New Zealand vs England 2nd Test

Why do Batsman defend a sixth stump line. Winds me up win lose or draw. If it isn't hitting your stumps whack it to boundary or leave it.

 

Ravindra will be dropped for Will Young at Seddon Park. He's not had a good series.

 

On your other point. The pitch is still the same size.

You can have a pair of ******** on a dusty pitch in India or Australia or not lol. (If you can bat conditions are secondary not an excuse).

 

Anyone heard from Darren Lehman recently?

 

Not bad for flat track bullies ......

 

Series won against a team who had just beaten India 3-0 in their own back yard.

 

Proper good win.
Are 5 day tests involving England going to be a thing of the past ?
Oh, hang on, maybe not at home considering our climate

 

In response to Lehman again

Joe Root this calendar year has so far scored 1470 test runs which is more than Williamson Kohli and Smith combined.

Keep talking Darren.

 

I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed watching England playing away so much. Thanks to my Bt Sports subscription (£20 per mth) I can watch the morning session live before going to bed and then watch the rest in the morning, or whenever

 

With regards to the ashes in 11 months time I just had a look at the Aussies 11 playing against India where 10 of the 11 are way over 30 years of age.

Stokes and McCullum seem.to have dropped on a few little young gems recently in Jamie Smith Gus Atkinson Shoab Bashir Jacob Bethell and not forgetting our very own Harry Brook.

 

Keep it quiet … they probably don’t realise their ages !

 

Interesting point. I recently watched ‘The Test’, a 3 part documentary which followed the Aussies on their 2023 tour of England. It felt like a bit of a swan song for that group of players. They had families with them etc.

Of course they took the cricket seriously, and were desperate to win. But it had the feel like they had done their hard yards, and it was coming to an end. They had nothing left to prove if you know what I mean.

Yet most of them are still in the team! And to be fair they’re still largely performing. But in sport at a certain age, decline can come rapidly (look at Tim Southee in this series). What if that happens to 3 or 4 of them over the next year? They then suddenly need to bring in players with hardly any test experience.

You’re more susceptible to injury as well when you hit your mid 30’s. Again, if your replacement has had very little experience, it could make a massive difference. Especially in Ashes cricket, which can be crazy on and off the field.

 

Merely sandpapering over the cracks.

 

On a similar note. Kept away from here not wanting to know the score. 1st session live. Bed, then highlights 8:30am - 10am. Being retired helps.

 

Certainly does!