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NZ vs England 1st test Review and 2cnd test Preview: Dropping catches loses matches
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On this episode, host Adam Bell and Rahul Patil review the Black Caps loss to England. They discuss the current issues with the Black Caps batting lineup, and the key moments in the game.
They look at the second test at the Basin and discuss whether NZ needs to make any changes.
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Transcript
Introduction to Kricketeers Episode
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Kricketeers, another episode talking about the great game of cricket with me, Adam Bell. Today we've got Raul Patel, journalist and cricket analyst to discuss their first test between the Blackcaps in England. So thanks for coming on this episode of the Kricketeers, Raul. Always a pleasure, Adam, but yeah, not not the best of weeks for New Zealand cricket. No, no, we're going to deep dive into that very shortly.
Critique on Blackcaps' Performance
00:00:33
Speaker
I guess we we talked the other day um about the English attack um and you kind of mentioned that you didn't really rate the air attack and and it's quite funny because early on that first day they looked really really pedestrian. Kane Williamson and Darrell Mitchell seemed to be in and and control and and New Zealand at one stage looked like they could go on to get a score of 400 plus after being inserted into bat early on on day one after losing the toss. It was really
00:01:07
Speaker
lets say disappointing betting performance, but it was really a lackluster betting performance by the middle order.
00:01:17
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I mean, one of the things I did say is I can't see this England attack picking up 20 wickets in any test match. And um I didn't just say that out of a whim or a fancy, you know, it comes from the back of having a look at what that attack has done in the past and what their records are like in first-class cricket. And I still stand by that statement because I feel that rather than they picking up 20 wickets, we gifted about 16 wickets to them in this test match. You know, if we go back to the first innings, the only batter who got what you can call an unplayable delivery was our number 11, Willow Rook, who got a beautiful yorker that got him out.
00:02:05
Speaker
The rest were just normal deliveries that had no business picking up a wicket. um But yet they did. So 9 out of 10 wickets were gifted away in the first innings. And then we can talk through them. and know If you go right back to how Conway got out, he's trying to force. That was the eighth ball he was facing in the innings. And he tried to force it through the offside, mistimes it before getting his eye in. Let them write down.
00:02:36
Speaker
over the wicket, angling the ball away from him, Leitham is trying to close the face of his bat on one, Rachin is hitting a full toss to mid wicket, Darryl Mitchell is trying to pull one through square leg over the wicket and gets caught at third man. and um and there i mean You can go through each one of them and those are just poor shots. The same happens in the second innings as well.
Missed Opportunities and Shot Execution
00:02:58
Speaker
um And if we look at 16 wickets that were gifted away, it just tells you that we never kind of put a price tag on our wicket and ah especially against a team like England that likes to play the game at a certain pace it was so important to play time and bad time um and I just think we let the advantage slip through our hands in that first innings. Yeah I agree a lot of the attention has been on the drop catches which will
00:03:30
Speaker
We'll talk about it shortly, but I think New Zealand lost a big opportunity to get a big score on day one. And in the wickets that they lost to Shoa Bashir um we're were very disappointing. I mean, look, he's got a, he's a very he's a rookie spinner. and He doesn't have much of a first-class record. and We know that he can't even make his countryside in England and make sure Jack Leach has preferred ahead of him.
00:03:57
Speaker
And yes, he's got some good attributes to his bowling. We we can all kind of kind of see it. He's tall, he gets bounce. But he really didn't look threatening on day one at all. And New Zealand really just gifted their wickets to him. um And I think it was really, really disappointing.
00:04:14
Speaker
There was a chance to score 400 plus. Unfortunately, um they they didn't bat time. ah They didn't grind it out. And apart from Kane Williamson, who who at one point looked like he could go on and get a big 100. And unfortunately, he gave he got himself out by playing a card shot and getting caught at point. The rest of the batters just didn't stay in the fight long enough for me.
00:04:42
Speaker
Yeah. And another aspect of test betting is also that, you know, getting a start in test cricket is, is quite difficult. So when you get a start, you want to make it count. And across both innings, if you have a look in the first innings, Latham scored 47. He had got a good start. Ratchen got out on 34, which means he had done all the hard work, got a start. Mitchell was out on 19. Again, done all the hard work, he's got a start.
