England's Winter of Cricket 2022/23

First topic message reminder :

The Lions are doing some Bazball v Sri Lanka A.

Sri Lanka A were bowled out for a paltry 136, Fisher with 5/34, and the Lions have already amassed 249/3 in 48 overs. Hameed, who's captain, 81 off 109, Lees 56 off 69, and Haines unbeaten with 62 from 72.

Duty281 wrote:I say, that's jolted me awake. Mitchell done for a duck after not playing a shot.

NZ in big trouble. They'll need to be the ones performing the unrealistic high chase to rescue this.

Yes might be worth your while staying awake for a bit now , Duty. Things happening all of a sudden and England should be going for the throat...

I have to say the timing for both this series and the India/Australia one is a lot easier for me than you fellows

Only problem I have is how to see enough of both matches when they start to clash in about two hours...

Good fifty for Coway

Consistent chap , isn't he ? England may be paying a bit of a price today for dropping him last night.

103/5 but this pair is really the big one for NZ . Bracewell can bat - and the new fellow allegedly can also , but if England can nip one of these out they will fancy a solid lead.

Glad to see good weather again today. With all the storms and tempests assailing NZ it is remarkable this match has been so far unscathed .

Yeah, I like Conway. Very fluent player. Not sure why it took until he was 30 to make his test debut, as he has an excellent FC record, but he's certainly taken to the five-day game well as he has 10 50+ scores in 23 innings thus far.

So 138/5 at lunch...good partnership Conway and Blundell and not a lot happening lately for the bowlers. Might be a bit of a holding period after the break with the new ball - and the late , floodlit , session some 34 overs away.

After being 37/3 , NZ might reckon they have a decent chance of getting up around that England score - though that is a long way off just yet. Leach hasn't presented any threat - Root actually looks more likely to get a wicket : probably not very helpful conditions for spinners.

As so often , it is Stokes who makes something happen : after bowling a lot of short balls with zero effect - and a number of no balls - he induces a false stroke from Conway. Tries to pull a slightly slower short ball and only spooned it to Pope - gone for 77.

Important sixth wicket for England

Bracewell off the mark with a boundary but was very close to being caught there at mid on.. Looks like he has come out swinging.

167/6

Was away from this for a while...but I saw Bracewell out - a soft dismissal to Leach after being hit on the helmet by Stokes : that's teamwork

Then Kuggeleijn had a handy 53 run stand with the determined Blundell , bowled by Robinson just before dinner. Getting closer to parity so England will want to wrap this up quickly on resumption , as they'll be batting under lights later on. 238/8 and still 11 overs to the new ball.

Robinson gets Southee - due to an excellent leaping catch by Duckett at fine leg ! Not much thanks to the ball - it was a filthy full toss outside leg

He will take it though. 4 wickets in his bag now 247/9.

Blundell on to 96 with three fours off Leach.(a questionable choice to bowl at this point , I think ?) Will hope Tickner can accompany him to his century...

261/9

Hundred for Blundell

Terrific performance. Has brought his team within 60 of England. Will be looking to get closer...and this game is becoming a real contest.

Very important late runs here for NZ. Tickner only just off the mark now but the stand is worth 37 ...as Foakes is unable to hang on to what would have been a wonderful catch...

England - not for the first time - being frustrated by a last wicket stand. Blundell in total command .

Deficit under forty now : NZ might even get a lead !

300 up now ...new ball taken ; a good plan to have a catching third man but Blundell's slice went just over his head...134 for him now

All going wrong for England...Tickner caught behind off Broad but not given...Foakes was sure ; but amazingly Broad wasn't ! And Stokes declined the review

NZ on the charge...

We need to stop with this idea that Foakes is supposedly some superior being with the gloves - one of the more ridiculous narratives out there based on nothing but reputation from highlights/county games about 10 people have watched

Only cost four runs as Anderson gets Blundell c&b for a brilliant 138 ...

306 , after being 83/5. Last wicket stand of 59 has just about evened the game. And if NZ can strike tonight under the lights they may end the day ahead.

