England's Summer of Cricket 2022 as Joe Root Steps Down

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Joe Root has decided to step down from the captaincy. Main problem now is - who should take over?

Stokes is the only one really in contention. But should he be lumbered with the captaincy? His workload is immense as it is. But if he doesn't take the job, then who?

Let's hope Root's stepping down doesn't effect his batting! Captaincy cares hardly showed in his stats over the last few months.

Wonderful session for England. Some gorgeous strokes from both of these two...and they've really put the pressure back on the NZ bowlers.

Need to settle again after tea though : new ball was moving about those two overs , might not be easy for a new batsman if a wicket were to fall early. Still 222 behind so plenty of work to do yet.

But those two hours were fun to watch !

That's a poor way to finish from Pope. Very good knock all the same.

Door slightly ajar for New Zealand. Boult's got it swinging and only three from the long tail.

Nasser talking up the possibility of England doing a reverse Adelaide.

Bit of an expansive mindset for this stage of the game as Boult removes Bairstow shortly after. Two quick wickets and England are starting to wobble. Just Stokes and Foakes in the recognised batsmen category to support Root.

Stokes has carried on the attack with an almost T20 style knock, and Jamieson appears to be injured which is terrible news for New Zealand. Also unfortunately for NZ, it's an elbow injury, not a concussion, so they can't put Wagner on as a gun substitute.

Stokes had plenty of warnings but kept firing and eventually put up one shot too many. First test wicket for Bracewell.

Was that entirely sensible? England still trail by 148, just five wickets left, and buckets of time remaining.

Another ridiculous innings from Stokes, achieved absolutely nothing but put pressure on the team.

Stokes is not able to change down gears when he gets on these rolls. Has created some of the greatest innings he has played, but when Jamieson went off it was the perfect chance to grind Boult and Southee into the dirt. And it was a poor option - should have been looking down the ground vs the ball spinning away if he was going to go big.

Big chance for Foakes to build on his knock at Lords on a flat deck vs some tired bowlers.

Not entirely convinced by the 'Bairstow and Stokes try to get themselves out as quickly as possible' portion of the 'new positive England' gameplan yet.

Wasn't out anyway, but I think hawk-eye may have overestimated the bounce of that delivery by a factor of ten.

Rare to hear Swann being sensible, but he's right to be cautious about England's prospects of saving this one.

Foakes has been all over the shop in his brief stay here so far, and gets away with a drop at deep square leg off a misjudged pull shot

Probably the worst test in terms of fielding there's ever been.

I hope, for New Zealand's sake, Williamson is watching how Latham is managing his bowlers. PT spinner holding up one end, seamers rotated at the other.

Looking at a few of these, I reckon Bracewell could be a bit of a handful on day five.

Duty281 wrote:Probably the worst test in terms of fielding there's ever been.

I hope, for New Zealand's sake, Williamson is watching how Latham is managing his bowlers. PT spinner holding up one end, seamers rotated at the other.

Looking at a few of these, I reckon Bracewell could be a bit of a handful on day five.

Latham has only done that since Jamieson broke down, for the majority of this innings he's bowled the pace men into the ground.

As the ball has entered the Oldish land, think we can expect nothing much to happen for the bowlers for the next couple of sessions. Only thing is that England are 5 down, and the lower order isn't the strongest. But they should be getting close if not going pass the New Zealand score sometime by lunch tomorrow.

I think it is fairly clear that England are not trying to "save" this game...

They are attempting to set up a chance for a "reverse Adelaide 2006".

Highly optimistic , and a bit too reckless ? Maybe. But I guess we should withhold judgement until we see how it all plays out.

Duty281 wrote:Probably the worst test in terms of fielding there's ever been.

I hope, for New Zealand's sake, Williamson is watching how Latham is managing his bowlers. PT spinner holding up one end, seamers rotated at the other.

Looking at a few of these, I reckon Bracewell could be a bit of a handful on day five.