Ravindra's T20 Influence on Tests
00:05:10
Speaker
Blunder goes out on 17 in that first inning. So four of the top seven and but or top six actually have got starts and didn't convert. Then in the second innings, it's a similar story with Rajen getting 24 again before he got out. Phillips on 19. So these are all betters who got starts and not converting them into a substantial score. Now, every time we talk about test cricket and we see games that are won and lost,
00:05:40
Speaker
um You realize that, you know, 30s, 40s don't win you S matches. You need the big contributions, you know, someone to score a daddy 100. And if you look across the ditch, the defining innings in that S match between India and Australia was that 160 that yeshsh we just all put up in that second inning, you know. You need someone to really play that big inning because once that happens,
00:06:07
Speaker
It's not just his and his, but the partnerships he forms, Yoshi forms when they're scoring those runs, you know which are quite important. and New Zealand just never got any of that.
00:06:20
Speaker
You're right, and and and we look at this Test match and Harry Brooke you know scored 170 odds. so you know you're You're right, you get it you get that big 100 and it really sits sets the team up. yeah know Just on New Zealand's batting, I don't want to pick out one p player.
00:06:37
Speaker
um And it might be a bit of an unexpected player that i I'll talk about and that's some Russian Ravindra So in those last screenings that he's played he got stumped in the final test and it was fun in India He had a full task to mid wicket
Kane Williamson: A Class Act
00:06:54
Speaker
gets out and then in the second innings against England He got out to the pool shot. Do you think It's just the influence of T20 cricket that's really affecting his batting. I've read a a lot of comments on on online where people have said that in his early days in his career that you know he was ah a lot more of a patient batsman, a batsman that liked spending time in the crease and and really grinding bowlers down.
00:07:21
Speaker
In the last year or so, his white ball form has gone to another level. We saw you know how destructive he was in the World Cup. and We've seen him get picked up in the IPL after really having a meagre career in T20 cricket for Wellington. Do you think some of his shot selection is just down to the influence of T20 cricket and white ball cricket? I think, to be honest,
00:07:49
Speaker
is Wide call in game and Steven D cricket has actually made him a much more better player suited to the modern game. But I think what's really affecting him, and I've noticed a pattern in this right from that World Cup in India where he and know was New Zealand's top scorer, is that he's got these lapses in concentration ah right throughout his innings.
00:08:16
Speaker
so There are times when he, you know, he looks beautiful, he's hitting everything's coming off the middle of the mat, he's finding the get, he's turning the ball beautifully. And suddenly there'll be like this brain fade moment in that innings where he'll throw it away. And those three dismissals that you spoke about just now, the one against India, I think he charged down the wicket to like the first or second ball that he was facing, you know, and got stumped. Then he hits a full toss to mid wicket.
00:08:45
Speaker
in the first innings here. And the second innings, first ball after tee, there's a field set there for the short ball. There is a long leg and there is a deep square leg. The trap has been set, and he falls exactly for the trap. It's almost like he's forgotten there's a fielder there. And this happened with him in the World Cup as well a couple of times, wherein he just forgets, I don't know whether They say betters have a map of the field in their head, but he's just got the lapses in concentration that kind of, he forgets where the fielders are. And that's question. So I think that's something that he really needs to work on is if you want to play a long innings, you cannot have these lapses of concentration. You've got to be focused 100% on every single delivery because when you're a better, you only get one opportunity. You make one mistake and you're out of there. So yeah, he's got to fix that for sure.
00:09:43
Speaker
Cause we know he's a, he's a ah class talent and you know, he's, he's talked up about, he's talked about as being part of a, possibly a next fab for the lights of Joe Swyle and Brooke and and and others. So to see him getting out like that it is a, is a real shame.
00:10:00
Speaker
and And I'm sure it's something that he'll learn on learn about um as he goes through his his career and and fixes. I guess on the flip side, of it we've we've got someone like Kane Williamson who's always put a high price on his wicket. And unless you bowl him a ah good delivery, and you know it's very tough to get him out, especially early on in his in ah in his innings. and And it was a bit of an uncharacteristic shot by Kane Williamson that got him out for 94 in the first innings. and But I think England actually bow really well to him. They bow a lot of short balls. They kind of plugged some of those areas up a little bit, stopped them scoring. And then kind of the the two-card trick bow on that that wide one outside the off stump with someone um at at point. and ah And I think that was ah was a very interesting tactic by England.
