England's Summer of Cricket 2021

First topic message reminder :

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

king_carlos wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Day 3. Moving Day, eh Carlos?  Feel we have to win at least 2 of the 3 sessions to stay in this Test.

Belatedly following up on yesterday's posts about part time bowlers, one I would flag is Gooch. He actually bowled quite a bit, particularly for Essex performing a role with his medium pace and ending up with over 200 first class wickets (23 for England having just looked it up). However, it's unlikely he would have been good enough to make the grade even at county level as just a bowler.

Definitely moving day in this Test, guildford. I reckon England need 3 wickets in morning session or this game could get away from them very swiftly.

I hadn't thought of Gooch actually but he could bowl a bit.

One who came to mind from county cricket was Mark Butcher. Not a favourite player for either of us to be frank but he was a pretty handy swing and seam bowler in his early days.

Correct on all fronts there, Carlos.

Taylor gets his fifty. A real battle for him out there.

Duty281 wrote:Taylor gets his fifty. A real battle for him out there.

For sure but a battle he's still in and appears to be winning.

Much needed 50 for Ross Taylor. There have been rather silly talk of Taylor being dropped for Young for the WTC final, regardless of that, Taylor really needed a score, for himself more than anything else... A tricky period ahead of him with the new ball, he did very well to negotiate the Anderson test yesterday, but today its going to be with the new ball and he is starting all over again. Lets see who the veteran batter is going to go about it...

Reckon this is the moving day towards an innings defeat!

New ball taken. The next fifty or so minutes will decide whether or not England have a realistic chance of getting a positive result.

Think it was a bit silly on Root's part to give Lawrence another over. Should have been Anderson straight away, Lawrence had done his job, and after he finished his unfinished over, there was no point offering a few easy, early runs to the batters, particularly when Nicholls is entirely new at the crease.
Anyways, Anderson on, he would be hoping for some early swing...

New Zealand going along at a decent clip early on. The extra Lawrence over helped, but they seem busy at the crease, even taking a couple of quick singles.

Taylor seems to be in the mood today. He seems determined to attack the new ball. England lead down to 41.

Anderson again not getting his lengths right. He's bowling slightly too short.

Well NZ have certainly got off to a decent start this morning...added 33 in quick time with only a couple of false strokes.

England really need to strike in the next few overs or I can see this getting away from them very fast. No great movement yet for the new ball though I guess that should come shortly as the lacquer comes off.

Taylor already 66. Not looked particularly good at any point , but the scoreboard is what counts...

Taylor, who has been a Shot a Minute, gets carried away, Hooks a Broad bouncer, only for the fielder to drop the offering!
Rosco needs to settle down, good intent from him helped negate the new ball threat and brought New Zealand score closer to the England one, but he should not be reckless.

Broad's mood not improved by that. Wasn't a sitter but Billings will be disappointed he didn't take it.

Not happening for England. The good balls are being resolutely defended , anything loose is going. They're running well for singles too...good cricket from the Kiwis.

Grim expression on Root's face says it all.

Kiwis have run really well between the wickets in this series. Another area where they've been better than England.

It's early days, but Bracey looks as though he doesn't belong at test level.

Taylor playing a few rash shots, so England are always in the game v him, but overall this one is running away from England. Can't keep a lid on the scoring either. Another few hours and the lead will be over 100.

Saw the drop but who is Billings on for? Anything serious?

First hour could hardly have gone worse for England. No break (though another chance missed ) ; runs flowing (five per over ?!) ...and frankly the batsmen look completely on top. Target 450 ? I reckon they could end up with 500 unless things happen very soon to change the flow.

Comms going on about the lack of a spinner - and it might have helped the over rate. But honestly nothing Jack Leach has ever done suggests he'd have been a serious threat in this first innings. And the second may be irrelevant.

Real problem here is England won a good toss on a good pitch and got at least a hundred runs too few.

Anyway Stone , the drink break , and The Curse of 80 runs has done for Taylor ...Bracey might feel a bit better now he's held that...

Relief for Stone. Taylor's aggression costs him.

Blundell and Mitchell only have FC averages in the 30s, then it's Henry and Wagner, so certainly an opening for England.

Nearly two in one over. Bracey can't take a tough-ish chance. He should have got closer.

Much better from Stone this spell. Bracey should have taken that one, we won't see him keeping in tests again.

Was an interesting knock by Taylor. Had to really battle for survival yesterday , then hammered everything today.

Aargh...praise Bracey one moment , and now ... Truthfully he doesn't look a Test keeper and this isn't going to help his confidence when he has to bat again.

Stone and Wood putting plenty of effort into this spell. Really need two more soon ...and all these drops aren't helping.

guildfordbat wrote:Saw the drop but who is Billings on for? Anything serious?

Don't think it's anything serious, otherwise the commentators would have mentioned it, but I did see him on the field yesterday evening (and Bess as well).

I think Bracey has taken to Test cricket about as well as Chris Read did

Hardly earth shattering but nonetheless very valid point by Ward contrasting the catching of the two sides.

Very good bowling from Wood. First he unsettles him, then he takes the glove. Nicholls had looked unperturbed thus far.

Can England squeeze out one more before lunch?