Latham was pathetic with bowler management. Bracewell was introduced into the attack around the 70th over, and Mitchell still hasn't had a decent spell. Its just that since Jamieson went off, Latham didn't have much option.

alfie wrote:I think it is fairly clear that England are not trying to "save" this game...

They are attempting to set up a chance for a "reverse Adelaide 2006".

Highly optimistic , and a bit too reckless ? Maybe. But I guess we should withhold judgement until we see how it all plays out.

At this stage of the game, think that is a very legitimate strategy. The chances of an England loss has considerably reduced though they still are more than 100 behind. NZ will have to bat long to set a safe enough target, and England will be able to shut shop if needed.

msp83 wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Probably the worst test in terms of fielding there's ever been.

I hope, for New Zealand's sake, Williamson is watching how Latham is managing his bowlers. PT spinner holding up one end, seamers rotated at the other.

Looking at a few of these, I reckon Bracewell could be a bit of a handful on day five.

Latham was pathetic with bowler management. Bracewell was introduced into the attack around the 70th over, and Mitchell still hasn't had a decent spell. Its just that since Jamieson went off, Latham didn't have much option.

Well he could have used all three seamers on permanent rotation, like Williamson did last week after De Grandhomme got injured, but he's actually using the spinner which Williamson didn't.

150 for run-machine Joe Root

Looks as if giving up the captaincy hasn't done his batting any harm...

alfie wrote:I think it is fairly clear that England are not trying to "save" this game...

They are attempting to set up a chance for a "reverse Adelaide 2006".

Highly optimistic , and a bit too reckless ? Maybe. But I guess we should withhold judgement until we see how it all plays out.

I don't think outside of Stokes they've been reckless at all. JDizzle got the Stokes thing bang on for me, was a stupid option to the off spinner who's getting some bounce, trying to slog sweep him to the long boundary, when it's short straight (or even the reverse sweep would've been a better option).

Otherwise I think they've just bee positive, on a fast scoring ground, with some very helpful bowling.

If England had put in this bowling effort...I think there would be a fair few pelters going round.
Outside of Boult (who has been excellent), I think NZ have been pretty awful with the ball today, Henry in particular.

That Root drop on Friday is looking like a big miss right now, that would have made it 169-5, game changer.

msp83 wrote:

alfie wrote:I think it is fairly clear that England are not trying to "save" this game...

They are attempting to set up a chance for a "reverse Adelaide 2006".

Highly optimistic , and a bit too reckless ? Maybe. But I guess we should withhold judgement until we see how it all plays out.

At this stage of the game, think that is a very legitimate strategy. The chances of an England loss has considerably reduced though they still are more than 100 behind. NZ will have to bat long to set a safe enough target, and England will be able to shut shop if needed.

The benefit of batting second on flat pitches. If you can bat properly, something England haven't been able to do in recent years, and get up to around parity then the team batting third will always bat too long to make sure they can't lose. Albeit this game is slightly different with how quick both teams have scored so there is plenty of time left.

When scores were higher than the current era, 1980-2010, bowling first won you more Test matches per Nathan Leamon's book. But everyone is loath to do it for a) the human factor of choosing to bowl and putting your teammates out there for two days and b) everyone walks remembers when it goes wrong, Nasser in Brisbane and Ponting in Birmingham.

No I'm not calling it reckless myself - just flagging that a lot of people may think it so (especially if it goes all wrong)

I agree with msp that once that big partnership had made certain there was no risk of following on it made sense for England to play positively and see where it got them. Can argue Stokes overdid it : but on the other hand he rattled on 60 runs in nine overs so I can't be too critical of him getting out trying one too many : I don't think he rates Bracewell's bowling

In truth Bracewell did pretty well : apart from the wicket he's NZ's equal most economical bowler today ! Although that's a "relative" term...

80 behind , five in hand : quite a day for England

Superb day for England - great knock from Pope, and Root has been a joy to watch yet again. I could really get used to watching those two have a few more partnerships like today's in the coming years...

And, due to the quick run rates, we do have an intriguingly poised game...England trailing by 80 runs with 5 wickets in hand.