00:10:52
Speaker
Yeah, do the he got caught, didn't he? He got caught in no man's land. I think it was a half-hearted kind of attempt. He was half in his mind. He wanted to keep it on the ground. The other half of his mind said, no, I hit it over the fielder. And he just got like caught in no man's land. And I think the moment he played that shot, you could see you know his head went back and he was like, oh, no, whatever, have i done. um But yeah, again, he's coming back.
00:11:22
Speaker
after injury, he's not been playing for a while and for him to turn up and just look like the Williamson of old. And then it was a beautiful innings to watch like all his innings are. So yeah, I'll give him that that one because, um you know, just come out and score 50s in both innings on 93 in the first. um Yeah, now he's a class act and I'm sure he'll he'll be hurting.
00:11:49
Speaker
because he'll probably feel there were two centuries there for the taking that he's missed out on. So yeah, hopefully we get to see the best of him at the basin. It's so crazy now with Kay Williamson because even when he takes a long break away from the game, you just expect him to come back to be hitting the ball in the middle and timing it perfectly. It looks like he's never been out like and and and it and it just amazes me every time I watch him bat.
00:12:13
Speaker
just how in control he is, um you know obviously he's kind of nature, he's got a brilliant technique, um those those soft hands. it's just ah He's just a phenomenal player at the peak of his powers at at the moment and and I think he's in a stage of his career, he's actually starting to get better. um I kind of commented on on X that I think that he could have a Sengukara-like finish to his career where Sangakara, to the end of his career, really kind of um started to pile on the runs. um He didn't take that big dip that you see with a lot of other batsmen um of his era, i.e. someone like ah Ricky Ponting. um So I think Kane Williamson touched wood, he stays injury free, and he plays a good amount of New Zealand's Test matches within the next few years, and I think that he'll end up with some some incredible numbers. and And the way he is going, he's starting to separate himself a little bit from um
00:13:07
Speaker
um some some of the other members of the fair before? Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think um it's got a it's got all the attributes of a great batter there. And I don't say good batters because there are good batters and then there are great batters. But just all the things that you said, in know up playing the ball late, picking up the line and length of the ball, that fraction of a second earlier than the rest of the batters.
00:13:33
Speaker
um The balance, I mean, the balance was so good. You know, the feet movement are just precise. um Yeah, and and he's got the gift of timing like most ah all legends have. And that ability to find the gaps and, you know, maneuver the ball by playing it with soft hands or hitting it hard when he needs to. um Yeah, it's just all of that. And, you know, when he comes to bed, I've got one test if he comes into bed and he starts hitting the ball, punching the ball of the back foot through the covers, you know, Kain Williamson is on, you know. So every single time that he comes in and in his first 20 runs, if there is a punch through the covers or from the back foot, that's the thing for me. Like, you know, that is a, that is a shot that every time you see it, you're like, Oh, how good is that?
00:14:29
Speaker
So yeah, he's a class actor. As you said, he's having the vocal patch in his career and long meant last. Yeah, exactly. you know He picks up the line of length so quickly. he's He's great at leaving the ball. He's so patient as well. So he really makes bowlers bowl to him. If if the bowlers bowl too straight, he hits it through mid wicket. I mean, he's he's got it all. And I think he must be such a frustrating batsman
Impact of Dropped Catches
00:14:56
Speaker
to bowl to. He just doesn't... team to give bowlers many chances at all you know um and we just talked a about obviously Rach and Ravindra who we think will go on to be a great for New Zealand cricket as having a few issues there with patience and temperament but you know he's still a young man and I think that he'll go on to to to to get some incredible numbers for New Zealand and in the future.
00:15:22
Speaker
So New Zealand obviously, we we feel, was slightly under par in terms of the final score they got in the first innings after being in a very good position. I guess they would have been happy in a way when you're when you're inserted and into bat and you make 350. It's still a competitive score.
00:15:40
Speaker
Glenn Phillips could have himself and got out early on in his innings. He was dropped by Ben Stokes. But I think to to get to 350 and rally to 350 after losing those wickets on like day one um was was a good result. But then we get to New Zealand's bowling performance. um Bowling wasn't really the issue. It was the catching.
