England team to play New Zealand

You are right but it’s refreshing to see someone having a go and it’s his natural game

 

Can’t do with players who think they can decide if and when they play for their country…. injuries excepted.

He’s drawn his money from IPL so thinks “ why not play tests again to top it up “

 

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I just had a quick look on statsguru. 4 is the answer!

Bangladesh v NZ in 2017, us in Adelaide in 2006 (Pietersen's 158), the Aussies v India in 2003, and the Aussies again in an Ashes match in 1894!

 

Graham Gooch scored thousands of runs as a opener, which is a position we struggle with. Why don't we pick him?

 

We're only 80 behind, with 5 wickets left. Root is flying and has at least Foakes and then a bit more from the tail to come with him.

Even if he goes first ball tomorrow, we'll finish a max of fifty behind them, which is good considering they scored 550.

The hinge for this match is the start of their second innings - they were 39/6 in the first test. Repeat that (or even something close) and we've every chance.

I'm betting on a draw though, this pitch is a pancake and too many errors are required for a result. Plus both sides have fielded poorly and missed chances.

 

He won’t have oiled his bat

 

The win for England is much more likely than it is for New Zealand now.

I've got a funny feeling that there is still a result in this game. The pitch isn't quite as flat as the scores make it seem and there's a bit of spin in the pitch now. If the catches had been held by both teams we would be looking at a very different game. Also, remember that we are only on day 4, the scoring rate has been so high that the game has accelerated at a pace so there is time left. With the Stokes/McCullum attitude, we would look to chase a score down and you'd fancy us with the short boundaries, quick outfield etc. Tricky 3rd innings for NZ, I'm excited for an intriguing days play.

 

Me too… it’ll probably turn into a damp squib of a draw !!!
There was certainly evidence of it taking spin yesterday so bring it on ( not the squib )

 

I think the scores are more of a reflection on the catching than the pitch.

 

And the outfield/boundary sizes.

 

Interesting snippet … Root has five test double centuries and Tendulkar had six.
I’d have guessed lower for JR and higher for Tendulkar.
Sorry if it’s kiss of death

 

That reverse scoop from Root is just stupidly good.

 

D'oh!

 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Root to get his double century at Headingley I reckon!

 

In a 400 partnership with Brook

 

Brook won't get his chance now Pope has performed this test!

 

It's a strange one this. While I agree there have been some dropped catches, the ball has consistently done very little despite some excellent bowlers being on display.

The wickets have tended to come from bad decision making and poor technique, very few have been fantastic deliveries that have been hard to play.

For 2 teams to get around 550 suggests the pitch is too much in favour of the batsmen.

For a result, it's going to need a mixture of an amazing batting collapse with some incredible bowling in one of the remaining innings. I'd say a draw is the favourite from here, but you never know.

 

Ohhhh noooo don’t say that.

They’ve GOT to put him in somewhere .

 

First hour to New Zealand to maintain a lead and get half hour team out.