If Root/Foakes can get going and see off the first spell of Boult/Southee tomorrow morning, there's an opportunity for us to take a lead into the third innings...although if Root falls early tomorrow, you'd fancy NZ to eek out a lead of some form.

From an England point of view, have to be encouraged to see some turn and bounce for Bracewell late on day 3 there - if we can reach parity, or even take a lead, a massive opportunity for Leach to get into the NZ lineup.

Bit of a mad day. Root underlined why he's the best in the world and why he's probably England's greatest batsman. And Pope finally got the score needed that may allow him to turn the corner; the corner that leads him away from being another Ramprakash or Hick.

NZ's bowling very inconsistent. Boult superb through the day, but Southee wasn't much cop with the old ball and Jamieson's speeds were down all day until he eventually hobbled off. Henry may have been the pick of the bowlers in the morning, by the afternoon though he'd have struggled to make a minor counties XI.

Could go anywhere from here. I noted some low bounce toward the end of the day, and both Leach and Bracewell could be tricky to negotiate over the final two days. If the pitch does deteriorate further a result should be on.

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/moeen-ali-confirms-reversal-of-test-retirement-ahead-of-pakistan-tour-1319586

Missed this earlier, but Moeen has reversed his test retirement after discussions with McCullum. Sounds as though he'll be called up for the tour of Pakistan (later this year) at the very least.

Would be another retrograde decision. The Moeen that England desire doesn't exist anymore.

Duty281 wrote:https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/moeen-ali-confirms-reversal-of-test-retirement-ahead-of-pakistan-tour-1319586

Missed this earlier, but Moeen has reversed his test retirement after discussions with McCullum. Sounds as though he'll be called up for the tour of Pakistan (later this year) at the very least.

Would be another retrograde decision. The Moeen that England desire doesn't exist anymore.

Mixed feelings about this.  He could be handy in Pakistan (a possible last four containing Leach Parkinson and any two seam bowlers who have nearly no batting qualifications appears dangerously collapsible) ; but having walked away contentedly enough from the Test arena Moeen may find a return to that crucible rather more difficult than he might be contemplating in the excitement stirred up by the promise of the New Order. He is a bit of a confidence player : if he were to get off to a poor re-start how would he react ?

And he isn't getting any younger. Not old yet , for a spinner. But you'd think he won't be one to play until he's forty so a limited option for the future. Of course the new (correct I think) attitude is to prioritize the next match , so that doesn't mean he shouldn't be considered. Have to weigh the possible benefits of his contribution against the opportunity costs in developing the next spinning talent , no ?

McCullum wants him as an option , obviously ; so we will just have to wait and see I guess...

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/moeen-ali-confirms-reversal-of-test-retirement-ahead-of-pakistan-tour-1319586

Missed this earlier, but Moeen has reversed his test retirement after discussions with McCullum. Sounds as though he'll be called up for the tour of Pakistan (later this year) at the very least.

Would be another retrograde decision. The Moeen that England desire doesn't exist anymore.

Mixed feelings about this.  He could be handy in Pakistan (a possible last four containing Leach Parkinson and any two seam bowlers who have nearly no batting qualifications appears dangerously collapsible) ; but having walked away contentedly enough from the Test arena Moeen may find a return to that crucible rather more difficult than he might be contemplating in the excitement stirred up by the promise of the New Order. He is a bit of a confidence player : if he were to get off to a poor re-start how would he react ?

And he isn't getting any younger. Not old yet , for a spinner. But you'd think he won't be one to play until he's forty so a limited option for the future. Of course the new (correct I think) attitude is to prioritize the next match , so that doesn't mean he shouldn't be considered. Have to weigh the possible benefits of his contribution against the opportunity costs in developing the next spinning talent , no ?

McCullum wants him as an option , obviously ; so we will just have to wait and see I guess...

Long old summer ahead of us before we get to the Pakistan tour yet!

Would be handy if he is available for that tour - we'll need to take at least three spin options you'd think, and after Leach/Parkinson, it is very bare in the cupboard (Bess is having a shocker of a time this year so far), and adding Moeen would mean we've got someone in the squad to take it away from left handers as well as right. As you say, a discussion for the autumn that one though!

