England v New Zealand, First Test Lord's

First topic message reminder :

So after all the drama and acrimony of the last couple of weeks, its time for the action to begin on the field. The first test of the English summer gets underway at the HQ from tomorrow. An upcoming New Zealand against an embattled England. But England are on home turf, New Zealand don't have a good record in England, most of their recent success has come at home, the core of their test side are just coming on the back of T-20 cricket at the IPL rather than much getting used to English conditions.
England on the other hand are without a coach and questions on Kevin Pietersen are going away nowhere. There are unsettled issues about the combination of the side, with the position of one of the openers, the 3rd seamer and the spinner being open questions.
Adam Lyth is likely to make his debut for England tomorrow, and there is a chance that Mark Wood might come in for Chris Jordan.
For New Zealand, it is being suggested that Matt Henry might get to debut and offer backup to Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Martin Guptill, on the back of a spectacular world cup and 150 in the warmup game is set to come back as test opener, and Corey Anderson, coming back from injury, is set to take the all-rounder position.
Set for some very interesting cricket.......

Cook and Root have played nicely but have certainly rode their luck so far

Mark Craig is very very average

CaledonianCraig wrote:For England to make a real match of this then I believe they have to be looking to this sort of route map. Get to lunch no worse than 160 for 4, at tea for 270 for 6 and around close if they have been bowled out for say 375+ then they have a fighting chance.

At present then England on track with my route map and with an extra wicket and 15 runs in the bank. England get to lunch 175 for 3. Another fifty for Root and 100 partnership between Cook and Root up. England's session.

Well done England, continuing to reel New Zealand in who, as predicted, are on the back-foot now. Cook finding himself after a testing evening, and Root complimenting him with some adventurous strokeplay.

Have to bat another 45-55 overs, probably, to take that lead to the precious 200 and beyond mark.

Very good first session for England after that (very) early wicket. Didn't see all of it but clearly was a struggle in the first hour ; and they seemed to be reaping the benefits of toughing it out in the later part.
Have to get started again after lunch of course. But if they do , then at some stage NZ may start to suffer for what appears to be McCullums reluctance to use either Anderson or his spinner. Boult , Southee and Henry are sharing the load ; but as the overs mount up they are bound to lose a little of their punch.
Long way to go. Absorbing Test Match.

It is an intriguing match up , isn't it? You know that the rambunctious nature of Brendon McCullum's captaincy means whatever the target, New Zealand are going to chase with gusto. They certainly have the firepower to give it a go, whatever England do. Because of that, England are still in with a chance of winning.

Btw, Raf, I meant to ask earlier - what is Harlem Shake? I don't remember the term being used by Arlott or Brearley in their works.

Hope we try to setup the game to give both sides a chance of winning

What an effort from England to build on the solid platform they established last night.

Another 55 runs added in the last hour - nosing ahead, perchance?

Duty281 wrote:What an effort from England to build on the solid platform they established last night.

Another 55 runs added in the last hour - nosing ahead, perchance?

Wouldn't say ahead yet Duty - a couple of quick wickets and we're firmly on the back foot again. These two need to see us through until tea and then we will be ahead

Olly wrote:Hope we try to setup the game to give both sides a chance of winning

A laudable aim , Olly.
I guess there comes a time when an England lead might become too much for even an aggressive NZ side to chase down , and so a draw would loom. But that point couldn't be reached today even if England batted throughout , and scored rather quickly.
So I imagine if England were still batting overnight we could start doing some calculations about targets . But that won't be occupying any minds at the moment.

Second time Root has missed out on a gimme of a century!

Good effort, though.

Damn and double damn ! First the local TV abandons the Test without any prior warning to screen Premier League and Tennis
...and then I see from Cricinfo that Root is out

Was enjoying that stand...

If England can squeeze out another couple of 50+ partnerships then they will be in with a chance of posting a competitive target.

Cracking century for Cook. Looking like he is now getting back into a decent bit of form. England lead over 100 now. 236 for 4.

Well done skipper.

Nice to see the skipper making a hundred ....well done Chef

Be even nicer to actually "see" it .

Looking for a stream...

Check your private messages Alf!

Stokes lovely cover drives

Don't get too excited, Alfie - it'll probably be a stream for Norwich FC tv!

Game is gonna move along quickly now with Stokes in

CaledonianCraig wrote:For England to make a real match of this then I believe they have to be looking to this sort of route map. Get to lunch no worse than 160 for 4, at tea for 270 for 6 and around close if they have been bowled out for say 375+ then they have a fighting chance.

New Zealand will settle for getting four wickets in the morning (three minimum), another three or four in the afternoon and bowling England out in the final session for around 250 leaving them with only around 120 to chase down which should prove fairly straight forward.

My pre-day's play route map for England and things still on track for them at tea. They have an extra two wickets in the bank but 9 runs short. England go into tea early as rain stops play on 261 for 4. I'd say the odds on the draw are shortening.

Bugger off rain

guildfordbat wrote:Don't get too excited, Alfie - it'll probably be a stream for Norwich FC tv!

No , Olly has given me the good oil ...watching on his link now.

Though I see it is rain stopped play now. , alas.