And by the way that's the Anderson/Broad show to 1001 , joining McGrath/Warne

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:We need to stop with this idea that Foakes is supposedly some superior being with the gloves - one of the more ridiculous narratives out there based on nothing but reputation from highlights/county games about 10 people have watched

What brought that on , Olly ? I agree Foakes gets a bit over praised at times ; but he hasn't done a lot wrong today. That catch would have been one for the highlights reel if he'd held it. I don't think he's too good at reviews , to be honest : but he was right this time.

If we were in any doubt about whether England would play aggressively or try to block out this tricky session under lights , the way both of them have been peppering the boundary already should have settled those questions.
25 from the first five overs , 20 of them in boundaries.

Tickner replacing Wagner after 2 rather expensive overs...

alfie wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:We need to stop with this idea that Foakes is supposedly some superior being with the gloves - one of the more ridiculous narratives out there based on nothing but reputation from highlights/county games about 10 people have watched

What brought that on , Olly ?  I agree Foakes gets a bit over praised at times ; but he hasn't done a lot wrong today. That catch would have been one for the highlights reel if he'd held it. I don't think he's too good at reviews , to be honest : but he was right this time.

If he’s the glove man he’s supposed to be, that catch should be taken and it saves 30-40 runs. I just haven’t seen it with the gloves to the level hes hyped to be at. On the flip side, I think his batting is a touch underrated actually!

You're a tough critic , Olly ...but I guess it is your area of expertise so fair enough

Only cost 23 though , to be accurate.

Meanwhile that entertaining opening stand is broken at 52 as Duckett edges Tickner to slip . Testing time for Pope coming in now with the lights in full command. Important last half hour coming up...

Oh a bad dismissal spoils what had been a very fluent innings by Crawley...totally misjudged the bounce and toe edged to the keeper... 28 won't quieten his critics,

Enter the Nighthawk at 68/2...

Broad swipes it straight up in the air...bowler and keeper have a strangled chat - and watch it plummet to earth untouched...any of three people could have caught that. Always fun when Broad is batting...

alfie wrote:Oh a bad dismissal spoils what had been a very fluent innings by Crawley...totally misjudged the bounce and toe edged to the keeper... 28 won't quieten his critics,

Enter the Nighthawk at 68/2...

I'll say hello at this point. Terrible shot by Broad and an even worse miss as bowler Tickner  Kuggeleijn and keeper Blundell are still deciding who should take it as the ball finally drops to safety between them.

Hi Guildford...you won't be happy to see Leach also padded up

Is the first ever outing of the nighthawk? Comedy gold so far

So 79/2 at the close...England still ahead in the game but not out of sight. Scored at five per over and only lost two probably was a good result for a part session under lights.

Back to India ...

VTR wrote:Is the first ever outing of the nighthawk? Comedy gold so far

It was somehow more glorious than I’d imagined it. Broad the perfect man for the role.

Can I actually say I think, think, I am in favour of the nightwatchman type role in these last sessions of the day night tests. It’s so clearly the worst time to bat, if you can use one or two of your crap bats up and leave some good ones to not be exposed to batting at 9-10pm at night…I’m ok with it in this scenario

Agree, and also having somehow survived, Broad is hardly going to hang around in the morning. Out having a huge swipe first ball won't surprise anyone, but nor will a comedy 30-odd at a run a ball

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

VTR wrote:Is the first ever outing of the nighthawk? Comedy gold so far

It was somehow more glorious than I’d imagined it. Broad the perfect man for the role.

Can I actually say I think, think, I am in favour of the nightwatchman type role in these last sessions of the day night tests. It’s so clearly the worst time to bat, if you can use one or two of your crap bats up and leave some good ones to not be exposed to batting at 9-10pm at night…I’m ok with it in this scenario

Perhaps slightly grudgingly as I've nailed my colours to the anti-nightwatchman mast for so long, I do acknowledge that's a good and fair point. However, I still can't entirely shake off the belief that a Test batsman should be able to bat in all conditions.

alfie wrote:All going wrong for England...Tickner caught behind off Broad but not given...Foakes was sure ; but amazingly Broad wasn't ! And Stokes declined the review

NZ on the charge...

Still haven't seen this but it would suggest Stokes shares concerns that I and others here have raised that Foakes can't be relied upon with reviews. That's a serious concern to have about your Test keeper.

