Its Summer! - the Fever Cricket Thread. (Part 2)

Talk Sport or Radio Sport for the after match?

Gutted.

Almost upsetting.

So... who gets a gig for the return series?

Bracewell in for Southee.

Think Fulton could struggle over there too, would bring Guppy in for him if he didn't perform in the warm-ups.

Guptill in for Brownlie

Same team. Can't think of any logical reasons to replace any players from our best [consistent] performing test side in a long time.

Guptill, Bracewell, Latham and Vettori to travel as injury replacements/tactical changes.

That is well harsh. I understand what you're thinking, but still very harsh on a guy who averaged I think about 68 in this series. Plus there is absolutely nothing to say Guptill would do any better in English conditions.

I thought southee bowled well? He was quite unlucky, particularly in Wellington. 

Brownlie wasn't the best but he's shown he can perform at test match level. He fits into that #5 mold pretty well and is working hard at making that spot his own. It could take Guptill just as long if not longer to get used to that position.

Just because a player wasn't our best player in the series isn't grounds for dropping them. I think what some people don't realise is that the 'revolving selection door' we've had in the past has been one of the biggest problems with this team. Players need time to settle and work on their game at the top level [Plunket Shield doesn't cut it] and this team we currently have has a good balance about it where players are seeming to fit into roles rather than trying to manufacture guys into postitions they aren't used to.

No we didn't win but we exeeded expectation and dominated the world #2 for the best part of two test matches. Let these guys have another go at doing that, they could even get better - imagine that! - but only if we give them time to do so.

But I guess some people will never be satisfied!

Didn't say i wasn't satisfied. 0-0 is still a very good result against a top England side.

Just saying if certain players aren't performing they shouldn't feel immune to being dropped. Might even do some of them the world of good.

Guess it's a whole other debate though isn't it? How many chances do you give a player before dropping them?

Southee, Boult, and Bracewell could do some real damage with a duke ball in May...

I'm not a big Brownlie guy, although his average is 32 (not great anyway), his big scores have come after being dropped several times, law of averages states that eventually those catches will stick and he'll drop right back down to averaging about 25. Having said that, I guess we have to wait until that happens before his place is in real jeopardy. Guptill's batted okay at five before, and considering we won't be dropping our openers (despite how unsustainable these performances are), Brownlie is the only droppable guy.

I'm with N-Bomb on this one, Brownlie would be the only guy I would be looking at dropping, myself I would also be looking at Papps as another option, in at 3, Taylor & Williiamson dropping one place each. (If I was bring back Guptil I'd probably do the same).

In saying that I'd probably be sticking with the same XI going to England, give the team a chance to gel with a steady XI and see if they can continue to get better.

Two warm up games over here. Brownlie and Guptill have a bat off for the five spot. Wagner and Braces bowl off for the third seamer while considering playing both if Martin doesn't do anything in warm ups. Beauty of warm up games.

Anyone know anything about Jesse Ryder. Apparently fractured skull and in critical condition after a bust up in a pub???

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10874141 

Sad news :(

People suck. Hope he gets well. 

I agree-hope he recovers quickly 

Good news today. Someone has been arrested over the beating of Ryder.

What are they doing at a bar ??

I don't know the full story but that bit confuses me.

What does anybody do at a bar? Not sure why that bit confuses you?

The Wellington team? Having a post-season party, couple of drinks. Whether Ryder should have been with them is another story but certainly not one which should be looked at until A) He recovers fully and B) We know the full story.

He is a part of the team, so of course he should have been. Witnesses have said he wasn't exactly drinking, and police have said alcohol wasn't a factor. 

The media have been a disgrace, and the resulting perception by people (I'm guessing like nufc_nz) is incredibly unfortunate. 

Must say how the media has been reporting this disgusts me. Ryder is the victim of an unprovoked attack and they keep bringing up his troubled past. Yes, he has issues but I don't see why they are relevant with what is being reported.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10874268

He had started drinking again

just to make my self clear though. No one deserves getting assaulted. I hope they find whoever did this and send them to prison. I was only thinking if you had a mate who was a recovering alcoholic, you wouldn't take him to a bar. That's all i'm saying.

surely something like this cannot be unprovoked. But no one knows yet. We'll see.

Ugh, the media disgust me. A few Quotes hidden in between the headline and the general knife twisting theme of the article:

Police are adamant alcohol was not behind the "altercation" that took place just before Ryder was viciously attacked outside Aikmans bar early yesterday morning.

While they would not speculate on what else may have motivated the attack, they said it was not alcohol fuelled.

But this attack was not due to Ryder drinking alcohol.

Peter Clinton of Cricket Wellington said Ryder had not violated the conditions of his contract by consuming alcohol.

He confirmed there were alcohol "protocols" set for the team, as there was with many professional sports teams in New Zealand.

"My understanding of the events is that those protocols were being met."

First he gets kicked while he was down by some thugs at a bar, now he is getting kicked while he is down by the media. Disgusting.

And as for "Surely something like this cannot be unprovoked", that is massively untrue. I've been attacked a couple of times, and done absolutely nothing to provoke it. The last time all I did was walk into the bathroom, got hit, then the toilet door barged open a few times as I hid in there. I won in the end though...He said he was going to bash it down with his head....So I put my back against the door, and my legs braced against the wall. He hit the door with his head and it didn't move...he looked very worse for wear when I walked out...

I also imagine if you were something of a celebrity, that it'd be more likely to happen unprovoked. I'm not claiming to know what happened, but maybe we shouldn't assume things. 

Things that gets me is they always refer to the last incident in Napier when i think he had a drink with Bracewell and some proper pricks got in an argument with him.He wasnt pissed then all he did was break team protocol.Blackcaps teams of about 10 years ago are bloody lucky the bloody media wernt as bad then as they are these days.

Yep Jesse might enjoy a drink but the way the media carry on you would think he is far worse than he actually is.Thankfully the buggars dont have as much idea as they seem to let on,or things could have been alot worse for him over the years.

I'm with Tegal on the unprovoked attacks, I was walking along Courtenay Place in my younger days, with two male, and three female friends, a group of 6 guys were standing on the side of the street, saw us coming stepped out 3 in front, and 3 behind us, one asks "What ya looking at" I say nothing and try to step around him, his mate behind me grabs my shoulders and the guy in front headbutts me, breaking my nose, when they see the amount of blood they all take off.

This sort of thing DOES happen unprovoked.

Back on topic, the reporting of this is disgraceful, he is the victim here and as police have said, alcohol was NOT involved so how does his drinking even matter?

It's always in groups isn't it?

Cowards.

I see millmow is having a dig now too. Surprise surprise. 

How about Scribe the scumbag?

He probably thinks women in short skirts are asking to be raped too. I mean, it doesn't just happen to them for no reason does it?

Dickhead. 

Even if he was hypothetically being a little mouthy, that's hardly grounds for putting him in a coma. Too much blaming the victim rather than blaming the thugs. 

Scribe ?

fudge off back to your cave. you were popular 10 years ago with one song.

You have to remember that Scribe claims to have grown up living the "thug life" so to him this thing is acceptable. Ya know, in his world if you look at someone the wrong way you're gonna get what's coming to you because that's gangster. If the person who was assaulted was from Christchurch what would he say then? Mug.

Doesn't he do rhymes for children now. Gangsta