Not really - plenty of folk were saying it at the time.
Indeed, as they did when New Zealand refused to force the follow on. It was heroic stuff last night, but McCullum let England off the hook with his decision-making.
Great game of test cricket, drama right down to the last ball.
The game was dominated by two mistakes, one by Cook for bowling first and another by McCullum for not enforcing the follow on and taking valuable time out of the game meaning England had less overs to survive.
Don't agree about the follow-on, basically, despite the figures, Southee and Boult were the quality bowlers here, needed to keep them fresh. Less overs to survive, nah, once we'd got past their score, runs count double, they'd have had to have more defensive fields too, might not have picked up the wickets. Was the right decision IMHO.
Probably did bat too long, but if the Kiwi's had held their catches they'd have won easily.
I thought England would do it but that was really close :eek: Not a great result but overall a drawn series away from home is decent plus winning the one day series against a strong opponent. And England stay #2
Monty"s dive into the crease was epic obviously Prior and Panesar will get the plaudits and rightly so but Bell's inninga was just as good surviving nearly a full day.
Don't agree about the follow-on, basically, despite the figures, Southee and Boult were the quality bowlers here, needed to keep them fresh. Less overs to survive, nah, once we'd got past their score, runs count double, they'd have had to have more defensive fields too, might not have picked up the wickets. Was the right decision IMHO.
Probably did bat too long, but if the Kiwi's had held their catches they'd have won easily.
Yes, I didn't see that McCullum did a lot wong. I agree about not enforcing the follow on. Yes, NZ might have got early 2nd innings wickets against a bit of a shell shocked England, but the next day might have been a struggle. It was mainly about having the bowlers fresher, ready to go again.
Batted too long ? Not particularly. Putting a side into the position of only going for a draw can make them almost too negative rather than play balls on their merits. And once most are playing like that, it really magnifies the final runs difference. Huge total though it might have been, it wasn't ridiculous for the overs left in the match, I just think he pushed it far enough and I certainly wouln't have declared much earlier.
All in all, NZ were in a great position to wim at the start of the England 2nd innings and even moreso at close of the 4th day. That they didn't win was much more to do with England's resolve and some luck rather than McCullum's tactical calls.
Yes, I didn't see that McCullum did a lot wong. I agree about not enforcing the follow on. Yes, NZ might have got early 2nd innings wickets against a bit of a shell shocked England, but the next day might have been a struggle. It was mainly about having the bowlers fresher, ready to go again.
Batted too long ? Not particularly. Putting a side into the position of only going for a draw can make them almost too negative rather than play balls on their merits. And once most are playing like that, it really magnifies the final runs difference. Huge total though it might have been, it wasn't ridiculous for the overs left in the match, I just think he pushed it far enough and I certainly wouln't have declared much earlier.
All in all, NZ were in a great position to wim at the start of the England 2nd innings and even moreso at close of the 4th day. That they didn't win was much more to do with England's resolve and some luck rather than McCullum's tactical calls.
I agree. Bell and Bairstow should have both been out before lunch. Prior rode his luck more than once in the afternoon session. Panesar's 'dive' nearly resulted in the final wicket being taken. Nine out of ten times, England would have been bowled all out yesterday.
An impressive final day but 0-0 against a side as poor as New Zealand is nothing to celebrate. An incredibly poor performance by England over the course of the three matches.
Agree with this. The current NZ team is very very average. There is a reason why they are ranked 8th in the world. Only Bangladesh are below them.
For me this is a series that England will look at and see as a failure. If anything it will give the aussies hope. If England cant beat NZ, then we have a chance. They dont, but it does give them hope.
8th is not average. It is below average. 5th would be average.
new zealand probably deserve the ranking, last time they won a series excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe was in 2008, when they won against west indies.
still cracks me up when I hear bumble and sky boys, saying new Zealand are a better team then what the ranking suggest, the fact is that england haven't played at their best and that new zealand did the basics very well.
Said he was assaulted in a bar in Christchurch and that he has a fractured skull and a collapsed lung
Doesn't sound good. Hope he pulls through OK
hopefully he recovers, he is one of the gifted players from new zealand, like most gifted cricketers he tends to take cricket for granted, he should of had a fantastic career of international crickets but lots of personal issues stopped him from achieving his full potential.
