1st Test: New Zealand v Australia at Wellington on Feb 12-16, 2016

[Meth]

Yep, think the original plan was Santner at 8 - assume Watling's fit, haven't seen any announcement

BLACKCAPS Test Squad v Australia

Brendon McCullum (c)
Corey Anderson
Doug Bracewell
Trent Boult
Martin Guptill
Matt Henry
Tom Latham
Henry Nicholls
Mitchell Santner
Tim Southee
Neil Wagner
BJ Watling / Luke Ronchi (wk)
Kane Williamson

ok right you are.

Better, I suppose....maybe....just.

 

[Twizzle]

flat ?

its greener than the outfield

of course it looks flat, its a f**king cricket pitch

 

[vvvrulz]

NZs only in form and current player is arguably Guptill.

Guptill himself once said "mate I'm in form, I'm just not getting any runs".

I beg to differ.

Guptill is out of form, and all he's doing is bagging runs.
If there's any hint of green, expect ducks.

 

[JJ]

flat ?

its greener than the outfield

of course it looks flat, its a f**king cricket pitch

We'll see - the Aussies have a tendency to make anything greenish look like a minefield - hopefully Trent Bridge is on their minds

 

[ANTiLAG]

Guptill himself once said "mate I'm in form, I'm just not getting any runs".

I beg to differ.

Guptill is out of form, and all he's doing is bagging runs.
If there's any hint of green, expect ducks.

:lol:

I just want to see him make some runs this series. I think that will require him to play positively, and look and play to score runs and not be in a defensive mind set. He needs to realise noone expects him to carry his bat through the innings, but runs are necessary.

When he gets bogged down, he looks awful and then gets out for a 20 or 30. He is not there to be Trevor Franklin in his approach. Well not in my opinion anyway. I don't care if he puts the pull shot away or plays it, whatever he and Crowe think best, but he should be looking for runs down the ground when half vollies are presented. It is a strength of his natural game.

 

[JJ]

Not a Guptill fan - but would like to see him succeed - he has to play his game - and the balance with Latham can be good - but like many current players he's a flat track bully - quality bowling has found him out over and over... that really is his problem those decks in Australia made Burns, Warner, Smith, and even Khawaja, Voges, and Marsh look good (not to mention Ross Taylor who couldn't buy a test run until then) - yet Guptill still looked shot

 

[ANTiLAG]

- he has to play his game -

This is absolutely key for me in getting Guptill's test output to start mirroring his ODI output in just a small way. But I cannot call him a flat track bully. He has failed on flat tracks in test cricket. He has failed at test cricket so far.

We know he can do this in ODI cricket on pitches not friendly for batting against Steyn and Philander:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/848845.html

He has absolutely haunted England in England in ODI cricket. Anderson and Finn included.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/566923.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/566924.html

He has finally come good against Australia in ODi cricket. That monkey is finally off his back. So he should be heading into the test series with some confidence.

But he needs to continue.

 

[Twizzle]

We'll see - the Aussies have a tendency to make anything greenish look like a minefield - hopefully Trent Bridge is on their minds

or South Africa where we keep winning

 

[ANTiLAG]

or South Africa where we keep winning

Safrican pitches are more similar to Australian ones, though. Fast and bouncy.

May get more lateral movement in Safrica than Australia, but typically the movement is less than English or some NZ pitch levels.

I'm worried that Warner will get runs. A lot of runs. I reckon NZ would rank him as the biggest wicket. The commentators will be all over Steve Smith until or unless he gets a big score. His runs in Safrica will not be a topic of discussion until he succeeds. It won't be "what a treat it is to watch Steve Smith" like they do with Sangakarra and co when they tour. It will be - "this guy needs to prove himself away from home".

I expect some Ian Chappell like trolling by the commentators - but not quite as stern, hyperbolic or harsh as he is. The Aussie players best turn the volume off in the dressing room, because they will not like a lot of what they hear. Mark Richardson and Ian Smith appear emotionally invested in this series, unashamedly so. They'll give it to Smith if they can, and the crowd, if any, will look to give it to Warner.

Mitchell Marsh failing or succeeding with the bat could have a large bearing on this series I think - whereas his success or failure at home has been meaningless.

 

[JJ]

or South Africa where we keep winning

Yeah, good point, really relevant - about as relevant as you getting bitch slapped in the UAE where we managed a draw

 

[JJ]

I expect the tests to be close, kind of surprised so many Aussies here are proclaiming it a should win series for NZ - I think we should start slight favourites, but not by much, and this is the same NZ team you were proclaiming was rubbish after the test series in Australia (which we feel we were underprepared for, and unlucky not to draw) - now the argument seems to be you're underprepared...

Might be white ball cricket, but Aust have had meaningful cricket in NZ conditions, which is more than we had prior to Brisbane - which really was the test that cost us

 

[JJ]

I expect some Ian Chappell like trolling by the commentators - but not quite as stern, hyperbolic or harsh as he is. The Aussie players best turn the volume off in the dressing room, because they will not like a lot of what they hear. Mark Richardson and Ian Smith appear emotionally invested in this series, unashamedly so. They'll give it to Smith if they can, and the crowd, if any, will look to give it to Warner.