I think Foakes has generally done well, but agree the keeping is a tad overrated. Can be silken at times, but does drop a few as well, I guess that Test cricket is a step up in terms of the general speed that things happen and the pressure to perform.

The shadow of Bairstow is looming large, with Brook doing so well someone in another batting position is in for the chop. The only solutions I can think of are Root up to open and Crawley drops out, or Bairstow replaces Foakes as the keeper

So England have solved the riddle of Don Mitchell (hope he doesn't use his bat), but Blundell remains a mystery. For a team with lots of convoluted approaches, it's surprising they don't know how to shut him down. Some of England's bowling plans remain frustrating, with the usual issue of treating anyone who bats 8 down as though they have some form of immunity to conventional cricket wisdom. We saw it with how England approached Wagner at the start of the day, then they gave Kuggeleijn a head start with rubbish leg theory, before adjusting.

But England are still on the victory road. NZ will, presuming England don't waste their third innings like the Kiwis did over here, need a chase of 300+ to get out of this one. Wouldn't surprise me to see England aim for an evening declaration.

Oh and England are still atrocious at reviews.

Yes, it was more David than Don Mitchell today, but Shai Blundell there appears to be no idea on how to get him out, just hope he eventually runs out of batting partners!

To be fair , Blundell is a pretty good batsman - and coming in at seven on a flat pitch he is always a fair chance to get a score. I am , like Duty , more bothered about the tactics employed to the lesser bats. All this short stuff , while it may chisel out batsmen when there isn't much help for the bowlers with an old ball , seems to cost too many runs on a lot of occasions. Can't help thinking a more normal approach would save runs : I guess the reason they elect for their pet method is they don't want to waste time ...would rather take a wicket for fifty in eight overs than spend twelve getting the same result for thirty five ?

Slight concern too that Leach was so ineffective. Not a spinners pitch ; but I'd like to think my main spin option could get a couple of wickets , given 18 overs at them...or at least offer better control than 4.67 per over. Hopefully he will play a more useful role in the second innings.

Bit difficult trying to assess advantage in these pink ball games because of the disparity between bowling in sunlight and floodlight. Ideal scenario for England might be to add 250 tomorrow and get NZ in for a couple of hours under lights. Plenty of time left so no need to rush really but that seems a practical route to victory. On the other hand , if the chasing team can somehow survive a night session , a last innings chase of well over three hundred might be quite possible. Weather changes always a possible wild card.

Knowing Stokes , I don't think England will vary much from full speed ahead

If they can add say another 250 runs in the next two sessions and maybe 30-45 minutes of the evening session to set a score of 350+, they might get a stab of two new balls as well as two stabs at bowling under the darkness and lights if needed.

Gotta make the runs first, bit annoying for both openers to get a start and both to get out before close, but the meat of the batting is still in tact with a lead of near 100 - hopefully Broad can make an annoying 20-30 runs quickly tomorrow morning to get the ball rolling both scoreboard wise, but also with getting NZ on the defensive. I do think it was important to note that Southee went to boundary riders pretty quickly in the night session tonight, in fact in that final over when Broad was batting they I believe, if I was counting correctly, had 5 boundary riders and one slip!

Alfie - good point re: Leach. I didn't see any of his bowling to comment due to needing to sleep (!), but the figures are poor on the face of it.

Also a word for Ollie Robinson - he goes from strength to strength doesn't he? Incredible to think where he was 12 months ago!

Saw a stat that sums up just how good he's been

He averages a frankly ludicrous 19.60 with the ball. In those same tests, other pace bowlers average 26.25. Averaging nearly a full 7 runs less per wicket, considering he's played in Aus/Pak/NZ in over half of those test matches too, and with Anderson/Broad the majority of the time too (As well as playing against teams who hardly have bad pace bowlers too).

Yes Robinson has come on brilliantly : I have high hopes for him in the Ashes in a few months. His figures are perhaps helped by having avoided the high scoring early Tests last summer and the tour of West Indies ...but he did well in Pakistan which is hardly a good place for seam bowlers.

