England v New Zealand Test Match

[king canary 7,607]

At this point I think England's ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory is almost impressive. If I was an England bowler I'd be raging at the way our batsmen find so many ways to fail no matter how well you set the game up for them. To finish the first innings only up by 9 when you've got your opponents all out for 132 and being 91-2 at one point takes a special kind of ****ness.

[A Load of Squit 5,164]

NZ are showing why they are the no.1 test playing team.

 

[king canary 7,607]

3 minutes ago, A Load of Squit said:

NZ are showing why they are the no.1 test playing team.

 

And we're showing why we're down at number 6.

[A Load of Squit 5,164]

3 minutes ago, king canary said:

And we're showing why we're down at number 6.

Exactly.

 

[1902 1,167]

To be honest though, it's not surprising that there's issues with batting. If you look at the state of the four day game and the way the calendar is organised.

Far too many games are played outside the prime run scoring seasons in the middle of the year, which means lots of batsman never really hit form or have much of an incentive to play themselves in. They are far too often playing against a swinging ball in the early part of the year, where the incentive is to just try your luck as 'one has your name on it', (this is a complete fallacy but it seems to permeate the consciousness of young batsman all too frequently).

Additionally, English county cricket lacks high quality bowlers because as soon as someone bowls well they are pulled from the county championship and placed in the test side and not returned to the championship. Ironically they then bowl far too few overs (which seems to be linked to the high levels of stress fractures).

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

Are they flattering to deceive right now?

[Nuff Said 5,141]

It’s true of all sport to some extent, but Test match cricket has a special “see-saw” ability to very often keep you riveted until the very end. Great stuff today.

[A Load of Squit 5,164]

I'm expecting it to go to a Super Over.

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

I'm expecting us to throw it away 🙂 

[Van wink 2,994]

A bit of luck but this one seems destined for an England victory.........of course tomorrow is a new day 😀

[How I Wrote Elastic Man 1,187]

Weather forecast is for thunder showers in the morning, and cloudy after 

We are one wicket from the tail

I would rather be in NZ's position, but after being 60 odd for 4, I am hoping Joe might get us home 

[king canary 7,607]

Huge credit to Root for once again carrying this batting attack on his back. 

However I struggle to get too optimistic. Have seen this story before and it usually involves Root getting out after adding about 10 more then the remaining batters getting skittles for about 15 runs and we're wrapped up before midday.

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

Would be a massive collapse now if we lose from here. 

[king canary 7,607]

So victory snatched from the jaws of defeat that we'd previously snatched from the jaws of victory! Well played Root and Foakes, very calm finish.

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

Congratulations to Joe Root on his 💯  and 10,000 🎉

[overthebordercanary 142]

I was at Lord's on Friday, we looked a million years from winning at that point.

[king canary 7,607]

So what have we learnt from this match?

- Root remains world class

- Potts looks very decent

- Foakes should be our keeper every match

What we're no closer to understanding is our best batting line up. We'll win the odd test where Root and Stokes bail us out but we need more.

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

19 minutes ago, king canary said:

So what have we learnt from this match?

- Root remains world class

- Potts looks very decent

- Foakes should be our keeper every match

What we're no closer to understanding is our best batting line up. We'll win the odd test where Root and Stokes bail us out but we need more.

Broad and Anderson are still pivotal.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Bring Hales back in from the cold. Stokes got a reprieve.

[overthebordercanary 142]

2nd Test

Revert to classic England, dropped catches galore, the opposition score bucket loads of runs and when it's our turn give a cheap wicket straight away. 

[Daz Sparks 1,154]

Extremely benign wicket, if we can't force a draw then I'll  join you in bashing them. 

[Herman 9,767]

Went well. Draw likely unless there's a dramatic overnight change to the pitch.😀

[Midlands Yellow 3,985]

Joe Root as captain of England, was an excellent batsman. Now, simply the best test batsman going. 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Midlands Yellow

[king canary 7,607]

Well a potentially exciting final day today if we can get those wickets early.

I'm encouraged by the signs of some mental fortitude. Previous England teams would have collapsed after that first wicket fell, even on a flat pitch. Also the captain and coach seem to actually have some plans & tactics for getting batsmen out which rarely seemed to happen with Root.

Feels like we're still short an opener and a spinner though- Crawley and Leach just don't look up to it.

[sonyc 5,519]

13 minutes ago, king canary said:

Well a potentially exciting final day today if we can get those wickets early.

I'm encouraged by the signs of some mental fortitude. Previous England teams would have collapsed after that first wicket fell, even on a flat pitch. Also the captain and coach seem to actually have some plans & tactics for getting batsmen out which rarely seemed to happen with Root.

Feels like we're still short an opener and a spinner though- Crawley and Leach just don't look up to it.

Agree with that. For the first time (in a very long while) the team looks up for a fight, to play expansively and indeed have plans for all kinds of situations. I've thoroughly enjoyed both tests so far and I was very sceptical about Stokes' captaincy. Yet he appears emboldened by it. Early days but I like it.

Agree about Leach and I'm unsure on Crawley but feel there might be a player there. Foakes has been a plus. Root looks freer too.

All this too with so many front line bowlers out with injury (Archer a real miss as wanted to see what he could do with a run of matches).

Need to get an early wicket in first 3/4 overs and it could be a great afternoon and I believe they will play freely and go for it. Stokes appears to want players to enjoy themselves and express.

[king canary 7,607]

3 minutes ago, sonyc said:

Agree with that. For the first time (in a very long while) the team looks up for a fight, to play expansively and indeed have plans for all kinds of situations. I've thoroughly enjoyed both tests so far and I was very sceptical about Stokes' captaincy. Yet he appears emboldened by it. Early days but I like it.

Agree about Leach and I'm unsure on Crawley but feel there might be a player there. Foakes has been a plus. Root looks freer too.

All this too with so many front line bowlers out with injury (Archer a real miss as wanted to see what he could do with a run of matches).

Need to get an early wicket in first 3/4 overs and it could be a great afternoon and I believe they will play freely and go for it. Stokes appears to want players to enjoy themselves and express.

Time is on Crawley's side at least but I think Cook summed it up well when he said his best scoring shot is also his biggest weakness. He needs to improve how he plays around off stump drastically or he'll just be a walking wicket.

[king canary 7,607]

Me after the 10th wicket fell- '299 is too much no way we chase it down.'

Me after one over of batting 'piece of **** this, wrapped up by tea.'

[king canary 7,607]

1 hour ago, king canary said:

Time is on Crawley's side at least but I think Cook summed it up well when he said his best scoring shot is also his biggest weakness. He needs to improve how he plays around off stump drastically or he'll just be a walking wicket.

and there he goes again...fishing outside off stump, straight into the slips. 

He needs to go away and seriously work on his technique in that area. Can't be a test player with such a glaring weakness.

[Nuff Said 5,141]

I haven’t taken a sickie in, I don’t know,  30 years but with free entry today and Trent Bridge 30 minutes away I was seriously tempted. My manager isn’t stupid though. 🙄

 

I’ll jinx it now and say I think England can win this.

[Nuff Said 5,141]

1 hour ago, Nuff Said said:

I haven’t taken a sickie in, I don’t know,  30 years but with free entry today and Trent Bridge 30 minutes away I was seriously tempted. My manager isn’t stupid though. 🙄

 

I’ll jinx it now and say I think England can win this.

Yep, jinxed it. ☹️