cant wait for the test to start. One day cricket is enjoyble to me but not as satisfying as a hard fought test.
I say hard fought purely in cricket terms, lets hope at the end of this match we are talking about a great game rather than some controversy.
I am a Bears fan so will be routing for Ambrose. Bell to get a 100 or possibly something bigger, keep the faith with Broad and nice to have a spinner back!
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To be honest, the wicketkeeper is not my biggest concern. However, the selectors need to decide what they want from the man behind the stumps. Players go in and out of form, but the wicketkeeper position is constantly under the spotlight. Primarily the keeper needs to take the regulation catches and take a healthy % of tricky ones too, as well as being tidy and not let the ball go for 4 byes. Prior failed to keep sufficiently, and if he wasn't making hundreds it wasn't good enough. Jones too did not keep wicket to a consistently high standard either, and his batting was worse than Prior's. I have not seem much of Ambrose and Mustard, but presumably they are very consistent behind the stumps, and are each capable of contributing with the odd 50 with the bat. That's the aim, and only time will tell....
I'm more concerned with our batting & bowling. Vaughan is not in form, Cook is therefore under prssure to score big, Strauss despite his recent 104 has a bit to prove, Pietersen is ok but needs to convert 50s to 100s, Bell is good on his day but can go early, Colly is not in form, and Ambrose is next in, and if he is not in good scoring form then our tail looks very long. Sidey can make the odd 30, Hoggard cannot bat, Harmison is all swishy, amd Panesar is poor.
No successful test team has no-one who can bat below 7, yet we do.
I'd question Harmison's selection above Broad, and Panesar really needs to prove his spinning prowess or i'd replace him with Swann, or even not bother with a full time spinner and simply replace the most out of form batsmen with Shah and let he and Pietersen bowl a few overs of spin, and bring Broad in for Panesar. Either way, our batting needs to be beefed up a bit, at no real cost to our bowling attack. Giles' 30s and time at the crease was so important in 2005. I fear that England will struggle too score over the 350, batting 1st, which is needed to win games, and therefore not give our pretty average bowling attack a chance to have the opposition under pressure.
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let's just pick the best keeper we have and get on with it. This will take the pressure off the idea of having to score like gilchrist used to and how sangakarra is. If the keeper wants it enough hopefully he will work exceptionally hard at his game and look to improve his batting! Bring in DAVIES!!!!!!!
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Good summary by Aggers. On the subject of the wicket keeper, I believe most teams have got this wrong, and have not taken the issue of work behind the stumps seriously enough. I know Adam Gilchrist set the new mould for what a batsman/keeper could be, but if a keeper is not up to the job in terms of catching and stumpings he can cost a side a test series, whether or not he scores runs when batting.
A dropped catch or missed stumping off a top order batsman can cost a fielding side dear, sometimes a hundred or more runs. The batsman/keeper has got to be extremely consistent to warrant a place over a specialist keeper, and with very few exceptions a batsman/keeper is simply not worth the risk over a keeper/batsman. A top keeper is not a luxury.
GS
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Well balanced blog again Mr Agnew, totally agree with your assessment of Monty. While this may not be make or break, a poor performance here plus another in the home series against the Kiwis will seriously hamper his chances of playing against S. Africa later on this summer.
Also why is Strauss playing and also why at no.3? What must Ian Bell be feeling? And more to the point Owais Shah? He was jettisoned for Bopara in Sri Lanka and we all know what happened there.
Don't think this is doing much to foster team spirit and develop a team that is capable of beating the better teams in world cricket.
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its a little concerning that we are always looking over our shoulder at the ashes, constantly worrying about australia. we arent as good as them fullstop. despite their recent retirees, they still have reserve players that would easily make the england first team. who other than kp would be realistically pushing for a place in the aussie team, perhaps fred in his day but that day was a while back.
we were humiliated in the last ashes and i still feel like if mc grath hadn't had trod on that ball in 2005....
anyways sorry to be all pessimistic, lets knock over the kiwis then the proteas, we'll get back to number 2 and maybe bracken will tread on a ball in 2009. my fingers are crossed
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There are two factors which might interfere with England gaining supremacy.
The first is the NZ pitches which seem to be slow and low. But there have also been reports of recent weather turning wickets to green! NZ cricketers will have a home advantage if conditions are difficult for scoring.
