England's Summer of Cricket 2021

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2nd June-14th June: Two tests v New Zealand

23rd June-26th June: Three T20s v Sri Lanka
29th June-4th July: Three ODIs v Sri Lanka

8th July-13th July: Three ODIs v Pakistan
16th July-20th July: Three T20s V Pakistan

4th August-14th September: Five Tests v India

Stone got a bit carried away then after batting so well. Tried to launch the spinner and was very clearly lbw...

Good partnership: but with the new ball looming I think NZ will fancy keeping England under 280. Patel has done OK here with two wickets. Not exactly spinning their ears off but as a first day effort he's entitled to be pleased with his results.

Duty281 wrote:I am surprised about the nature of Bracey's two dismissals so far. From what I've read, and the little I've seen, I thought he was a capable defensive batsman - not the type to be chasing deliveries against the likes of Trent Boult from ball one!

Up to Lawrence to see if he can navigate his team to 250.

Yeah do feel a bit for Bracey - obviously not a good shot today, but he's not only having to wicket keep (when he's not really a keeper), but he's also batting massively out of position. Making your debut is tough enough in tests, without those two things being thrown in on top!

Hopefully he can get a few runs second dig.

Fifty for Lawrence

England needed that , to say the least. New ball up now : 230/7 ...how many can they add ?

Good fifty for Lawrence, some classy shots should keep him ahead of Moeen in the pecking order.

Time for the new ball to (surely) end this tonight.

I'd really like to see Bracey at 3 for the start of the India series. See what he can do in a familiar batting position.

1.Burns 2.Sibley 3.Bracey 4.Root 5.Stokes 6.Pope/Lawrence 7.Buttler 8.Woakes

That'd have a more promising look to it for me.

Hameed then pressuring the top 3 if any falter.

Hopefully Crawley can defy all the odds and smash another double ton in the 2nd innings though!

It is a fair point about Bracey playing in an unfamiliar spot (rather a pity for him that Foakes got injured else he might gave debuted at three anyway.)
But you'd think coming in at seven against an old ball ought to be an easier introduction to Test batting. If he doesn't get runs in the second innings here it would be something of a leap of faith to pick him at three against Bumrah and co...

Hopefully he will get going next time. Or , indeed , Crawley come good with a bang !

drs getting a good workout but otherwise no fireworks in this new ball spell...

If these two can hang in for another three overs they've a chance to rattle up a few more in the morning perhaps ? 248/7 a good deal better than looked likely shortly after tea.

Not watched anything yet today, but Ollie Pope has a problem vs spin seeing his dismissal. Putting aside what happened in India, where conditions were totally alien for him, there were several dismissals vs Yasir last year where he misjudged length and was cutting balls that weren't there to cut. Similar today, although he was caught not bowled. Think he needs to put the cut vs spin away.

Wow we are getting 90 overs of play in a day! First time in the series in a non-5th day?

Closed at 258/7 ...well done these two : represents a bit of a recovery.

Still Kiwi day , I think. But England are still in the game thanks to Lawrence and his fast bowling pals.

Good resistance from Wood and Stone, helping along Lawrence's smooth counter-attack, but still a disappointing day for England (and much of the middle order) overall. Kiwis bowled well as a unit, no real stand out. Henry's spell after tea was superb.

Advantage firmly with New Zealand. Par on this is 350/400, so England likely to end up quite a way short.

So England end the day at 258-7. Fine recovery yet again from the lower order. Lawrence who overcame an uncertain start holding things together, and he got valuable support from Stone and Wood. Sibley and Burns negated the new ball and gave them a platform that was then squandered, but England would be relieved that they are still batting at the end of the day. Probably, these performances explain why Root and Silverwood wanted flat pitches... But Root their best batsman, should make sure he is able to capitalize as well.
New Zealand would have taken it at the toss, but they would be disappointed, that they yet again let the lower order stretch the innings so far, and unless they strike early, to 300 and beyond which would be a remarkable turnaround from 170 odd for 6. Their old ball enforcer is just not on his A game, though Ajaz Patel's surprise wickets masked it a bit, Wagner really need to pick himself up. New Zealand would need a lot more from their champion operator. Boult did leak a few more runs than he would have liked and didn't look on top form, but he still was good. Henry has justified his position as first reserve with a decent outing. Mitchell made sure de Grandhomme's discipline wasn't missed a great deal. Patel didn't get anything from the pitch, and wasn't especially threatening, but got 2 wickets and can be happy with his day's work.

Think 350 would be par on this, so England likely to fall short of that...but from 170-6, if they can make 300 they've put themselves in the game. Good knock from Burns (thought he actually played better here than he did at Lords), and Lawrence once he got through an iffy start, played some lovely shots, and well supported by Wood/Stone.