00:16:07
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, look, At the end of the day, you can score 1,000 runs in your first innings. But if you don't catch the catches that come your way, the opposition is going to score 2,000. So it makes no difference as to how many you get. yeah As you said, 350, if you lose the toss and you put it into bed on a green surface, you take 350 with both hands. But at the same time, you've got to back it up.
00:16:35
Speaker
by doing the basics in the field right. And when you don't do that, you're always going to be chasing leather. England was 71 for four at one stage, and they get to 499. That's a massive, like their last six wickets have added over 400 runs in their innings. um And that is all thanks to our ah ah catching.
00:16:59
Speaker
you know um the Dakit was dropped on 23, goes on to score 23 more, cost New Zealand 23 runs. Brooke was dropped on 18, ended up costing New Zealand 153 runs after that. Stokes was dropped on 30, cost New Zealand 50 runs after that because he made 80. Atkinson was dropped on 44, cost New Zealand only 4 runs thankfully. Brydon Cass dropped on five, ended up costing New Zealand a further 28 runs. All put together, eight dropped catches, ended up costing New Zealand 258 runs in that annex. Take 258 from 499, you get 241. New Zealand would have ended with the lead of 107 rather than trailing by as much as they did.
00:17:55
Speaker
And if that had happened, if we had a lead of 107, add that to our 254, England would have been chasing 362 for a victory rather than the 100 or that they were chasing in the last innings. It turns into a totally different game. And yeah, one that we had no chance of coming back into once we let them get to 499.
00:18:17
Speaker
exactly exactly and interesting thing is i think when england had a little session before before lunch new zealand really bow well in that period you know and we saw nathan smith you know i get a couple wickets before lunch and i honestly thought of that point that those two workers were gonna completely break open uh... the england innings we keep making we quit getting chat making chances but they just keep getting dropped uh... in harry harry brooks innings ah so interesting because
00:18:48
Speaker
he played really well but You can't really describe it as a great innings when you drop that many times. and you know you Essentially, you had six innings in one hit. you know um Full credit to him. The innings was nowhere as good as 180 against New Zealand at the basin um a year or so ago. um But i mean it's very hard to evaluate an innings where a player has dropped six times. No, that's true.
00:19:22
Speaker
There are two ways of looking at it. His supporters will say, well, that's not his fault. He's cricket. That's cricket. He'll get bad decisions one day and he'll get luck going his way. I mean, New Zealand had, not so long ago, a certain Mr. Henry Nichols, whose every century was laced with about three or four drop chances. So we've seen this before. and know It's not the first time.
00:19:50
Speaker
um What I like though in that innings is his ability to put that behind and just carry on and just keep backing himself and keep playing the shots in between all those drop chances. He played some breathtaking shots throughout that innings. Just as if to remind us, I'm actually a better bet, better than this. Hey, actually, I'm a better, better than this. Yeah, but look, they say Lakshmi was the bold and
00:20:22
Speaker
He was just playing some audacious shots throughout the innings and you know it went his way. It was his day. He should have bought a lot of tickets. I don't know what the powerball was that night in New Zealand. But he should have.
00:20:35
Speaker
probably should have bought Glenn Phillips a beer as well, I I mean it's crazy because you know Harry Brooke is such an insane talent, and but at some point playing this kind of risky way, is he's he's going to, um well his luck's going to run out at some point.
00:20:53
Speaker
um and And as good as Baz ballers and seeing him play like that, it'd be kind of nice to actually just see him back conventionally for a while. and Because I do think he's got and insane amount of talent. um But kind of playing in a reckless way kind of doesn't necessarily justify his talent, if you know what I mean. I heard, I can't remember when it was, but it was a post-match interview or ah some sort of media interaction that, I can't remember, one of the English players was doing.
00:21:23
Speaker
And they asked them about the drop chances. And they said, oh, ah to be honest, we'd like to think that a lot of it was caused by the pressure we were putting on New Zealand. And I just fell off my chair listening to them about that.
Fielding Blunders and Luck in Cricket
00:21:40
Speaker
They said we were hitting the ball so hard that it's not easy to catch and this and that. It's just, yeah, listening to some of the comments from the English cricketers nowadays it is is very entertaining.
