Thrilling test match. Outstanding batting from England to come out of it with a draw. It seemed Martin went to the toilet, maybe nerves? He was quite loose and genuinely not threatening unfortunately. I must ask, is that the best test match in the past 3-4 years?
All in all, a good solid core of cricketers to work with. Rutherford looks the best attacking opening bat prospect in many a year, Fulton's comeback was excellent, Williamson will go onto have a top test career, Taylor is Taylor, McCullum is coming to fruition finally.. its now that last batting spot of Brownie's that could fall to Ryder. I think its telling that Luke Ronchi probably won't get a tour spot, even though he's had an excellent season for Wellington, when it seemed a lay down faizzre that he should get a Black Caps spot upon availability. The one thing they still miss, and have never really ever had in their history, is a top class spin bowler. Southee, Boult, Wagner, Bracewell give them some excellent pace bowling options, and obviously McClenaghan came from nowhere this year to excel. There appears to be some good cricketers coming through - Matt Henry, Carl Cachopa (all three of them have talent TBF), Corey Anderson, Jeet Raval, and some older players came back to pressure on selectors, obviously Fulton got rewarded but Michael Papps also must present questions for the limited overs team.
Speaking of Brownlie, probably the moment that I thought oh dear, here we go was when he shelled Bell. Bell in an ultra defensive mode doesn't give you many chances, and you have to take them. It would have given New Zealand two quick wickets with the new ball, Boult's tail would have up, and the English middle and lower order exposed to the new ball. That was critical.
I think we'll move from #8 fairly quickly, credit to Mike Hesson and a slice of immense humble pie to me, Brendan McCullum is definitely the guy to lead this team. He's aggressive as a captain. And thats great when you have genuine swing from Boult, seam from Southee, and a get up there kazaley attitude in Wagner and Bracewell.
