Cricket 2015/16

[pt73]

I'm in NZ on holidays and strangely nobody is talking about the cricket ......

[BenM]

I'm in NZ on holidays and strangely nobody is talking about the cricket ......

I was in England during the 2013 Ashes. People stopped me in the street to mention it when they saw my Australia shirt.

The Kiwis played well in the ODIs though, they should be plenty proud. Long time to go in this game too.

[jimandr]

The Kiwi's will be thinking there is a long time to go, as well, and planning to save the game.

From 2/5 this could hardly have been a better performance from our bats. Khawaja and Voges must be worried about going to bed at night just in case the dream is over when they wake up.

The pitch has levelled right out though, so I don't see a declaration. Bat for as many runs as we can get, and put them under pressure.

[TheNuclearOne]

NZ have had some great second innings ressurections in recent history so hopefully we can bowl patiently to plan and take our chances in the field. Barring weather they will have to do some pretty big things to get out of this one.

[TheNuclearOne]

Vogues is finally dismissed after over 600 unbeaten runs. Be interesting to know what we might have scored without the dud no ball call.

[TheNuclearOne]

Hazlewood with the big wicket, just reward for keeping the pressure right on. Slowly whittling away at them.

[Coopers Country]

Yeah TNO he is bowling well , and so is the whole side really , it is a road the pitch so they are just going to have to keep the pressure on

[TheNuclearOne]

Yeah TNO he is bowling well , and so is the whole side really , it is a road the pitch so they are just going to have to keep the pressure on

For sure CC. All about bowling to a plan and keeping it tight and the pressure on. Smith will be changing the field heaps and rotating the bowlers plenty to keep them from getting overly set or comfortable. Often in innings like this breaking thru a big partnership can lead to a cluster of wickets even on a road.

[TheNuclearOne]

Huge wicket to Marsh in the last over of the day. Turns a really really good day for us into a great one. Nice probing by Lyon too, couple of excellent break throughs.

[AndyP]

Tonight I saw Dan Christian walk out of the lobby of the hotel that I am staying at in Adelaide. It turns out that the whole Victorian cricket team is here. With the Shield day/nighter on at the Adelaide Oval for the next few days, I might try to go on Tuesday or Wednesday.

[Wardy101]

should be all over in NZ very soon.

[jimandr]

Very good win away from home by us.

A few worrying signs, but mostly good things from the Aussies.

Obviously, the batting was outstanding, but it helped greatly to bat second.

Hazlewood may have had his best test I reckon. He was the clear leader of the attack, and it seemed to sit well with him. Lyon was similarly excellent. But the support bowling is a concern. Mitch Marsh was good, but Jackson Bird wasn't, and Siddle might be injured, so we need another bowler one way or another. If Pattinson can't recover his fitness, it becomes an attack full of plodders if the wicket isn't helpful. Maybe Sayers gets a go regardless, just to see what he has to offer under test pressure.

[Moe Norman]

Thought Siddle bowled very well in first innings and Bird bowled without luck, but will be good for the run.

Mitch Marsh is essentially a specialist bowler, so he needs to bowl well (which he is)

[3oneday]

Our bowlers are crocks, or soft, more injuries than Shane Watson.

[mrbluu]

Thought Siddle bowled very well in first innings and Bird bowled without luck, but will be good for the run.

Mitch Marsh is essentially a specialist bowler, so he needs to bowl well (which he is)

It's good to see the selectors sticking with Marsh as I like having him in the team as he is awesome coverage if one of our bowlers go down, but I agree he is more of a specialist bowler than a batsmen.

Maybe they can move Neville to 6 and Marsh to 7.

Good to see Lyons bowling pretty well as well.

[Coopers Country]

I think Marsh is what is needed as an all rounder , more bowler than batsman , because our bowling stocks are not great . Neville is definitely not a test Number 6
But I don't know much about the rest of the wicketkeepers in Australia
Hazlewood bowled very well in this test and seems to have come of age , on the other side of the age issue Siddle is a complete plodder and cant get through a test
Get Starc back in this side though and we are looking great
All in all a great performance in conditions that are not our best

[Yossarian]

Our bowling stocks aren't great? Compared to who?

Nevill is much more of a 6 than M Marsh.

[Moe Norman]

our bowling stocks are exceptional.

If Nevill isn't a test number 6, what do you think of the guy currently occupying number 6?!?!

I like the way Marsh is bowling, but I think there are better bowlers out there who can bat a bit who could probably do a similar job, if not better. (Faulkner for one is a significantly better bowler, but a similar standard batsman)

[3oneday]

I think Siddle is an excellent bowler, I often wonder why he isn't tried in T20. Maybe he's too straight.

I'm concerned with the injuries though, Cummins has hardly played for 2 years it seems, maybe longer, Starc is injured regularly and so is Pattinson.

[Coopers Country]

Well I will stand corrected on the bowling stocks

Neville is a test number 6 because we have a bowling all rounder instead of a batting all rounder ,Which is the way it should be ,really we should be able to do the job with 5 specalist batsman

Starc was bowled into the ground last summer , because we didn't have any other strike bowlers , which is quite amazing considering we have so many conditioning coaches attached to the side

[Moe Norman]

Nevill is a test #6 because he has a better career batting record at first class level than any other Australian cricketer trying to stake a claim to bat at #6 in Test cricket for Australia.

You only need to be better than the next bloke in line, not better than someone who did the job exceedingly well previously and set a benchmark to be measured against.

Have a look at Neville's record as a batsman at first class level. It's better than most of the Kiwi test players except Williamson and Taylor (Taylor being injured really hurt them imo) Williamson at 49 is the only bloke with a test batting average over 40, and probably the only one with a first class average over 45 as well. Guptill averages 30!

We just mark people by exceedingly high standards after having such a dominant side where a batting average of 45 became the benchmark for anyone in our Top 6.

We still have 4 guys in the top 6 averaging 50+. If Marsh could go from an average of 20 to 35, that would be more than acceptable imo. If Burns floated between 38 and 42, that would be fine too. (40 currently)

We mark far too hard.

[TheNuclearOne]

McCullum playing T20 in a Test. Could we see a last Test special, or will he again perish while being uber aggressive. He now holds the Test 6's record alone.

[Frank]

Well that was worth staying home for. 100 off 54 balls.
Crazy stuff.

[Jarro]

If only Pattinson wasn't prone to stepping over the front line

[jimandr]

McCullum playing T20 in a Test. Could we see a last Test special, or will he again perish while being uber aggressive. He now holds the Test 6's record alone.

You got what you wished for, TNO.

In a way I'm glad it is over, as batting like that makes a bit of a mockery of test cricket. But McCullum is the best in the world at doing that, and it is a very fitting way to go out.

Anderson has been very good in his support role, as well.

Instead of us chasing 150, we could be looking at a decent score, but the NZ tail is quite long. Could be a very interesting game, this one.