00:21:54
Speaker
It's very entertaining. I mean, we've seen someone like Manish Lavashain go through a period where he kept getting dropped during innings and really cashing and getting big runs. And now it feels like his life has kind of run out. And I'm interested to see like if that will ever happen um to Harry Brooke at some stage in his career. But, you know, all batsmen get dropped innings. I think Kay Williamson I think in that 100 he got at the mount last year, he was dropped a couple of times and I think he was dropped when he got Sri Lanka, when he got 100. I mean it happens to the best batsman, but I mean six is on the extreme side. Yeah, no, look, there'll be days like that. Hopefully Harry Brook has used
00:22:38
Speaker
all of the luck that England was due in the series in that inning surface and from the basin hopefully the rest of the series um luck only shines on um New Zealand we'll see how that goes And hopefully the excuse about Haggly Oval and the background crowd won't be there at the Basin Reserve either. and Because it's been a bit of a theme with New Zealand um fielding over the last year or so. Some of the simple catches that um have been dropped. And crucial catches as well. We remember Mitch Marsh got dropped in Christchurch and he went on and got a he got close to 100 and Australia beat New Zealand after New Zealand had Australia what 40 odd for for four I think it was.
00:23:24
Speaker
um So just crucial drops. and and New Zealand's always been considered one of the the best fielding sides in the world. um one of the yeah Players with some of the safest hands. yeah Guys like Ross Taylor and and Stephen Fleming over the years have been in the slips. and New Zealand's always been known as a great fielding side. It just seems something is off at the moment. I'm not sure whether it's just...
00:23:48
Speaker
Haggly Oval is a valid excuse. or is it I'm not really sure what it is because we also saw it in the T20 World Cup was it against Afghanistan where the fielding looked really ragged. um So it's probably something that they really want to work on um and fix up because New Zealand is always part of themselves and being um a great fielding side. and even Before that, I think there was an Australia series in New Zealand where they came more to New Zealand.
00:24:15
Speaker
And we dropped a number of chances, especially in white ball cricket over there as well. um Look, the first step of fixing a problem is to recognize that there is a problem. But you've got Gary Staid and Tom Latham both coming out and saying, no, there is no problem. know um I don't know whether they just say that in press conferences and in media interactions and whether the You know, they're genuinely concerned and there is some talk about this behind the scenes. We don't know because we only can go by what we're seeing. um But yeah anyone who follows black cat's cricket knows that um the fieldings being very average over the last couple of years.
Addressing Fielding and Player Form
00:25:04
Speaker
So yeah, it's you can
00:25:09
Speaker
It can go unnoticed sometimes if the rest of your departments are doing well, if you're betting beautifully, brilliantly, scoring tons of runs, and if your bowlers are producing chance after chance you know and and picking up wickets, fielding can go unnoticed. though couple of drop chances every game can go unnoticed, but it's when your betting's not performing and your polling's not up to the mark, and then your drop chances, it really gets highlighted. And you know if it is if it becomes the cause of you losing games, then definitely people are going to put a finger on it and say you know that there is a problem, which I generally think there is. But again, it's for them to but recognize, ah for them to acknowledge and then fix it.
00:25:54
Speaker
I absolutely agree. Because you think about poor old Nathan Smith, he ended up with what... I can't remember how many wickets in the end was it? I think it might have been three or four wickets for like 140. You know, Willow Rourke as well bowled superbly well, you know, and he wasn't rewarded either. So, you know, you take those chances and those bowler's figures definitely look a hell of a lot better. Just going back to the batting side of it as well, and we've talked about some of the softest missiles over both innings for New Zealand.
00:26:24
Speaker
one man that's well two people actually that under a little bit of pressure now Devin Conway who he's been he's been struggling a little bit lately I think from memory is averages in the world test championship are in the low 20s Tom Blundell as well who who's been really out of form there what would you do with their positions do you think going into the second test that they should be dropped or rested or what what would What would you do? would Would you give Conway another go ah at the Basin Reserve and and and also Blundell considering the Basin Reserve as their home ground? I don't think the home ground should come into the picture when making selection calls.