Wood gets a strangle down leg...Bracey will be relieved to have taken that one.

Important wicket too. Blundell hasn't got started yet and a new man in Mitchell in...only 9 runs ahead so another one before lunch would give them a huge lift.

I'm not Buttlers biggest fan but he and Woakes should be playing in this match, no justification at all for resting either.

Approve of Wood's aggression in this spell. He will always tend to go for a few runs but if he can unsettle batsmen who appeared to be set he's doing a job.
The two pace men in tandem plan has shown a few good signs today. More consistency probably needed but it's a start. After the way NZ were cruising earlier today , they've rather stalled since Taylor got out. Guess they don't have a lot of batting after this pair with the side they've picked so this partnership is important now.

Ten minutes to lunch...

Soul Requiem wrote:I'm not Buttlers biggest fan but he and Woakes should be playing in this match, no justification at all for resting either.

They were clear from the start that all the IPL players wouldn't be considered for this series...which is basically a continuation of the winter tour rotation stuff.
I don't much like it - shows essentially that neither the India tour nor this series is considered any sort of priority compared with the white ball game. But they were hardly likely to change their minds after the Lord's Test.

An even session, but England need more than even sessions at this stage. They really needed that chance off Blundell's edge to stick. Some good bowling from Stone and Wood; especially the latter who showed an excellent intensity.

Apparently Mitchell has averaged 85 with the bat since 2019 in first-class cricket...maybe he is currently a bit better than his career mid-30s FC average!

NZ scored nearly 100 in that session off just 25 overs so despite losing two wickets it's probably marginally their session again.

But the two wickets at least give England some hope of restricting the lead , provided they can strike quickly on resumption after lunch. Stone and Wood have done a useful job the last hour ; up to the two vets to do their bit next I think. Need to keep NZ under 420 , I think.

So 98-2 in that session. Had to go away for a bit after that Taylor drop in the deep and was thinking about how would Taylor be able to avoid the 80s. Obviously he couldn't, and promptly got out! 5th in the test to get out or get stranded in the 80s!
Marginally New Zealand's session as they scored at 4 an over, England's overrates back to the appalling usual standards after a promising change yesterday. New Zealand are in to the lead, and though their lower order doesn't look as reassuring as it usually does, they all can throw their bats around, and if Mitchell and Blundell can put together a partnership, 400 plus is within reach.
But if England can strike early and separate the 2, then they can even hope to restrict NZ well under 375.

Good early breakthrough to get.

Effectively into the tail, but we know Wagner can strike a few as he did in the first test.

But not this test as Anderson strikes the bails. A fightback from England keeping them in it.

Now, that 375 looks some way away. Poor shot from Mitchell opened the gates, and Anderson barging through by nocking Wagner over in no time. Henry living dangerously, and Boult, while good at hitting a few, is not one to stick around. Patel is the one number 11 batter they've got in their side.

Stone has an entire over at Henry here.

Fightback is on. Combination of some spirited bowling and a couple of rather careless shots from the NZ bats.

Still need to get this last three ...46 on is nothing ; but add fifty...

Seems Blundell has left Henry to do his thing as long as he can. Henry has pushed that lead up to 50 now.

Wood takes over from Stone.

Looks like Blundell will defend while Henry chances his arm...

Root seems to have got it right starting with Anderson and Stone post lunch . Wood's turn now to have another crack...and I'd imagine we will see Broad again soon. Not expecting any more spin.

Wood has pinned Henry and that's eight gone !

You got three reviews...why wouldn't you review?!

Henry's funn has ended. the end is near for this New Zealand Innings. Yet another collapse, means that they have wasted another solid start. Add that to the near doubling of the England total by the last 4 wickets, the script seems to be repeating itself for New Zealand here!

And Patel ahead of Boult!? What is going on?!

How will Blundell play it now? He was happy to play out Anderson up to now. Think he'll have to open up, and try and push that score to 380. 360 could be difficult though!

Blundell will need to play a few shots now ...don't think Patel or Boult are likely to hang around too long.

Game has changed quite dramatically since Taylor got out. The charm of Test Cricket !

Well! Blundell lets Patel take the single of the last ball!

Blundell is the regular captain of his First Class side isn't he? Not sure his judgment is working fine at the moment.

Patel is now protecting Blundell by farming the strike! Strange!

So Patel fails to take a single of the last ball, and England have an entire over at Blundell!
Patel has done a decent job of hanging in there, showed better defensive technique and mindset, than can be expected from say Boult. But its just a matter of time before the tailender in him comes out. Blundell needs to take more responsibility here. Doesn't seem to have learned from Watling, who is a master of these situations!

And good move from England to bring Broad back on. Think he's even better than Anderson in getting rid of the irritating tailender!

Excellent hour for England...3/35.

Now Broad - who hasn't been overworked today is back.

And gets Blundell immediately...Root held that one

Yep, excellent fightback, especially after that first hour went against England. Still advantage New Zealand, but not as great as many would have been thinking a few hours back - just need to get the last wicket quickly.

Think New Zealand have done some serious damage to themselves. Can't expect Joe Root to fail throughout a series, and that in itself means that New Zealand will have a substantial 4th innings chase on their hand. And in this series, quite the opposite of England, NZ have been 5 out, All out!