New Zealand v England, 2nd Test, Christchurch, 30 March - 3 April, 2018

beamer wrote:Stoneman looking about as secure as an Aussie cricket official so far.

Lovely sunny day yet we're making it look like a grey Headingley day from the 80s.

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

beamer wrote:Stoneman looking about as secure as an Aussie cricket official so far.

Lovely sunny day yet we're making it look like a grey Headingley day from the 80s.

Can we call up Botham?

Just seen Cook is one short of Border’s all time record of consecutive Tests. He won’t want this to be his farewell appearance then... Oh, and as I say that, Usain Bakerloos him. One more chance...

Well if you don't get forward to a guy bowling 132kmh that's what'll happen.

Vince in. Time for a single malt... (he’ll be out by the time I’ve poured it!)

Cook has only passed 50 twice in his last 20 Test innings. Both double hundreds!

ojitarian wrote:Cook has only passed 50 twice in his last 20 Test innings.  Both double hundreds!

I think I remember the last one - on that pudding of a pitch in Melbourne. One before? West Indies? Anyway, I'm guessing it was either against a shithouse attack or on a docile track...or both.

He's done - time to be put out to pasture along with his livestock.

Lindsay no.2 wrote:

ojitarian wrote:Cook has only passed 50 twice in his last 20 Test innings.  Both double hundreds!

I think I remember the last one - on that pudding of a pitch in Melbourne. One before? West Indies? Anyway, I'm guessing it was either against a shithouse attack or on a docile track...or both.

He's done - time to be put out to pasture along with his livestock.

Yeah, WI against the pink ball at Edgbaston.

Not sure who we replace him with, maybe time for a wildcard choice rather than going back down the list of county journeyman openers? Seems every Test team’s struggling in that department at the moment, there’s some good new ball pairs around I suppose. If Dean Elgar’s the best opener in the world (as per rankings) it really is a mediocre crop.

Cook seems to be stuck in a horrendous technical rut where all his momentum retreats backwards while the bat moves forwards in search of the ball.

Has he been badly clocked on the noggin in the last year or so? He's almost backing away as much as Broad these days.

Getting out to De Grandhomme must feel properly shit.

No dice for The Bigboy - didn't hit it, missing stumps, all gravy.

Dello wrote:Cook seems to be stuck in a horrendous technical rut where all his momentum retreats backwards while the bat moves forwards in search of the ball.

Has he been badly clocked on the noggin in the last year or so? He's almost backing away as much as Broad these days.

Maybe the post-Strauss partnerships have traumatised him. He's had to see so many confused statues and lame ducks at the other end that he's never going to be able to think clearly again. Imagine how difficult it is for him with this physical affliction impacting him in everyday life - trying to pick things off of a supermarket shelf and not drop them is a lottery. He tries to play himself in with lunging at soft things like bags of salad but he always had in the back of his mind the fear of dropping the bottle of olive oil and embarrassing himself in Waitrose.

Good guess by Oxenford there.

So 2/70 at lunch. Much better effort from the Poms. The Stoner's application is admirable and Little Jo looks there for a big knock.

Yet another single figure result for Cook. Dello has got it right. Through the Ashes, Cook's habit of moving back while propping his bat forward made him a walking wicket. Maybe it is a technical error he can fix or simply father time has caught up with him.

Malan gets a golden.

Vince made 18, with 3 boundaries, probably all perfectly lovely.

Nice gesture of solidarity for England's batting to come out in sympathy with Australia.

Stokes to the rescue again. Your next captain, perhaps.

Little Jo never gave it away ... Completely stiff?

Put Wood at 3.

That is some recovery from England

Good to see some resilience down the order, even from players who it’s not necessarily expected of.

The top three needs another complete rethink though.

Amazing that we want to drop someone who has scored two double hundreds within the last year.

Can't say I disagree though. I think the point about knowing that his place is secure no matter what plus the pressure of knowing that no one since Strauss has successfully partnered with Cook will make it harder for anyone coming in.

We need to try something this summer though as the Ashes is not the place to be trialling completely new openers.

Just had a bet on a NZ win. Money in the bank isn't it?

vilkrang wrote:
Amazing that we want to drop someone who has scored two double hundreds within the last year.

Can't say I disagree though. I think the point about knowing that his place is secure no matter what plus the pressure of knowing that no one since Strauss has successfully partnered with Cook will make it harder for anyone coming in.

We need to try something this summer though as the Ashes is not the place to be trialling completely new openers.

Two double centuries and no other fifties, there can’t have been many other such sequences in Test cricket!

He just doesn’t seem to be able to see off the new ball 9 times out of 10 these days, and that’s his job as an opener. Would it be a crazy idea to try him down the order?

beamer wrote:

vilkrang wrote:
Amazing that we want to drop someone who has scored two double hundreds within the last year.

Can't say I disagree though. I think the point about knowing that his place is secure no matter what plus the pressure of knowing that no one since Strauss has successfully partnered with Cook will make it harder for anyone coming in.

We need to try something this summer though as the Ashes is not the place to be trialling completely new openers.

Two double centuries and no other fifties, there can’t have been many other such sequences in Test cricket!

He just doesn’t seem to be able to see off the new ball 9 times out of 10 these days, and that’s his job as an opener. Would it be a crazy idea to try him down the order?

His footwork looks shot. Best thing for Cook will be for him to get plenty of games under his belt for Essex to get some rhythm back into his game.

lardbucket wrote:Stokes to the rescue again.  Your next captain, perhaps.

Can you captain from a cell?