00:27:09
Speaker
i think ah what Conway I think you know showed some glimpses of form in India. He had a couple of innings there where he looked like he was coming back into form and and reminding us of his value to the side. And he had a couple of good innings, the crucial innings under pressure. Blundell is a completely different story. i It's been a long time since he's actually made a significant contribution with the bat. I know he got a 40 yard in India in some real turning conditions. But apart from that, um his value, I mean,
00:27:48
Speaker
Look, gone are the days when you know ah your primary skill of wicket keeping, ah if you tick that box, that was good enough reason for you to be in a test team. That's not the case anymore. You've got to contribute in at least two departments, if not three nowadays. um So i if you ask me, I would drop London in the second test. I would give the gloves to Tom Latham, and I would bring back Will Young into the side.
00:28:15
Speaker
he is sitting there, wasting good form on the bench. You know, he is your man of the series from the previous test series that you played in India. You beat India 3-0 in India, whitewashed them. No other team in the world has been ever able to do that. And the guy who was at the center of your excellence in foreign conditions is sitting on the bench, wasting his form. ah That's an absolute no-no. We cannot afford to do that, not in a country of fine, merely unfair.
00:28:47
Speaker
You don't get, there is a dearth of talent, first of all. we We always keep saying, you know, we don't have as, our talent pool is limited. We don't have as many players coming through the ranks. And when someone is showing the kind of form that William is showing, you've got to find a place for him. And I don't care how they do it.
00:29:07
Speaker
Interesting that you talk about Tom Blundell, because I remember there was a period where he was averaging in the mid-40s in test cricket. I'm just looking at his stats now. His average has dropped down to 32.91. So it kind of just shows you how big a form drop he's been in, especially over the last year or so.
00:29:29
Speaker
and you know he's ah he's coming up what i think he's what 30 34 now um it it probably could be a time for new zealand to look for it for a younger option um and there's a few good players on the domestic scene um mitch hayes one that a lot of people talk about he's a young man um dane cleaver as well um who's gotten a first-class average of 40 but you know he's 32 himself, so yeah how much value would he have um playing for a couple of years? I think that you could play an interim wicket keeper, someone like a Dane Cleaver for a couple of years, um and then someone like Michae comes in afterwards.
00:30:09
Speaker
But yeah it is an interesting conundrum that New Zealand might like do have. And Tom Latham is a very good wicket keeper himself. But if he was to to take the gloves, he would have to move down the order a la Ollie Pope.
00:30:25
Speaker
And do I think he could do a good job as a keeper? I do, but you know, do you think it's a time of his and his career that he decides while I'm struggling myself opening the batting because his his form actually hasn't been good either.
Team Balance and Leadership Decisions
00:30:37
Speaker
And in this test cycle, he's only averaging and in the early twenties as well. So, you know, does he make a career move and back down the water and take the gloves?
00:30:48
Speaker
I mean, in this series, at least he'll have to do those responsibilities. I think beyond that, you know, then you might get your den cleaver and you might get machete. But just for these next two test matches, I think we've got to give him the gloves. Now, again, you know, depending on how he feels about it, um I mean, if you win the toss and you bat first, then is he's opening the batting fresh, you know, he's not opening the batting after keeping for a long, long time. And is he the first wicket keeper who's opening the batting for his side in Test cricket? No. Alex Stewart used to do it for years and years for England. and ah So, I mean, look, he's a fit guy, plays only two formats of the game for New Zealand, know so he plays a lot lesser international cricket than some of his other colleagues.
00:31:41
Speaker
um
00:31:44
Speaker
I think there comes a time when sometimes you've got to ask someone to, know as a leader, ah show the way and you know push past certain physical,
00:31:57
Speaker
um I don't know the right word for it, but he is he's got to show the way. And and if I was in his space, I'd say, I'll take the gloves, I'll open the batting and show people the way. you know yeah What's more inspirational than it coming from your leader and saying, look, I'm ready to put in all of this effort for the sake of this team because the balance of this team is affected because of one guy sitting out who's in great form. um So yeah, I'd go down that line and I'll say, get him to keep, get him to open, get Willy onions.
00:32:30
Speaker
I hope if Will Young does get selected for the second test. I hope he is not considered to be an opening batsman. I think we've gone down that road before. He's really struggled with being an opener. I kind of don't think it's fair for him either anymore.