What a pity ; game is nicely poised. But if a lot of time is lost now , tomorrow will likely be just a matter of England trying to bat to safety...

Suppose we were warned the rain was likely this afternoon.

Rain has stopped where I am - around a mile or two to the north of Lords.

Resuming again, no real loss to play.

Doesn't look likely that there will be any more rain in the Test. Cook to anchor, Stokes and Buttler to attack?

Lead currently 127. Another 150 and England will have surely pushed defeat out of the equation.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Rain has stopped where I am - around a mile or two to the north of Lords.

Blimey, I thought you were in The Trossachs! Wouldn't CockneyCraig be more appropriate?

England and the Chef have done very well so far today but I agree with Gower - ''not out of jail yet''.

guildfordbat wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Rain has stopped where I am - around a mile or two to the north of Lords.

Blimey, I thought you were in The Trossachs! Wouldn't CockneyCraig be more appropriate?

I wished I was but work dictates otherwise. And no it wouldn't be appropriate at all.

I do love watching Stokes bat

Looking pretty decent now that England can still take something from this match.

So what is the minimum target England should try to get to. I would say from here the bare minimum should be a target of 275. Anything in excess of 325 and it then becomes very tricky for New Zealand.

Starting to think we need to do a Shane Watson with Stokes, have him in the team primarily as a batsmen who can bowl a bit rather than a genuine all rounder.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Starting to think we need to do a Shane Watson with Stokes, have him in the team primarily as a batsmen who can bowl a bit rather than a genuine all rounder.

Had a rethink of the match situation yet? As for Stokes...hmm well perhaps he is already that in all essence.

Very neat by Stokes, thus far. Not only kept England ticking, but put them firmly on the front-foot.

Maintain this and the lead could be over 300 by stumps.

guildfordbat wrote:Btw, Raf, I meant to ask earlier - what is Harlem Shake? I don't remember the term being used by Arlott or Brearley in their works.

Harlem Shake is a group mob dance, Guildford. But, short hand, means things are about to get messy. Need to watch a Harlem Shake video

Tbf to Stokes he was unlucky not to pick up a couple in the first innings - think he had two dropped off his bowling.

But most definitely a 4th seamer at most at the moment

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Starting to think we need to do a Shane Watson with Stokes, have him in the team primarily as a batsmen who can bowl a bit rather than a genuine all rounder.

Think he is a genuine all rounder , hammers. But his bowling at the moment should be for short bursts only rather than a lot of work ; he can certainly create chances (though he hasn't enjoyed much luck lately !) , but he doesn't half leak runs...
I think he will develop, as a bowler too. Have to give him some time.

kingraf wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Btw, Raf, I meant to ask earlier - what is Harlem Shake? I don't remember the term being used by Arlott or Brearley in their works.

Harlem Shake is a group mob dance, Guildford. But, short hand, means things are about to get messy. Need to watch a Harlem Shake video

Fire up the dial up and get YouTube on Guildford!

Olly wrote:Tbf to Stokes he was unlucky not to pick up a couple in the first innings - think he had two dropped off his bowling.

But most definitely a 4th seamer at most at the moment

No role in a four prong line up, for me. Expensive to the nth degree, and by definition of being a fourth seamer (ie donkey work) is never gonna trouble the wicket column (will invariably be asked to bowl with the bowl doing nothing a la Watson). Luxury bowler, so needs to justify his selection with the bat (as he's currently doing). Watson is a poor man's Kallis, but a poor man's Kallis is still a cracking player. If Stokes gets there (35ish with bat and ball) more force him.

Duty281 wrote:Very neat by Stokes, thus far. Not only kept England ticking, but put them firmly on the front-foot.

Maintain this and the lead could be over 300 by stumps.

300 might be pushing it , Duty ! Though if Stokes were to bat through to the close , who knows ? Will the light and weather allow them to get all the appointed overs in ?

Do like the way Stokes adds another gear to England's batting : he won't come off every time , but when he does...

Calm down Ben.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Calm down Ben.

Keep going I'd say!

alfie wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Very neat by Stokes, thus far. Not only kept England ticking, but put them firmly on the front-foot.

Maintain this and the lead could be over 300 by stumps.

300 might be pushing it , Duty ! Though if Stokes were to bat through to the close , who knows ?  Will the light and weather allow them to get all the appointed overs in ?

Do like the way Stokes adds another gear to England's batting : he won't come off every time , but when he does...

I can dream, right?

Stokes has just clobbered consecutive sixes - 197 the lead, 29 overs left. England going at run-at-ball pace (just over) during the last ten overs.

100 partnership up for England Stokes scoring at over a run a ball and England lead almost at 200.

Olly wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:Calm down Ben.

Keep going I'd say!

I want him to reach the century he deserved in the first innings, then unleash hell.

This is exceptional batting!

Think he's already well off the leash

Exhilarating !

That straight drive was orgasmic.

Technically perfect. Wow.

What a knock from Stokes. He is taking this match away from New Zealand.

I must say this has been a brilliant Test match. Many great innings, some great bowling and each session riveting and this match can still go any way.

He's gone from 57 to 93 in the space of 11 balls am I right?