Disappointing from Sibley, thought that was a pretty soft dismissal. Crawley in a proper rut at the minute, Root isn't in fantastic nick himself really...Pope continues to get out fairly softly and is in danger if Lawrence converts tomorrow, and spoke about Bracey, do hope he can at least get some runs 2nd dig.

A quiz I don't think has been posted - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/56972045

A shameful 83/96 for this poster.

Soul posted it earlier, he got 89 I think.

92 for me on the Anderson quiz. The names on that list, it's real era spanning stuff!

93/96

Spoiler:

VTR wrote:92 for me on the Anderson quiz. The names on that list, it's real era spanning stuff!

He played with Ed Smith who has retired, become Head Selector and been fired as Head Selector! Alec Stewart was the one that got me - how did Jimmy play with him!

It's crazy isn't it, Stewart was primarily a 90s cricketer, as with quite a few others that Jimmy played Tests with

I did manage to catch up on the game thru BBC's long highlights
While the game might look deceptively even poised, I think Eng are ahead and by a bit more than just nose.

Ball is swinging and seaming and NZ had just the right fast medium attack for these conditions and a decent spinner and Eng did well to show courage to bat first and not get bundled for 200....and 275ish will be decent total.
Eng has a better seam attack....Stone, Wood and Anderson are three of Eng's best....they are missing a spinner & if Stokes was in, a spinner should have played in lieu of Broad.
Eng will miss the spinner in 4th inning but have enuf resources to overcome NZ who are missing a couple of first choice players
And NZ's superior spinner will not get a chance to bowl in 4th inning.....

Dan Lawrence had impressed with his nimble feet movement in India and was my pick in tipping competition in first game too
He plays straight and moves his feet well...and is one for the long run.
Ollie Poe ain't

Burns played very well with his bat very close to the body and head on top of the ball...almost like Conway, and an inning that will prove relevant in context of the game as will Stone and Wood's 20 odds
Money on Eng

I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

I agree about Pope. I said to Pee Jay via PM that I think he will end up with 15+ centuries by the time he is done. Staying injury free of course.

He does remind me of Ian Bell and he had periods when things didn't work for him but ended up with a fantastic career. Whether Pope scores as many tons a Bell depends on a lot of factors obviously but I think he will end up closer to 20 than 10. Seems like the sort of player that needs everything to be in sync to look good at the crease. Some players, Root and Stokes for example, can put runs on even when things aren't quite moving properly but Pope isn't at that stage yet although he will probably get there the more test matches he plays. You don't average what he averages at Surrey without having a lot of talent.

The issue a player like Pope can have in test cricket is how easy he finds it in county cricket, averages over 62 striking at nearly SEVENTY!!!

Those are truly outstanding numbers and you wouldn't ever consider calling him an overly aggressive player, he like Root just gets on with it, he'll be a long term fixture in the team, yesterdays dismissal was just stupid and I felt he could have stayed more upright.

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

A player cannot be a long term player if he can come good only in home / preferred conditions
Losing confidence is a mental issue and international sport is not juts about sporting skill, but mental strength also.

His issue though is pretty fundamental & hence a serious one
His Feet.....they don't move to align with the line of the ball....not in India...nor against Patel yesterday.
In my experience this is too fundamental an issue to be fixed now.

Since last night when I wanted to put money on Eng, Bet365 shows betting for this game suspended or closed
Does anyone know why

Soul Requiem wrote:The issue a player like Pope can have in test cricket is how easy he finds it in county cricket, averages over 62 striking at nearly SEVENTY!!!

Those are truly outstanding numbers and you wouldn't ever consider calling him an overly aggressive player, he like Root just gets on with it, he'll be a long term fixture in the team, yesterdays dismissal was just stupid and I felt he could have stayed more upright.

He needs to stop cutting spinners. He had one before his dismissal yesterday which he sliced through backward point and he was out several times bowled by Yasir trying to cut from off stump vs Pakistan last year. He is class though and I would bet he has the best record of any of the England young guns when all is said and done. Batting in Australia might suit him down to the ground

KP_fan wrote:Since last night when I wanted to put money on Eng, Bet365 shows betting for this game suspended or closed
Does anyone know why

Seems to be working here - England 8/13, New Zealand 3/1, draw 9/2.

NZ an excellent price given they're ahead in the game yet classed, bizarrely, as outsiders.

KP_fan wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

A player cannot be a long term player if he can come good only in home / preferred conditions
Losing confidence is a mental issue and international sport is not juts about sporting skill, but mental strength also.

His issue though is pretty fundamental & hence a serious one
His Feet.....they don't move to align with the line of the ball....not in India...nor against Patel yesterday.
In my experience this is too fundamental an issue to be fixed now.