00:32:47
Speaker
And you know, he's easy as you point out. He's in for me at a great series in India I think he deserves to at least have a go at it either three or four obviously came Williamson's gonna be three so it'll end up being at number four or five or we're very bats in the middle order so I Hope he's given an
Bowling Strategy and Predictions
00:33:05
Speaker
opportunity to to bat in a position that he feels more comfortable and just another side note obviously Tim Salvi and yes He hits two sixes, um but his bowling looks pretty insipid at the moment. Do you keep him for the basin?
00:33:26
Speaker
um I think it is a tough one, but this is now going back into the territory of who do you replace him with? you know And I don't have an answer to who do you replace Team Saudi if there was someone who was absolutely breaking the door down and saying pick me because I'm better than this guy, then yes, but no, just I'd still have him at the basin because I think again, we know the kind of wicked we are going to get at the basin. It's going to be green on day one and two. So yeah, I definitely have him in the side at the basin and then make a call for Hamilton based on what
00:34:14
Speaker
happens and how you go to the basin. Yeah, I tend to agree with you. and I don't really see the value of bringing on Mitchell Satner unless it's a Bunsen burner and seeing that it's December in New Zealand, I don't think the pitch will be taking too much turn. So I think an all-seam attack is probably the best option and I think um The only change that I would make is I think Willow Rourke should open the bowling with Matt Henry and I think Tim Selvey should follow after as a first change bowler. um So that's kind of the only tweaks I i would make. um Just looking at the England side, they've gone in and with the unchanged team, which I'm a little bit surprised about.
00:34:57
Speaker
Yeah, no surprises. I mean, they say never change a winning combination. um The only kind of question mark they had was around Bethel,
00:35:10
Speaker
because obviously the keepers come in now. I think it's Jordan Cox who's come in as a replacement. um But because Bethel looked decent in that first inning, then really played T20 cricket in the second. um I think he's done enough to keep himself in the side. So they're going to give him another go. So yeah. I'm not surprised that they made no changes.
00:35:33
Speaker
um I do remember Jack Leach picking up a fiver at the basin the last time we played there. so But it was a marathon spell. so yeah but But then Shoaib Bashir picks up four wickets and Hagley, you know so how do you drop him?
00:35:49
Speaker
ah yeah I thought Bethel showed a lot of um character in the first innings in very tough conditions, and he showed a little glimpse of of the talent that he has. and But you are right, the 50 that he got in the second innings, he it was in the perfect situation for him to just come out and play his natural game. But I thought that 10 that he got in the first innings, um yeah really showed a ah glimpse of his temperament um and his defensive qualities with the with the bat. um I'm actually surprised that Chris Wokes is is still playing. I would have thought that they would have given maybe Matt Potts or another Seamer a go because you know Chris Wokes, though we got those two vital wickers in the second innings, i mean didn't look that threatening um through large periods of of the test.
00:36:37
Speaker
So just your predictions for the for the second test. um What do you think is going to happen? I think at the at the start of the series, when we did the previous board, um based I thought it would be a 2-1 series when to New Zealand. I still stand by that. And I think we're good enough to beat them. ah Just got to focus on you know making our starts count.
00:37:05
Speaker
with the bat and holding onto her catches. um I think we'll turn things around at the basin and then finish the series in Hamilton. So yeah, still still predicting a 2-1 series victory to New Zealand. Yeah, I actually agree with you there. um And I'm actually also very optimistic that New Zealand will will bounce back. And I also think that the England side that's unchanged Though they won, I think a lot of things did go and in their favour and obviously New Zealand dropping eight catches was like was a huge factor in them winning the match. Not taking anything away from guys like Bryan Castle, I thought Bob, extremely well. um I do think New Zealand will will bounce back and and I think that it'll be won all leading into Seton Park in Hamilton.
00:37:57
Speaker
Yep, totally agree with that. Well, that's all the time that we have on this episode of the cricketers at 30 odd minutes flew by so fast. We could talk for two hours. Thanks for joining this episode of the cricketers are all much appreciated. um I'd love to have a you back on. I'm sure you're a busy man at the moment with so much cricket going on. Absolutely. But not looking forward to to the next one. And yeah, it'd be great to catch up after the basic test and do a review and a preview for Hamilton. Absolutely.