As for today - has there been any update on Jamieson's status?

Duty281 wrote:https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/moeen-ali-confirms-reversal-of-test-retirement-ahead-of-pakistan-tour-1319586

Missed this earlier, but Moeen has reversed his test retirement after discussions with McCullum. Sounds as though he'll be called up for the tour of Pakistan (later this year) at the very least.

Would be another retrograde decision. The Moeen that England desire doesn't exist anymore.

Thanks for the link, Duty. I wasn't aware of that.

Even more than most players, self confidence and belief is an essential part of Moeen's game and success. If he truly has that back, I would be happy for him to be at least under consideration.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
...
As for today - has there been any update on Jamieson's status?

Like CDG in the last Test, he's crocked and costing me points in Joey's comp! I assume that's what you meant! 

guildfordbat wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:
...
As for today - has there been any update on Jamieson's status?

Like CDG in the last Test, he's crocked and costing me points in Joey's comp! I assume that's what you meant! 

https://twitter.com/willis_macp/status/1536260267880943624

Update from Will MacPherson above - that does not sound like good news for New Zealand...both this test, but for the rest of this series and beyond.

The current state of play is England are 473/5, 80 runs behind New Zealand's 553. Usually in this situation, the side batting second are the only side who could realistically win this test, because normally it's late on day four when a game reaches this stage. But because both teams have batted swiftly, especially England, either side still has a realistic chance to win.

England, obviously enough, just need to keep this innings going for as long as possible. 150 runs from Root, Foakes and the tail would give England a precious lead of 70. At the very least that would ensure the minimum of a drawn test for the home side, and if England could then bowl NZ out inside 90 overs in the third innings it'll be two wins in a row.

NZ, like last week, face the prospect of Root and Foakes returning overnight. Like last week, they need quick wickets from the off. If they do that and establish a small lead, bat through the rest of day four and maybe a little into day five, they can set England a challenging target in the 270-320 region. Last year, England turned a similarly tempting target down. Under McCullum and Stokes there's no chance they'll do that, they will go for it and they may commit hari-kari in the process, especially if the pitch starts to go the way of low bounce and sharper turn. This is the most interesting scenario for the neutral.

Whatever happens it'll be remembered as the test of dropped catches.

Duty281 wrote:
NZ, like last week, face the prospect of Root and Foakes returning overnight. Like last week, they need quick wickets from the off. If they do that and establish a small lead, bat through the rest of day four and maybe a little into day five, they can set England a challenging target in the 270-320 region. Last year, England turned a similarly tempting target down. Under McCullum and Stokes there's no chance they'll do that, they will go for it and they may commit hari-kari in the process, especially if the pitch starts to go the way of low bounce and sharper turn. This is the most interesting scenario for the neutral.

I don't think that's quite true, they'll be more proactive than they were last year but they will not jeopardise losing this match having worked so hard to still be in it.

Three full days with 15 wickets and over 1000 runs for two teams where you would say on paper their bowling is stronger than their batting...

Draw has to be the favourite, especially as England don't need to push for a win.
Best case for England is that Root and Foakes can get back in this morning and just look to bat for as long as possible - keep the busy run scoring but without playing high risk shots. Not giving NZ a lead is task one, then trying to go on. I have a feeling if we get a lead there may be a Stuart Broad cameo of 30 at better than a run a ball. Small chance of winning if they can establish a decent lead (say around 100) and knock NZ over in 3 sessions, but give how well the wicket has played to date, the second part of that seems unlikely.

NZ obviously need to get the England innings finished off as quickly as possible and try to set some sort of target by the end of the day or early day 5. Feels unlikely they can force a win, especially down a bowler and with only Bracewell as the spinner, but England have been fragile in this type of situation for the last couple of years.

Dropped catches have definitely been significant - Root still owes us runs for the Mitchell drop on day 1, but then Pope also scored nearly 100 after being dropped. Not going to be so harsh on Southee's drop of Root, as that would have been a blinder had he caught it at pace over his head - was at best a 3 in 10 chance, whereas the others were 9 in 10 chances.