Considering he was coming off a long term should injury, that is why he should not have toured, coming off one intra squad friendly he was thrown in against India, hardly ideal preparation. His game is all about balance and confidence plays a big part in that. Ian Bell had footwork issues against top quality spin highlighted devastatingly by Warne in 2005 but he became a competent player of spin outside of India.

Very few players can translate home form abroad any more, look at Rohit and Warner, quality in home conditions but terrible elsewhere. Kohli and Smith had fundamental issues with their technique early in their test careers but worked on it and look at them now. Cook went through stages where his feet didn't move when driving and it became an issue but he again overcame that. Marcus Trescothick had next to no foot movement and had a pretty good test career, notably in India.

Soul Requiem wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

A player cannot be a long term player if he can come good only in home / preferred conditions
Losing confidence is a mental issue and international sport is not juts about sporting skill, but mental strength also.

His issue though is pretty fundamental & hence a serious one
His Feet.....they don't move to align with the line of the ball....not in India...nor against Patel yesterday.
In my experience this is too fundamental an issue to be fixed now.

Considering he was coming off a long term should injury, that is why he should not have toured, coming off one intra squad friendly he was thrown in against India, hardly ideal preparation. His game is all about balance and confidence plays a big part in that. Ian Bell had footwork issues against top quality spin highlighted devastatingly by Warne in 2005 but he became a competent player of spin outside of India.

Very few players can translate home form abroad any more, look at Rohit and Warner, quality in home conditions but terrible elsewhere. Kohli and Smith had fundamental issues with their technique early in their test careers but worked on it and look at them now. Cook went through stages where his feet didn't move when driving and it became an issue but he again overcame that. Marcus Trescothick had next to no foot movement and had a pretty good test career, notably in India.

Good Luck to Pope...I don't see him cutting it in tests...for his flaw with feet movement ( or lack of it) to align with the line of spinners deliveries is too fundamental to be fixed
But I can be wrong and hope so...good luck to him

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

I agree about Pope. I said to Pee Jay via PM that I think he will end up with 15+ centuries by the time he is done. Staying injury free of course.

He does remind me of Ian Bell and he had periods when things didn't work for him but ended up with a fantastic career. Whether Pope scores as many tons a Bell depends on a lot of factors obviously but I think he will end up closer to 20 than 10. Seems like the sort of player that needs everything to be in sync to look good at the crease. Some players, Root and Stokes for example, can put runs on even when things aren't quite moving properly but Pope isn't at that stage yet although he will probably get there the more test matches he plays. You don't average what he averages at Surrey without having a lot of talent.

Making runs in good batting lineups will always be easier as well. Better starts, fewer collapses, longer partnerships, more fatigued bowlers. It all adds up. Cook, Strauss, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Prior. They all fed off one another's success.

England haven't had that in the batting for a long time now. In my opinion it makes Root's record all the more impressive. It also makes settling into the side more difficult for young players.

Lawrence is an odd one. When he fights past those first 20 or so balls that frequently look rank he tends to find fluency very suddenly. Getting past those first 20 balls against Test bowlers will be the issue for a poor starter such as Lawrence.

king_carlos wrote:

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

Soul Requiem wrote:I fully expect Ollie Pope to come good, in hindsight he should never have gone on the India tour and looks like it's affected his confidence badly just like Zak Crawley looks shot at the moment. Dan Lawrence looked good yesterday and that straight drive is a thing of beauty, seems to have a very strong mindset unlike the other two. Sibley is what he is, a 32/33 average and SR guy.

I agree about Pope. I said to Pee Jay via PM that I think he will end up with 15+ centuries by the time he is done. Staying injury free of course.

He does remind me of Ian Bell and he had periods when things didn't work for him but ended up with a fantastic career. Whether Pope scores as many tons a Bell depends on a lot of factors obviously but I think he will end up closer to 20 than 10. Seems like the sort of player that needs everything to be in sync to look good at the crease. Some players, Root and Stokes for example, can put runs on even when things aren't quite moving properly but Pope isn't at that stage yet although he will probably get there the more test matches he plays. You don't average what he averages at Surrey without having a lot of talent.

Making runs in good batting lineups will always be easier as well. Better starts, fewer collapses, longer partnerships, more fatigued bowlers. It all adds up. Cook, Strauss, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Prior. They all fed off one another's success.

England haven't had that in the batting for a long time now. In my opinion it makes Root's record all the more impressive. It also makes settling into the side more difficult for young players.

Lawrence is an odd one. When he fights past those first 20 or so balls that frequently look rank he tends to find fluency very suddenly. Getting past those first 20 balls against Test bowlers will be the issue for a poor starter such as Lawrence.

What a batting line up that was. Bresnan at 8 (or Broady when he actually batted properly), Swann at 9. That was a proper team.

Agree about Lawrence. I hope he stays at 6 in the line up and they resist temptation to put him at 3 or something silly like that. He really doesn't need to be facing the new ball too much at the moment.