The second is the long England tail which I think is the worst in world cricket.
Very little can be done about it now but in future bowlers must be expected to bat and trained accordingly through the Academies.
It is no longer possible to not bat down the order.
I think this is our Achilles heel.
If Ambrose can't bat for very long that wipes out 6 or limits 5 if 6 has failed.
The source of the wicket keeping dilemma is our long tail.
With Jones and Giles we did have batting at 7 and 8 which made a crucial difference in the Ashes Series we won.
It's often forgotten that it was the Giles-Pietersen partneship that saved the last Test.
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New Zealand are really going to be struggling now...
we have to make sure that they get punished... and quick! the thing that concerns me is that our seam attack isn't going to turn up! especially since Hoggy has only just returned to action and Sidey has had that hamstring injury, so that leaves us with Harmy as our main strike bowler?! God help us!
Ambrose does seem to be a brave and yet conscientious choice thats for sure... but what about Steven Davies from Worcestershire? He might be considered in the future... but I am still surprised that James Foster hasn't had more of a look in
Great stuff, Aggers!
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As usual a thought provoking article from J Agnew. Notwithstanding that, I believe we are doing the team a disservice to write off NZ so early - and it is rather arrogant. I thought that Read was treated harshly and cast aside unfairly. Vaughan is a great captain, but he needs to exert greater discipline amongst the team.
However, I am amazed that Panasar is being criticised so much; something has happened to this most skillful and enthusiastic player. Vaughan may not have too much confidence in him and/or the selectors have been playing with his mind. He is, without question a world class spinner and far and away the best in England. He needs to be treated with respect and encouragement.
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I was going to read this but you mentioned the ashes in the first line. STOP TALKING ABOUT THE FREAKING ASHES WE ARE PLAYING NEW ZEALAND!!! If the team are really intent on winning back the ashes they should forget they even exist and do their best this week on the pitch.
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Why is it always about the Ashes?
Michael Vaughan was banging on about them, and now Aggers has picked up the same refrain. I really don't see that this fixation is helpful. What England need to do is develop the strength of character to deal ruthlessly with whoever the opposition is on the day: session by session, match by match, series by series.
Constantly gazing into crystal balls, and focussing on series which are over 12 months away is an utter waste of time. We should concentrate 100% on dispatching the Kiwis. Just forget about the blasted Ashes, for now.
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u guys are doing great, more power to your elbow. i need a full asses to all information on any cricket event and complete photos.am a Nigerian,i am playing cricket for my school.
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England are the best team in the world and because of their dominance will beat this laclustre New Zealand team 3-0 and that will prepare us to beat Australia in 2009...England are extremely special and just need to turn up now that mighty Strauss is back and we have an exceptional wicketkeeper in Ambrose. With the perfect batting top 6 England have ever produced in its history, the greatest England side ever will prevail...
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"New Zealand are a team ripe for the taking"
this irresposible comment signifies what is wrong with British sports journalism. The new zealand team is not a bunch of amatures and take a lot of pride in playing for their country as shown in the ODI series. Yes they have lost a few players and not the strongest test team England have come across but they do have enough quality to trouble england if they are not on their game. Don't take me wrong - If England play to their potential they should win and win easily. But with England I wouldn't be betting my house on it.
I remember before the ODI series lot of people were predicting 5-0 to England and we all know what happened!
Cmon aggers - If England don't respect the opposition they aren't going to beat them - and you are setting a bad example.
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It would seem to me that the selctors had found the answer to thr keeper/batsmen conundrum in Prior. Yes he was erratic behind the stumps but he gave the batting card some much needed balance.
The result of this series rests on one thing alone, the penetration of the English seamers. Aside from the Ashes famous four when was the last time our seam attack looked lethal??
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it should be a very well fought test series specially after the close one day encounters. the problem with england lies in the selection and consistency. too many players have been chopped and churned. lets hope they give ambrose enough time to settle down and cement his place in the test side. as far as the slot of spinner is concerned i am closely looking forward for adil rashid this summer.monty would do well in this series but he needs support from the senior members of the team.this series should be "do or die" for strauss.considering how gifted this player is he needs to perform otherwise the likes of bopara,shah and dmitri are waiting ... thanks
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r.toone at 8.04am - not to be a pedant, but to win a test you need to take 20 wickets every time, not 10, and not "usually". The point about Monty is that flashes of form to get a few wickets per test or just repeating the same deliveries against different opposition will not bring him wickets at a good enough average to win Tests. I agree, let's support Monty to the hilt and hope he develops into a genuinely world class player, but the job of Aggers and others is to assess where players are at. He's had plenty of praise as well constructive criticism since his debut, but incessantly coddling players is no more beneficial to them than slating them all the time!