Not sure it matters too much whether Root & co go on to establish a lead or not...scores are likely to be fairly close anyway so if (Big IF !) NZ were to collapse second time around , the last day may well see a result. Which could I guess go either way !

Really can't see NZ setting England any serious target willingly : no frontline spinner , no Jamieson - and a still OK pitch. So unless they get bowled out I still see the draw as favourite.

But as we have seen before in this series , predictions are worth nothing...

That drop of Foakes on 9 looking ever more costly.

Joseph stop it - what a ludicrous shot that was! What a player

That was something out of this world.

Fifty for Foakes

Seems to be enjoying himself this morning. Feasting on some rather tired looking bowling - and indeed making that Young drop rather costly ; as a number of such fielding errors have proved over the last three days !

Only 37 down now so a lead appears inevitable : although amazingly Root is out

Good bit of bowling from Boult with a slower ball, gets Root caught at cover.

What a knock

England trail by 37, with Foakes on fifty and the tail to come...can we eek a lead of some sort?

Still can't believe Root got out ...what an innings !

Broad at eight. Might just have a licence to have a swing , eh ?

Reckon first innings scores may end up fairly similar now...

Big fan of Broad remembering how to play straight and get in line when England are 520-6, but not when they are 120-6.

Was a tremendous slower ball from Boult to undo Root.

Now a fine catch from somebody. Goodness. The test is in the morning of day four and still zero LBWs or bowled dismissals.

JDizzle wrote:Big fan of Broad remembering how to play straight and get in line when England are 520-6, but not when they are 120-6.

Also holding the pose on the lap sweep shot. Superb player

That is shocking cricket from Potts - he definitely should've run himself out there. He's having a frankly 0/10 second test match here

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Big fan of Broad remembering how to play straight and get in line when England are 520-6, but not when they are 120-6.

Also holding the pose on the lap sweep shot. Superb player

That is shocking cricket from Potts - he definitely should've run himself out there. He's having a frankly 0/10 second test match here

I thought the same Olly, I think Foakes is a bit too nice sometimes. Stokes or Bairstow for instance would insist he runs himself out.

Leach and Potts may as well have a swipe now Fokes is out. Better that than just allowing the game to stagnate.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Big fan of Broad remembering how to play straight and get in line when England are 520-6, but not when they are 120-6.

Also holding the pose on the lap sweep shot. Superb player

That is shocking cricket from Potts - he definitely should've run himself out there. He's having a frankly 0/10 second test match here

I thought the same Olly, I think Foakes is a bit too nice sometimes. Stokes or Bairstow for instance would insist he runs himself out.

Would tend to agree, and goes along with some of what Guildford has been saying re: Foakes and reviews. Definitely should've carried on running!

And now Potts is bowled by Boult - to just backup how awful that bit of cricket was from him

Very rough on Foakes. His keeping through the test has been superb, and his last two innings have been highly useful to the England cause, so he should get an extended run in the team now. I worried that if he started poorly that England would bring Buttler back.

Boult bowls a pearler to get a deserved five-for. Looks like NZ will get that small lead.

Duty281 wrote:Very rough on Foakes.
(...)
I worried that if he started poorly that England would bring Buttler back.

I mentioned in the first Test that I had a conspiracy theory brewing that Bairstow and Stokes are batting the way they are to pressurise Foakes so they can drop him (presumably to make room for Brook) if he doesn't deliver with the bat.

Interestingly placed game. If NZ bat the day out, you'd think they'd be close to 250. A target of 270 with the chance of a second new ball would be juicy for both teams on this deck.

NZ will be pleased with that morning's effort. They've obviously got to negotiate the new ball period first, but it'll be interesting to see how aggressive they are with the bat and possible declarations.

Bat 70ish overs today and around 10 tomorrow, score at around 3.5 an over and set England around 300 to win in 75-80 overs? That may be NZ's idea, but it'll depend on if the pitch deteriorates. And if England destroy New Zealand with the new ball that could well be academic.