I would still bring Malan back at 3 and then when Stokes returns at 5, have Pope and Lawrence fighting for the number 6 slot.

Mind the windows Tino. wrote:

What a batting line up that was. Bresnan at 8 (or Broady when he actually batted properly), Swann at 9. That was a proper team.

Agree about Lawrence. I hope he stays at 6 in the line up and they resist temptation to put him at 3 or something silly like that. He really doesn't need to be facing the new ball too much at the moment.

I would still bring Malan back at 3 and then when Stokes returns at 5, have Pope and Lawrence fighting for the number 6 slot.

You had two massive under achievers (relative) in Bell and Pietersen, both should have ended up with significantly higher averages. Collingwood over achieved massively whilst the top three was rock solid.

Who needs a competent top seven when you've got Mark Wood.

Lively start to day two...

Lawrence largely a spectator as Wood flays the ball to all parts ...perhaps he is demonstrating his annoyance at being asked to bat behind Stone

Partnership of 66 now which has done a lot to bring England back into the game.

All good things must end and he's gone now...but at 288/8 three hundred or even 320 may yet be possible. Quite a lift on 175/6.

Now : can Broad hang around ?

Soul Requiem wrote:Pope whilst hugely talented is looking a bit like Taylor/Vince mk3. at the moment.

Just catching up on yesterday's posts when I was out.

Partly because of the Surrey connection, I've also recently heard of Pope being likened to Ramprakash. I get that - too many pretty 20s and 30s atm. However, Pope is undoubtedly hugely talented and I reckon, unlike Ramps, he'll come good at Test level. The speed at which Pope can get the scoreboard ticking over, I also feel he could be a success internationally in the white ball game - however, let's get a proper score in this match and not get ahead of myself!

Have my answer...no. Stuart obviously wants to get on with bowling.

Up to Jimmy to accompany Lawrence in the quest for the magic 300...good luck chaps...

they need to bring Wagner one end and blast Anderson out with short stuff

303...a few more than I thought England would make this morning. Another excellent cameo from Wood - making a clear push for a spot in the top six - and Anderson making a claim to be promoted above Broad.

Think that's at least 50 light on this wicket. England's bowlers will need to put a good shift in.

So 303 allout it is. Lawrence ran out of partners and stranded on 81. But fabulous fightback from England, from 175-6, here there! New Zealand yet again, like last time, letting them score at least 40 50 more. Considering Stone, and not even Robinson or Overton batted at 8, England can be proud of this fight, as much as they should be concerned about this fragile batting unit. The bowlers did the job with the bat, can they do it with the ball as well?
New Zealand did have a collapse of their own in the last game that eventually cost them as much as the extra runs they let the England lower order score. Here they are without their mainstay, and with Henry set to come in at 8, lacks their usual batting depth.

Good effort from Lawrence well supported by Stone and Wood.

303 is below par but England don't lose many at home scoring over 250 first innings, these sort of matches are the ones they tend to win.

Anderson will run thru the NZ top order I feel

303 ain't bad...especially after the middle session collapse. But still looks a little under par to me , although NZ may feel they let the later order get away from them a bit. Good knock from Lawrence : not going overboard on him just yet but I'd agree he has probably put himself slightly ahead of Pope , just on current form.

Will be interested to see how the two fast lads do later on : unusual for England to deploy two out and out quicks these days - though they did have Wood and Archer in harness once last year. It didn't work too well as I recall...

Soul Requiem wrote:Good effort from Lawrence well supported by Stone and Wood.

303 is below par but England don't lose many at home scoring over 250 first innings, these sort of matches are the ones they tend to win.

That's a fair point. But I have a lot of respect for this NZ outfit so I'm not taking anything for granted . Think the Kiwis will need to take a substantial lead on first innings here : time will tell whether they can. We may have a better idea by close of play today...

One for Broad ! Latham knew it was pointless to review that...

The start England wanted.

Early strike for England, Broad's the man and as Latham goes LBW. In the absence of Kane, Taylor and Latham are the ones expected to carry the lineup, and Latham can't do much here.

Will Young is highly rated, and is in the mix to take over from Taylor when he decides to hang his boots. Standing in for Williamson, he has a big challenge on his hands, coming in after an early wicket.

The ball isn't doing too many exciting things unlike over there in the West Indies yesterday, but there is just a hint of something here, and Anderson and Broad aren't giving much away.

Anderson off rather early and Wood on. Starts off expensively as Conway helps himself to a couple of boundaries.

Think Conway could consider himself lucky there!

How is that not out?

Now : is this out ? Umpires not too sure...

Fielder is confident ...but it's ruled to have skimmed the grass. Those are always tough : confess I thought it was a clean take.

Broad was looking so happy up until that incident : not so much now.