Why shouldn't they be? We have a good side that has shown they cn go toe to toe with Australia - Smith's loving it, and Rig has always danced to his own tune, which I like

 

[Twizzle]

so, beating the no 1 test team at home on a mixture of surfaces while playing away from home is not relevant ?

if there is anything there you dont understand, feel free to ask

 

[ANTiLAG]

Why shouldn't they be? We have a good side that has shown they cn go toe to toe with Australia - Smith's loving it, and Rig has always danced to his own tune, which I like

I have no strong feelings either way. Ian Chappell levels can get irritating for the most patient observer. Rigor doesn't try to hide the fact that he trolls - which is fine. And he even trolls NZ players - look at his critique of Grant Elliot's bowling this summer (but it was largely successful, so was this in actual fact a troll to the batsman facing it? A troll within a troll.).

Ian Smith almost plays the nice guy who I think at times it appears that relishes in twisting the knife with both smugness and exuberance on occasions. He was fairly well behaved in England despite possibly counting Lords as a victory prematurely, but England was licking their wounds after their abysmal World Cup failure and very respectful to Bmac's team, but he appears to want to give it to Australian cricket oh so very badly. If NZ get on top, I suspect that Australian cricketers and their fans will find his relishing unbearable. Whether he should or shouldn't does not really matter, Channel 9 are no angels in this regard and rightly or wrongly, lead the way with SKY UK in cricket broadcasting.

He was a fair and impartial commentator of the Mitchell Marsh situation, though. I give him credit there. Regardless, I suspect that Allan Border will not be sucked into any trolling. He is a class ambassador of the game and probably remembers that he captained Australia to three series losses in Smith's time. And was lucky to win one largely on a J Crowe recalling him to bat, Dick French non lbw decision and a Dyer 'catch'.

 

[Iafeta]

flat ?

its greener than the outfield

of course it looks flat, its a f**king cricket pitch

Often those that look green in NZ are absolute belters. Get through the first 10 innings and bank a score type wickets. It will have a green tinge on Friday morning, but will be considerably browner by then as well.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Our best batsmen was a geniused legspinner bowler only a few years ago,shows you how bad this team is

 

[umina panther]

Our best batsmen was a geniused legspinner bowler only a few years ago,shows you how bad this team is

We need your boy Matty Wade

 

[TheParraboy]

No excuses from NZ then

If its green and moves around they win, if its a road then the worst they do is draw

fair assessment?

 

[ANTiLAG]

No excuses from NZ then

If its green and moves around they win, if its a road then the worst they do is draw

fair assessment?

NZ has a hole in the midle order without Taylor. Watling is comming back from injury but has no runs this summer to speak of anyway. Bmac was mental in his last test when it was in the balance.

NZ victory will require Boult's swing with Southee, or one of the lesser bowlers to reenact a Stuart Broad demolition job.

Noone has the foggiest of who will be in the NZ bowling line up. Tim and Trent sure, Anderson probable (unless a gun attack is selected), but Craig, Henry, Bracewell, Wagner all up in the air at this stage. Bracewell bats best and we need runs with no Taylor, Wagner is strong running into the wind, Henry has given Smith problems in ODIs despite a dreadful test record that saw him dropped and Craig spins and can bat a little better than Wags, and Henry's (often successful) slogging.

Santner's injury, and his lost batting is a headache for selectors now. Brings both Bracewell's batting and Craig's spin into relevance against Henry's form and Wagner's incumbancy (and into wind running). Henry isn't likely to get the new ball nor preferably want to run into the Wellington wind. It is a tough decision for the selectors.

I can name the Aus team fairly certain of accuracy now subject to Bird fighting Suddle. Even then Sids is ahead on pecking order.

If i was forced to guess, I think Wagner will luck out despite incumbency as Australians are typically good pullers of the ball (Khawaja and Warner certainly are, Voges should be), despite being crucial in NZ victories over SL. This means Bracewell will bowl into the wind a bit with the spinner (if there is one) and Anderson (for his few overs). So NZ will possibly look like this:

Guptill
Latham
KW
Niccolls
McCullum
Anderson
Watling (+)
Bracewell
Craig/Henry
Southee
Boult

Many may have Henry a certainty to start, but without Santner, KW is the only spin option and Henry has not yet suceeded in a third seamer role. It will likely be windy in Wellington. If Bailey was in the Aus test team - Henry would be a near certain selection to get him and Smith out.

I'm not sure how anyone can predict the result not even knowing the team NZ will field. NZ is weak from 4 through 6 in the batting (not including Guptill), and who will be in the attack is unknown. Not to mention the pitch, despite all that green, could well be a road.

 

[chigurh]

You've had a full summer, the odis and a sheffield shield game for the Don Voges and Neville.

Preparation is barely an issue.

Hopefully there is a Boult swing ambush, though.

The two guys playing the Shield match are the only dudes to ever play any red ball cricket in NZ - seems like a prep issue to me. The kiwis should thrash them.