NZ vs Aus: Man what a hiding
Man what a hiding. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Lost the toss, conceded 400+ and lost Lockie to injury, confidence knocked facing the new pink ball under lights, and CdG's match saving 100 sawn-off by an absolute howler of a decision just to add to it all.
I didn't think we'd win this test, but I was really hoping a few things would go our way to keep it at least sort of close so we have something to take to Melbourne. As it is we're in disarray a bit now.
That said, I wouldn't mind Stead sticking with the same 11. I don't think there's a huge amount to be gained from chopping and changing. Blundell will be tempting to open in place of Jeet but I'm not convinced he will fare any better - smacking a ton in an ODI is a far cry from facing the Aus quicks on the first morning of a test.
Some positives are:
- Southee was actually really, really good. If he bowls like that with Boult at the other end life will be really tough for the Aussie batsmen. He was getting beautiful shape and causing plenty of problems.
- Wags was his usual self and bowled really well, he's such an asset.
- Ross got some time in the middle and should take some confidence from the way he played in the first innings - that was as tough as it gets in test cricket.
- Warner didn't make many runs. Thank fuck for that. Fuck that guy.
That's about it really.
Some negatives:
- Santner offers nothing with the ball. He's a batting all rounder or not in the test team for me. We can't afford to carry players that are not quite good enough at either discipline - they have to make the team on one of those alone and the other should be a bonus. Otherwise we should stick to the best 6 batsmen, a keeper and the best 4 bowlers.
- No runs from captain fantastic, by God to we need him to come good in Melbourne.
- Not a lot of fight from the batsmen overall, folding weakly in both innings which caused Caps fans PTSD to go into overdrive. So disappointing given how good our lineup is these days.
Looking forward to the next match still, we absolutely do have a good enough side to win in Aus. We just need a few things to go our way to get a bit of confidence back.
I wish we had Ajaz Patel in the squad - I'd swap him in for Santner. I guess Todd Astle is the option available - and I'd be inclined to give him a crack. Santner is just not an attacking enough option.
Boult in for Lockie.
As a wild option - Astle used to open for Canterbury and he couldn't really do worse than Jeet did in Perth. A nightwatchman opener?!! It's pretty desperate and typical of series against Oz, where our lineup starts to disintegrate.
@Chris-B said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
I wish we had Ajaz Patel in the squad - I'd swap him in for Santner. I guess Todd Astle is the option available - and I'd be inclined to give him a crack. Santner is just not an attacking enough option.
Boult in for Lockie.
As a wild option - Astle used to open for Canterbury and he couldn't really do worse than Jeet did in Perth. A nightwatchman opener?!! It's pretty desperate and typical of series against Oz, where our lineup starts to disintegrate.
Night watchman opener is very early 2000s black caps.
Didn't Fleming try a Kyle Mills as a new ball watchman once in South Africa (at Wanderers maybe?)
@Cyclops said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@Chris-B said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
I wish we had Ajaz Patel in the squad - I'd swap him in for Santner. I guess Todd Astle is the option available - and I'd be inclined to give him a crack. Santner is just not an attacking enough option.
Boult in for Lockie.
As a wild option - Astle used to open for Canterbury and he couldn't really do worse than Jeet did in Perth. A nightwatchman opener?!! It's pretty desperate and typical of series against Oz, where our lineup starts to disintegrate.
Night watchman opener is very early 2000s black caps.
Didn't Fleming try a Kyle Mills as a new ball watchman once in South Africa (at Wanderers maybe?)
Kyle Mills could hold a bat, pity about his bowling.....
It's been a while since I have taken much notice of Blundell, but my memory tells me we are kidding ourselves if we can think he can do the job against Aussie. From what I recall he has the typical NZ lack of footwork thing. But maybe I have him confused with someone else...
@No-Quarter Pretty much. The Aussies definitely weren't doing us any favours by starting us in Perth with a pink ball. Wonder how much say we had in that. Not much, I'd imagine.
Overall, Kane lost the game when he lost the toss - or at least any slim chance we had on that deck against those bowlers.
To be honest, it could easily have been worse. Rossco could easily have run himself out for very little in the first innings. Kane nicked out against Wade's rubbish, but they didn't review - ditto BJ in the 2nd innings. And if Hazlewood hadn't broken down, they would have had him as part of a relentless rotation.
Overall, very disappointing though. Yesterday's top order batting just didn't sell their wickets dearly enough - though we were never getting out of that game with a Greatbatch.
I was really disappointed with that game. The circumstances didn't work out for NZ, sure, but to get rolled twice for under 200 is pretty weak for a team ranked a few spots higher on the world rankings.
Our discipline in the first innings was pleasing, and Marnus looks a future great. Six months ago we had S.Smith and nobody else, and now we've had three big wins in a row without any real contribution from him.
And of course our fast bowlers were great as usual. Having Pattinson to come in is a real luxury, he will be firing in front of his home crowd.
@barbarian said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
Having Pattinson to come in is a real luxury, he will be firing in front of his home crowd.
And yet, all the talk is about Siddle 
Our batsmen need to show a shitload more discipline and application in Melbourne. I still can't understand why Ajaz wasn't considered, he would have rocked it on that deck. Not quite as shocking as omitting Sam Cane, but so much has to go our way to win without us shooting ourselves in the foot
@barbarian said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
I was really disappointed with that game. The circumstances didn't work out for NZ, sure, but to get rolled twice for under 200 is pretty weak for a team ranked a few spots higher on the world rankings.
