New Zealand v England Test Match Series

I have say having seen the highlights the NZ catching was excellent and some really good spectacular ones were taken. Some of the hole outs from a England point of view were disappointing to see. I would love us to win it of couse, but at the same time it certainly would also be good to see NZ win a test match. as it might make things that more interesting I'm sure in the Test championship.

Every Test is important, bit I was surprised at England selection for this match after sealing the series. Carse was in some pain with his foot & they had a ready made replacement in Stone. Stoke had a back niggle, brushed it off, but for some strange reason after bowling him self sparingly in the previous 2 Tests he got through the most overs on day 1 when England didn't bowl one over spin. Not sure what he was trying to prove, maybe just pushing/testing himself. Often a niggle in one part of your body can result in an injury somewhere else. This is a reoccurrence of the hamstring injury he sustained earlier in the year.
Can Stoke ever be trusted to play a full part in a 5 man bowling unit, he certainly could never be considered in a 4 man attack. Is it time to callit a day as a bowler, or an over-reaction ?

(16-12-2024 10:32 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(15-12-2024 07:18 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  [quote='Boomerangutangangbang' pid='2918812' dateline='1734125817']
[quote='Boomerangutangangbang' pid='2918377' dateline='1734015918']
New Zealand v England 3rd Test - Hamilton Day 4
Toss - England elect to bowl
New Zealand 347 (97.1 overs) Santner 78 Latham 63 Young 42 Williamson 44 Southee 23 Atkinson 3-66 Potts 4-90 Carse 2-78
England 143 (35.4 overs) Root 32 Stokes 27 Pope 24 Crawley 21 Henry 4-48 Santner 3-7 O'Rourke 3-33
New Zealand 453 (101.4 overs) Young 60 Williamson 158 Mitchell 60 Santner 49 Ravindra 44 Blundell 44 no Bethell 3-72 Stokes 2-52 Bashir 2-170
England 234 (47.2 overs) Bethell 76 Root 54 Atkinson 43 Santner 4-85 Southee 2-34 Henry 2-62
New Zealand won by 423 Runs
Target 658

Quote:

I'm sure Geoff Boycott would call it "bloody rubbish".

He probably would I think. For all their skill and power I think in many cases, three things ended up letting the team down: - Judgement, shot selection & concentration. I think some players in this series have knuckled down a little probably and played well but In this test I think some old habits reared their head and it backed on them. While we have won the series I think this tests has shownthat some please need to sit down analyze what they did wrong in this right and work to eradicate those mistakes. You're not going to make big scores when you press the panic button.

I'd say rest a few players, give some players who are on thr fringe of the team a chance to show what they can do, create some healthy competition and build harmony and make sure everyone is on the same page. A battering is what England got in this Yest match and probably has left many people scratching their heads and wondering how that happened.