He seems to be developing both stamina and a few more wicket taking tricks as he goes so a very good story

Let us hope he stays healthy.

England setting the pace again, England taking short ball plans to rubbish levels, Blundell doing another Blundell to England. Only that Mitchell no-shot the unusual!
Blundell giving New Zealand parity in the first innings, but they couldn't make the evening conditions count enough. And Boult unlikely to be picked for a test lineup, and with Henry injured, that seam bowling unit doesn't look all that classy any more. Both Wagner and Southee are closer to the end rather than start of their career, Tickner doesn't look proper test class. Kuggeleijn isn't too great either. Is Ferguson a white ball only option now? Think they should continue to pick Boult whenever he's available. He can make Southee also a better bowler. Its AB-like pick and choose, but like that case, his team is in with a much better chance when Boult plays, rather than when he doesn't.

Just catching up on highlights - and Leach specifically. There is just no deception through the air. He is so easy to come down the track too and if he drops short it is easier to hammer away. If there is no side spin on offer he is almost a sitting duck. Watch out for Patterson-White, rather than Rehan, this summer…

Looks a gorgeous day for batting as Broad pushes the lead up to 100. With Gower on commentary it can't get any better.

Well Broad didn't add much, but we have an entertaining battle with Wagner trying to bounce out Root/Pope. The two Englishmen taking it on and hitting a few sixes. NZ not blinking yet, however the lead is already 147.

BT Sport highlighting something interesting about Pope - in the 1st/2nd innings of a test, he averages 44.71. But in the 3rd/4th innings that drops to an alarming 16.63. At least he's trying to do something about that now!

Lead 175 at drinks - 77 added in 13 overs - but Pope frustratingly out for 49 tickling one down the leg side after looking set for a big score.

NZ seem happy to keep banging it in yet, with the lead set to hit 250 by dinner, they may need to alter tactics soon.

Wagner continues to bang away and has brought up his century in 10.5 overs.

I appreciate they came in with a plan, but they should have binned it a while ago. Brook continues his astonishing start to test cricket - past 600 runs in just 8 innings - with some jaw-dropping shots.

50 for Root. Just his second in his last 11 innings, which is quite a low return for him! He approached this innings far better than the first.

And Brook gets his in 37 deliveries.

Ah, Brook gets out soon after. Classic line and length from Tickner.

Interesting shenanigans as Foakes comes out ahead of Stokes.

Looked like Root and Foakes were just calming it down until dinner, but then Root gets out the reverse sweep and perishes on what turns out to be last ball before the break. Four fifties and a 49, but no centuries for England in this test.

Great session to watch. 158/4 in 25.1 overs. England dominating early, then those two late wickets tilting the balance back.

Effectively 256/6 and NZ will be energised at the break, despite everything, feeling that they may not be chasing as much as 300 if they get it right in the next 30 minutes. Could be a role reversal of the 1st test in England last year.

More sedate start to whatever this session is called, then Stokes hits consecutive sixes* - the second of which had shades of the World Cup final with the fielder, Wagner this time, catching it before stepping on the rope.

England breathing a little more comfortably with that lead over 290.

*Now has more sixes than anyone in test history, eclipsing McCullum himself.

And NZ pull it back again. Bracewell sees Stokes coming and he's stumped on 31. More frustration from an England batsman who gets a start but doesn't truly kick on.

Lead 312, however it's just Foakes, Robinson, Leach and Anderson now.

Robinson seems to have finally managed to stamp England's advantage. Very crucial contribution from him, the NZ tracks can become worse than those of Pakistan as the game progresses at times. So its important that the 4th innings target isn't an easy one. Robinson's contribution has really consolidated England's position...

So NZ need 393 to win... Even on a pitch that is not that lively, this should be well beyond them. Particularly with this batting lineup. There is Conway, then there is Mitchell and Blundell. KW is a shadow of his former self... And Tom Latham is better away than at home, particularly if the ball does a bit in the evening conditions or moves around in general.

England closing in. Broad looks like he's in the middle of one of those spells from hell. Getting through Conway, and then Williamson in successive overs.

Definitely one of those spells now, 4 wickets so far bowling without change, stumps flying, classic Broad!