The low ranked team didn't have Marnus, Smith or Warner though. We'd love to face that team - would be far easier 
what i am really impressed with is that while we thought we were tying Aus down on Day 2, it looks an awful lot like they hit the go slow to ensure they got to bowl at the best time of the day. That's pretty fucking smart cricket, able to be pulled off because their best players did a lot of the heavy lifting.
That was a fucking pumping.
Great efforts from Wags, Southee, and Rossco. Everyone else needs to have a long hard look at themselves.
Satnav is a waste of space. So is Raval.
Fucking Australia are back now that they have found loose bus change. 8 months ago, they would have been there for the taking
oh wait, not with 340 runs total
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
That was a fucking pumping.
Great efforts from Wags, Southee, and Rossco. Everyone else needs to have a long hard look at themselves.
Satnav is a waste of space. So is Raval.
Fucking Australia are back now that they have found loose bus change. 8 months ago, they would have been there for the taking
oh wait, not with 340 runs total
Regardless of the batting woes, with that bowling attack in their own conditions they are lethal
@canefan said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
That was a fucking pumping.
Great efforts from Wags, Southee, and Rossco. Everyone else needs to have a long hard look at themselves.
Satnav is a waste of space. So is Raval.
Fucking Australia are back now that they have found loose bus change. 8 months ago, they would have been there for the taking
oh wait, not with 340 runs total
Regardless of the batting woes, with that bowling attack in their own conditions they are lethal
they would have been in England too if the selectors got over what it was that stopped them selecting Starc. Fucking idiots.
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
they would have been in England too if the selectors got over what it was that stopped them selecting Starc. Fucking idiots.
It beggars belief that we're still talking Siddle.
Move aside, bananaman, and let James "Gaybasher" Pattinson into the fray
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@canefan said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
That was a fucking pumping.
Great efforts from Wags, Southee, and Rossco. Everyone else needs to have a long hard look at themselves.
Satnav is a waste of space. So is Raval.
Fucking Australia are back now that they have found loose bus change. 8 months ago, they would have been there for the taking
oh wait, not with 340 runs total
Regardless of the batting woes, with that bowling attack in their own conditions they are lethal
they would have been in England too if the selectors got over what it was that stopped them selecting Starc. Fucking idiots.
I didn't pay that much attention. Not take Starc? Fucking arrogance. Those selectors should be given their instructions
@barbarian That's a fake ranking for Australia - and especially at home.
You guys should be at least required to field a couple of Marshes if you're going to be ranked fifth!
@Chris-B said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@barbarian That's a fake ranking for Australia - and especially at home.
You guys should be at least required to field a couple of Marshes if you're going to be ranked fifth!
Proof that the ranking system is flawed. 5th place is taking the piss
@canefan Not if they're fielding THIS team.
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@Chris-B exactly. 5th is right given the dogshit teams tehy were putting out when their best batsmen were suspended, and they had to rotate their top 3 bowlers.
Now though? And at home? 5th is a joke.
@mariner4life said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
@Chris-B exactly. 5th is right given the dogshit teams tehy were putting out when their best batsmen were suspended, and they had to rotate their top 3 bowlers.
Now though? And at home? 5th is a joke.
So we are the poor schmucks that have to suffer the brunt
@mariner4life Exactly!
That current bowling attack is possibly the best they've had since Lillee and Thommo - it's at least equal to McGrath, Warne and Co. - especially on a pitch like Perth.
I'm doubtful anyone would have fared better than us in the first innings in Perth against that bowling. Maybe India if their openers had hung around longer to provide a bit of protection for Kohli.
@canefan said in Cricket: NZ vs Aus:
Our batsmen need to show a shitload more discipline and application in Melbourne. I still can't understand why Ajaz wasn't considered, he would have rocked it on that deck. Not quite as shocking as omitting Sam Cane, but so much has to go our way to win without us shooting ourselves in the foot
But is Cane an opener?
Test match cricket is basically a question of whether or not you can win away from home. You need a few things to go your way when playing here, let alone in Perth in sweltering conditions and in form Aussie seamers. These aren’t excuses, just the reality.
Given MCG conditions are likely to be quite different I think they will stick with the current openers.
When I look at our squad overall I’m not seeing a whole lot of ‘pick me, I demand it” from those that sat on the sidelines in Perth.
@Chris-B Lockie is interesting. Another NZ fast bowler who is short and bowling at the limitations of his body. Aside from breaking down he didn't have the control to be demanding at this level of cricket. Test cricket is the form of cricket that finds players out.
@kev Yeah.
I guess to be fair, it was his debut test and he was potentially trying too hard (maybe hence the injury).
Worth more cracks, I think - but, I'm pretty mystified as to why they picked Matt Henry ahead of him in Hamilton. A 1-0 lead in a series that didn't count for the WTC - better place to blood him than in the hotbed of Perth.
@Chris-B agree, he needs to work on control for the future. I fear he will join the long list of NZ fasts that are promising that break down.
@kev One good thing about Lockie is that he's a bit older (28) and I've read that makes a difference with injuries compared to really young guys who are pretty much still growing - up till about 24.
And it's not a back injury that has got him.
@Donsteppa Interesting!
I guess there's very little chance of Jamieson playing, because Matt Henry is surely ahead of him in the queue and Henry surely won't play unless Boult (or one of the other seamers) isn't fit.
Jamieson might be handy in the nets though, because he's about the same height as Starc (even taller, I think) - unfortunately, last time I saw him his pace was more like CdG's!
@KiwiMurph I'd guess all of Southee, Wagner and de Grandhomme will sit it out.
Be interesting to see who opens the batting - I'd be somewhat inclined to go with Raval and whomever his potential replacement would be - Blundell, Nicholls or BJ.
Tom Latham could bat at 5.