As for the Ashes, I agree with the posts that England need to forget they exist and concentrate on becoming a consistently successful team. Only when they achieve that should they even think about the Ashes. Otherwise, we'll get destroyed by the Aussies(again)!
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To Edward Lowe, Post 28.
I agree with you regarding McGrath injuring himself.
However, the last Ashes would have been very different (though not suggesting England would have retained) had England not lost Vaughan and Trescothick.
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Sorry if no one else agrees with me but when is every england fan, and the selectors for that matter, that there is only one spinner for the england job... ADIL RASHID. Last season was a great breakthrough for hom at Yorkshire and yet he is not even getting a reckoning. Also we always seem to talk about how importance Ashly Giles was with the bat even if he didn't contribute with the ball that often, well that certainly isn't a problem for Rashid who could comfortably bat at 8 for england and average over 20. Please someone tell me that i am not the only person who thinks that New Zealand, a team massively on the down, would be the perfect place to blood Rashid in?????
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in fairness there has only been four test wiki's since stewart retired.. thats not too bad for 5 years although not ideal.
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Great stuff Aggers, it is going to be interesting to see how Monty goes, but i think it is important that the media hype - partly due to his ethnicity and partly to do with his boyish enthusiasm, and sadly only partly to do with performance - has the variety and capacity to accept that he is a limited but valuable performer, not a magician.
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Aggers, Jonathon,
England must respect New Zealand. They take to the same pitch and wicket.
England fans are looking for a careful, watchful but fuent "big score" from one of Cooke, Strauss, "Vaughan", Bell, Pieterson, Collingwood. We need a 400 big score. We also need a an England bowler to get some wickets, like 3 wickets plus.
I'm not too concerned about the Wicketkeeper, Ambrose will do OK.
We need batsman to focus and score big, and bowlers to but the ball in the corridor of uncertainty, and know Kiwi wickets over.
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I'm looking forward to this series. England were rubbish in SL and are unlikely to be much better here, but fortunately NZ aren't great either. They should be full of confidence however after their one-day success and the fact that they're at home should help. I suspect England will probably make their usual cock-up or two, but NZ won't be able to make them pay, so England will edge it.
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I think this series may be close, both teams have valid squads with players both off and on form. However, i think it will down to our bowlers to win games for us. Probably the most consistent performer for the test side since his debut 8 years ago is Matthew Hoggard. I'd say he is still the best bowler in the team. It will be up o the like of Harmison and Sidebottom to support him with Monty giving us the reliant spinning option (along with humour when fielding).
Where our batsmen are concerned i think we should be ok. Cook has the opportunity like in Sri Lanka to open with a more experienced player and a right hander in Michael Vaughan. The middle order names itself really in Bell, Pietersen and Collingwood. The Strauss v Shah argument will rage on i would go with Strauss just because of test experience. If we were playing a lesser team the by all mean give Shah a go.
Here's hoping an England win.
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The pitch is dry and NZ will probably take two spinners into the match. Despite all the hype about Panasar he is not world class and will take some time to get there, if indeed he does.
If the English players believe there press and fans - NZ are easy beats - they will receive a kicking.
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Why do you still persist with seeing every England Test series as a warm-up for the next Ashes?
It's disrespectful and counter-productive. On recent form England are simply not good enough to look past opponents like New Zealand.
In my opinion, England lost their way after 2005 when every series, match and innings started to be viewed as an hors d'oeuvre to the next series in Australia. And we all know how that went.
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Once again we are undewretimating our opponents.I must dis agree with Aggers,forgetting N.Z. for the moment,who within the England side has shown any consistant form,either with bat or ball,the wicketkeeping position speaks for itself.Englnd do not appeear to be able to halt a batting collaspe,none of our players seem to be prepared to stay at the crease,wwe do not like other teams have the players with the ability to hit our way out of trouble.With regards to the bowling without a helpful pitch we do not seem to have a penetration bowler,our hopes on an unhelpful wicket appear to rest on the shoulders of Monty,but where will his support come from.
