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

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Must be assuming Southee can't be as ineffective again.

He's had some fortune, but a superb series from Mitchell. Ends this series with a career average of nearly 63. Would be remarkable if his (and Blundell's) contributions don't lead to a test win.

Important that England get on a roll and keep it below 300. Bracewell has to do something with the bat, otherwise it's a wasted selection.

I know he’s standing in, but Billings is keeping horrendously to the spinner here - he’s at least a step too far towards the legside in his setup

kingraf wrote:538 runs in a three-Test series. Daryl Mitchell will likely never bat this well again.

Incredible really, think he was pretty much the reserve batsman coming into this series? England do tend to allow outlier performances to happen against them, at least its not cost the series for once

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:I know he’s standing in, but Billings is keeping horrendously to the spinner here - he’s at least a step too far towards the legside in his setup

You reckon Foakes would have caught one of those , Olly ? Something we will never know...

Maybe Root is standing too wide .

Frustrating for Leach.

alfie wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:I know he’s standing in, but Billings is keeping horrendously to the spinner here - he’s at least a step too far towards the legside in his setup

You reckon Foakes would have caught one of those , Olly ?  Something we will never know...

Maybe Root is standing too wide .

Frustrating for Leach.

I’m not sure if Foakes would’ve got them no - and I don’t think Root is too wide, but if you look at Billings when leach is at the top of his run, he’s way way too behind the stumps/bat for a spinner turning the ball away from the bat imo.

Potts is giving Kettleborough a real workout with the way he keeps peppering their pads ...

Lead 254 now. And Blundell looking solid as ever .

Real battle today for the England bowlers. And by batting so long the Kiwis are giving their own bowlers a bit more rest than the England boys had between innings.

Bracewell going to have a go at Leach now...

Edit...and he did ! One six...and out !

Rubbish from Bracewell. Rubbish selection. Kiwis will need to hope he bowls well on this helpful surface.

Now, England - please, please, please, do not send a load of short stuff at Southee.

You'd think 260 puts NZ in the driver's seat on a wearing pitch. As they said earlier, 300 has only been chased in England five times; admittedly four of them were on this very ground., but history suggests NZ are in the driver's seat. Game ain't played on paper though, and one side has scar tissue from some wild chases, and the other side will be pumping with belief. Game on

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

alfie wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:I know he’s standing in, but Billings is keeping horrendously to the spinner here - he’s at least a step too far towards the legside in his setup

You reckon Foakes would have caught one of those , Olly ?  Something we will never know...

Maybe Root is standing too wide .

Frustrating for Leach.

I’m not sure if Foakes would’ve got them no - and I don’t think Root is too wide, but if you look at Billings when leach is at the top of his run, he’s way way too behind the stumps/bat for a spinner turning the ball away from the bat imo.

You might be right Olly...I did think he looked to be in a slightly awkward position earlier but I figured it was his personal style... Has he moved more towards the off now ?

Might not matter if Southee & co just start swinging at everything now...

Root can't take a trick at slip...in the right spot then (reckon he's moved finer) but no time to react then.

Leach going close frustratingly often. 269 ahead and still a decent chance to push this over 300.

Plenty happening.

England shouldn't get near this target, provided the Kiwis bowl well.

I know England have just completed two awesome chases, to add to Headingley 2019 and the one v Pakistan in 2020, but this is the most bowling-friendly wicket of the summer so far. There's turn and uneven bounce, plus the overhead conditions aren't pleasant.

275 (and counting) should be out of reach.

Nicely bowled Leach to account for Southee ...nearly took out Billings as well

And now I think he's got Wagner too...Billings somehow catches it between his legs !

Nine out...

That's the second thing in this test to be entered into a 'what happens next' round.

Time for Blundell to swing for the fences.

Some weird dismissals in this game

274. How many can Boult help Blundell add ?

Root might want to move out of slips...another (tough) drop off Leach !

Send for Chris Jordan ?

There it is...ten in the match for Leach ! Well done the spinner...

England will need 296.

Leach does for the tail. Ten in the match. A victory for him and Stokes' captaincy. Blundell a top contribution, but just short of a deserved hundred.

296. NZ comfortable favourites on this bowling-friendly wicket, but we've heard about them being favourites before, and again they haven't pushed the lead beyond 300 when it looked likely.

Should be a great final session. England may not be able to win it in this session, but they can surely lose it!

Yeah I am not sure I'd make NZ massive favourites. Bit in the pitch for spinners , certainly : but can Bracewell do enough in that role ?

For the pace men , it still seems to be mainly the new ball that threatens for them. While Blundell and Mitchell were in no hurry , they didn't have too many alarms. And those late wickets all fell to rather reckless attempts at hitting...

Plenty of time ; so theoretically England should be able to make the three pace men work and cash in as they tire... The big reservation being : have they got the discipline/inclination/tactical mindset to pace their innings like that ?

Or maybe they will just go for everything and do it in 50 overs again

Will certainly be interesting to see how exactly England do go about the chase ! After the last two games I have no prior assumptions.