With all the attention focused on how England underperformed, I have to credit NZ for drawing the series and having the better of 2 of the 3 tests. Great way to bounce back from the hammering they recieved in South Africa.
I think things will be rather different in early season English conditions for NZ though.
hopefully he recovers, he is one of the gifted players from new zealand, like most gifted cricketers he tends to take cricket for granted, he should of had a fantastic career of international crickets but lots of personal issues stopped him from achieving his full potential.
Jeremy Coney was talking about Jesse Ryder recently and he has a lot of time for him. He had a very difficult up bringing, and sometimes can't help getting into bother. Terrible news and I wisg him well .
Comments
Not really - plenty of folk were saying it at the time.
Indeed, as they did when New Zealand refused to force the follow on. It was heroic stuff last night, but McCullum let England off the hook with his decision-making.
Should have enforced the follow on. I said so at the time.
The game was dominated by two mistakes, one by Cook for bowling first and another by McCullum for not enforcing the follow on and taking valuable time out of the game meaning England had less overs to survive.
Probably did bat too long, but if the Kiwi's had held their catches they'd have won easily.
You were expecting highlights on Channel 5?
When was the last time non-Ashes overseas series had highlights on terrestrial TV?:cool:
I think the last time a New Zealand visit was shown was back in early 1992.
Sky could even have put an half hour highlights programme on freeview, say PickTV.
It gets good exposure on radio but without TV coverage it's bound to join the rest at the behest of Sky's whim.
Monty"s dive into the crease was epic
Yeah, but people don't play the game anyway, they didn't in my school in the eighties either.
Hard to argue with the money Sky has pumped into the sport, which makes decent wages, and reasons to be in the game.
Minority sport, compared to what, many other sports getting massive terrestrial coverage?
Cricket is behind football and rugger, but there really isn't many more team sports thrusting ahead of it.
Yes, I didn't see that McCullum did a lot wong. I agree about not enforcing the follow on. Yes, NZ might have got early 2nd innings wickets against a bit of a shell shocked England, but the next day might have been a struggle. It was mainly about having the bowlers fresher, ready to go again.
Batted too long ? Not particularly. Putting a side into the position of only going for a draw can make them almost too negative rather than play balls on their merits. And once most are playing like that, it really magnifies the final runs difference. Huge total though it might have been, it wasn't ridiculous for the overs left in the match, I just think he pushed it far enough and I certainly wouln't have declared much earlier.
All in all, NZ were in a great position to wim at the start of the England 2nd innings and even moreso at close of the 4th day. That they didn't win was much more to do with England's resolve and some luck rather than McCullum's tactical calls.
I agree. Bell and Bairstow should have both been out before lunch. Prior rode his luck more than once in the afternoon session. Panesar's 'dive' nearly resulted in the final wicket being taken. Nine out of ten times, England would have been bowled all out yesterday.
Agree with this. The current NZ team is very very average. There is a reason why they are ranked 8th in the world. Only Bangladesh are below them.
For me this is a series that England will look at and see as a failure. If anything it will give the aussies hope. If England cant beat NZ, then we have a chance. They dont, but it does give them hope.
8th is not average. It is below average. 5th would be average.
still cracks me up when I hear bumble and sky boys, saying new Zealand are a better team then what the ranking suggest, the fact is that england haven't played at their best and that new zealand did the basics very well.
I think you are taking the word "average" a bit too literally
I didn't get the sense that ACU in describing NZ as "very very average" at all considered them as literally err "average" for a test side.
I always take it literally. Average means just what it says. It does not mean poor.
I blame Simon Cowell for this language change:mad:
Wish him well.
Just saw this on SSN
Said he was assaulted in a bar in Christchurch and that he has a fractured skull and a collapsed lung
Doesn't sound good. Hope he pulls through OK
hopefully he recovers, he is one of the gifted players from new zealand, like most gifted cricketers he tends to take cricket for granted, he should of had a fantastic career of international crickets but lots of personal issues stopped him from achieving his full potential.
I think things will be rather different in early season English conditions for NZ though.
Jeremy Coney was talking about Jesse Ryder recently and he has a lot of time for him. He had a very difficult up bringing, and sometimes can't help getting into bother. Terrible news and I wisg him well .