Finally to N.Z.remember it's their territory,and aqlthoughg their squad has been depleted,don't forget'we are no Australia,in countless sports we Brits have this undeniable quality of underestimating our opponents and suffer the consequences,two what I would call run of the mill teams without any realiy consistant star on the test arena,are going head to head,with home advantage England beware.
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Perhaps New Zealand will be thinking that England are there for the taking?
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Aggers,remember your article after Englands famous 2-0 victory in the 20/20 series.Oh how you took delight in saying it will be the death of the 50 over format.The fact that the odi series in both NZ and Oz recently has been watched by millions around the world and has far more character and complexity to it than clown cricket ie 20/20.I think the real threat to world cricket is the loss of 5 day test match cricket.Do not be fooled by your little series win all those years ago.You can keep your mbe awards and concentrate on playing interesting and attractive cricket.Dont be fooled by your old boy antics test cricket will have to fight for its credibility if you want the world to watch...forget the ashes England have a long way to go yet,just try your best to beat NZ first.
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2 quick things....
1. Daniel Vettoris' average is not so dissimilar to Montys'. One is feted as one of the best spinners in world cricket and one isn't. In NZ it is accepted that Vettori is the best they have and they support him in any way they can.
2. Have Australia just spent the last 2 months against India thinking "Ooh, the Ashes are coming up". I think not. You can only deal with what you can directly bring influence to bare on. Concentrate on Day 2 in Hamilton. Who knows half the team could be injured or retired by the next Ashes. It wouldn't be the first time.
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well as kiwis we're used to getting ignored/downplayed, so if you want to focus on beating Australia while playing us that's fine - we'll just quietly disappoint, and take the win.
i only hope Fleming gets a ton (or 2!) to retire with.
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When will all English cricket supporters take of the very thick
dark glasses and look at a team of
mini talented, overpaid dead legs. and the sooner we send a team from
either the Lancashire ,or North
Staffordshire Leagues to represent
the country, the sooner we will once
again compete. Scrap them all and start again. "Dont want anymore Mr Moore" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disgusted Englishman.
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NZ ripe for the taking? As opposed to all those other years the NZ team have carried the world's test nations before them, I pressume?
NZ test cricket has always been, and always will be, very weak. However, do not assume the English bowlers will take victory due to being "more experienced". As you say Agnew, the NZ wickets are pretty flat and the NZ bowlers have experience on them.
As for the 'keeper debate. NZ picked BMac for his 'keeping skills and he has now developed into a great batsman. England seem to be selecting batsmen and hoping they turn into great 'keepers. No matter what sport you play or what else you bring to the team, your priority is your core skills. Anything else should be just a bonus.
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The kiwis failings have been top order instability and a limited bowling attack. Addressing those in turn:
Top order - Sinclair has never cemented a spot in a nation not replete with options. Hasn't proven himself to be of test standard. Fleming may do himself some justice by playing a few match altering long innings. He deserves to. The remainder of the line-up have some form and probably match England overall.
Bowling: On home tracks the Bond- deficient attack may prove better than their previous records suggest. NZ pitches don't suit Vettori and the remaining bowlers picked as bowlers revolve in and out of the team. If they succeed they will need the help of the English batsmen. The English attack will be more used to the conditions than other visiting teams.
Summary: Could go either way, but in 5 day mental flakiness NZ may have the edge. England should win but may not.
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England are obsessed with the ashes.Everything seems to be based around it and until you get over past glories you wont move ahead.Its also disrespectful to other international teams.sure NZ arent the strongest in the world but they have limited resources compared to most and I think punch well above their weight.England and some of their fans have an overinflated opinion of themselves and should start getting results other than talking themselves up!
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Ha ha ha
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I couldn't agree more with what Troy has just said. I myself am a Kiwi and am really enjoying our team getting constantly talked down by the English press, especially Nasser Hussain. They talk us down, and just expect the English team to just walk all over us. That kind of pressure surely does not help a struggling team like England perform. Sure 2005 was a good series, but the media seems to forget what happened in the last series. They got completely thrashed, and have hardly acheived anything since 2005. All the NZ team needs to perform is the motivation given by writing them off, and that is clearly happening so far in the test match.
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