Harsh perhaps but one could suggest Root may feel he owes his team a big score for all those missed chances

Embarrassing cricket from Crawley that

Great fielding from Williamson and Boult mind

World-class fielding that. But Crawley is out of his depth at this level.

Oh dear...that is criminal when embarking on a chase like this...

Brilliant fielding , mind.

But it's hard enough surviving Boult with a new ball without sleepy running gifting them an opening wicket...

Lees and Crawley have had a few "moments" running between wickets haven't they? Communication between those two not the best.

NZ already trying to get the ball changed...7.3 overs played. Is that a record?

Not sure how Crawley is still there !

I had (maybe still have ?) hopes for him ; but honestly fear it looks as if this level just is going to be beyond him.

That huge score against Pakistan ; a very attractive 70 odd in the last Ashes ; and a century not too long ago ...but so many single figure scores in between.

Circumstances , I guess . But perhaps being tagged as an opener is going to be the thing that destroys him.

50 up in rapid time. Always been a problem for NZ in these chases - they can't quell the run flow.

Wagner soon? They have arrived at Bracewell before him.

And Bracewell gets Crawley. Always going to play one shot too many. That should be his last test innings.

That should be the end of this iteration of Zak Crawley in test cricket. Needs to go away and do some serious work on his game I’m afraid

Didn't take long for Crawley to fall into the Bracewell trap...at least he managed a few boundaries before departing ; but would have liked a few more from the openers ... Or at least twenty odd overs off the ball ?

296 looking a long way off at the moment.

I imagine Crawley will get the India Test as it would be weird to have someone in for just one game before a long break until SAfrica but assuming he fails again, who comes in? A return to Burns probably? Sibley? Robson?

What an abysmal review from Williamson - you could hear the keeper and slips saying to not review it!

Williamson has lost his mind.

James100 wrote:I imagine Crawley will get the India Test as it would be weird to have someone in for just one game before a long break until SAfrica but assuming he fails again, who comes in? A return to Burns probably? Sibley? Robson?

Compton, hopefully. But the powers that be like Crawley because he's positive, so I wouldn't be surprised if he retains his place.

Can't see Crawley getting the India Test, I'd side with Olly and others, that's the last we should see of him for a long time. Him opening is as horrendous as when Ravi Bopara batted at 3 in an Ashes series

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:That should be the end of this iteration of Zak Crawley in test cricket. Needs to go away and do some serious work on his game I’m afraid

I will stay with my regular principle of never picking a team for the next game before the current match is finished.

But the suggestion that Crawley might benefit from some time batting in the CC (and conceivably on an off season job in Australia , if he can snag a club ?) strikes me as having merit.

Ha : I thought England were rubbish at reviews ; but NZ burning two in one over ? And neither remotely close... Guess they just really want Root out

Hopefully they don't decide to stick with Crawley just because he gets out playing the sort of shots the rest of the team is now being encouraged to play.

Still 23 overs or, more realistically, about 95 minutes left in the day, so the game will be very well developed by stumps. England could be inside 150 runs of victory by then, or NZ might have shredded the middle order.

Every test has been a cracker.

Did I just hear Kumar Sangakkara agreeing with my earlier thought that Joe Root was standing a little too wide at slip to Leach ?

NZ seem to be making the same mistake with their off spinner.

The way that one kicked at Root then suggests this chase is going to be a nervy one even if Bracewell isn't exactly a top drawer spin merchant !

No nerves around currently, though I suppose we should all be wary of the potential England collapse! 170 away, Root and Pope still there. England would be the first team to chase down three straight 250+ scores in a series if they got this.

New Zealand have again looked ragged and generally clueless about where to bowl in the fourth innings.

Good by Root and Pope, but this has been an utterly rank fourth innings showing from New Zealand. The stupidity of excluding Patel from selection exposed, all because they got overexcited with a few decent deliveries that Bracewell bowled in the second test.

England currently cruising to 296, 113 away.

I suppose a Boult masterclass tomorrow morning might keep the game alive, but it looks like 3-0 England. 3-0 through three high chases would show what a strange series it has been.

So. 183/2 off 39 at the close. Need another 113 so WINVIZ is probably favouring the home team now .

NZ as expected have had a big problem in that the bowler best suited by the conditions tends to be rather expensive...putting a lot of work back onto the pace men - primarily Boult.

Game isn't over : there were a few things happening even for Bracewell when he landed one in the right place so England could still implode tomorrow . But with Root and Pope batting very calmly to the end today you'd think the Kiwis will need something dramatic early in the morning.

They certainly aren't likely to get this to a second new ball.

Duty281 wrote:Good by Root and Pope, but this has been an utterly rank fourth innings showing from New Zealand. The stupidity of excluding Patel from selection exposed, all because they got overexcited with a few decent deliveries that Bracewell bowled in the second test.

England currently cruising to 296, 113 away.

I suppose a Boult masterclass tomorrow morning might keep the game alive, but it looks like 3-0 England. 3-0 through three high chases would show what a strange series it has been.

IF England do chase this down, then they will smash the record for most runs chased in a Test series. The current record is 644 for Pakistan when they hosted Bangladesh in 2003. If England get these, then it will be 874! As per @ohlookitswill_ on Twitter.

Good work from Pope and Root, some sumptuous batting at times and the odd piece of luck…

But my god that was woeful from the Kiwis - two wickets gifted to them by Crawley, after that they seemed devoid of belief and quite frankly the Bracewell selection is a shambolic one, he’s a good club spinner, selecting him as part of a 4 man attack is hilariously awful.
I said earlier in the summer they have massive end of Strauss/Flower era vibes to them after the WTC win, and this series has just confirmed it for me, they’ve thrown away good positions in each test and as soon as England have put them under any pressure with the bat, they’ve had little to no answer in the field bar “please do something good Trent”.

Bit of weather around tomorrow morning, might delay the start of play and give NZ some conditions to work with, but England should be knocking the rest of these off with relative ease

Yes, Bracewell is an appalling selection. It's up there with Australia taking Cameron White to India as their legspinner. Cue he does a Roston Chase tomorrow!

You can take the man away from cricket but you can’t take cricket away from the man - or something similar!

Out for a walk with Mrs Bat along the Grecian side streets this evening (they’re 2 hours ahead of U.K. time) I was most pleasantly surprised to come across a bar showing the last overs of the day live on Sky Sports!

Even more surprised and pleased by the end of day score. Not all done yet of course but if NZ do lose, they’ve brought a lot of it on themselves. Particularly poor team selection for this match which many saw in advance.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jun/26/eoin-morgan-ponders-international-retirement-amid-form-and-fitness-woes

Some concrete reporting that Eoin Morgan might be set to announce his retirement from international cricket this week. It isn’t written that he is 100% going to retire, but I would imagine the story doesn’t get written if it wasn’t more likely than not he pulls the plug.

113 still needs a bit of batting, so it's not over. But in a more realistic sense, it's probably over. Huge fan of how McCullum seems to have shown them all their dismissals in the Ashes and told them those were actually boundary balls, and it's worked.

Probably is the right time for Morgan to retire, particularly if he's having fitness issues. Will be remembered as an England ODI legend and a key part of the 2019 World Cup win (and possible 2022 T20 World Cup win/2023 ODI World Cup win even if retired by then).

For anyone watching England-India on Friday, be aware that the start time is going to be 10:30 not 11:00. Apparently it's beneficial for Indian TV viewers. What about us English, eh? A test in India starts at 4am over here!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-10953481/England-vs-India-start-time-brought-forward-10-30am-instead-usual-11-slot.html

guildfordbat wrote:You can take the man away from cricket but you can’t take cricket away from the man - or something similar!

Out for a walk with Mrs Bat along the Grecian side streets this evening (they’re 2 hours ahead of U.K. time) I was most pleasantly surprised to come across a bar showing the last overs of the day live on Sky Sports!

Even more surprised and pleased by the end of day score. Not all done yet of course but if NZ do lose, they’ve brought a lot of it on themselves. Particularly poor team selection for this match which many saw in advance.

Pleased to hear you have found Cricket Broadcast in Greece , guildford ! Nice of Mrs B to let you hang around to watch the concluding overs : going back there in the morning ?

I wonder though : did you happen to clock Jack Leach padded up as night watchman in the last quarter hour ? Seems counter to the New Order Method - and certainly not out of the guildford playbook

Though Leach on interview says Stokes told him he was really there as a pinch hitter ...

Largely leaving selection talk to after the match : but is anyone else just slightly alarmed to hear no less an expert than Kumar Sangakkara advocating a recall for Jos Buttler as an opening bat ?

I'm not saying the man should never be considered for Test duty again (though if he is taking over the white ball reins from Cap'n Morgan he might be a bit busy) ; but does anyone really think he would be likely to prove any more successful in the opening role than previous hopeful punts like Hales or Roy ? He is the premier white ball batsman around at present , sure ; but Tests with red balls , lots of slips , and main bowlers having a proper stint is a world away from t20...

I wouldn't put Buttler anywhere near the Test team as an opener. Not sure the hit everything approach will work every time, still need to think about protecting the strokemakers from the new ball. Think the logic seems to be he can't be any worse than Crawley so give him a go. Poor thinking as most club cricketers would do as well as Crawley at the minute. I wouldn't though be surprised to sew him replace Foakes at some point

There was at least some rationale in picking Hales as a Test opener - it didn't work mainly because he tried to play too much like a Test opener rather than a destructive top of the order player. Roy was more of a punt, but even then it didn't completely lack sense.

Buttler as a Test opener though?

As for Morgan potentially retiring, it does look as though his race is run as player, but he's done a fantastic job for the team both with the bat and captain. Hopefully there can be some role where his knowledge can be put to use.

As for today's Test, England currently look strong favourites, but a couple of quick wickets could easily change the complexion of the day. If Pope and Root can make a good start then it should be fairly hassle free, but we've discussed several times before how Root is not always a good starter on the second day of his innings.