Its Summer! - the Fever Cricket Thread.

I know! I gotttttit! Hold the press boys, someone's wearing the clever trouseurs!

Why don't we get the wicket keeper to keep and the opening batsman to open??????!????

or would that be to straight forward?

(for those not following I mean McCullum to keep, bat 7 and Watling to open the batting)

I agree with this. McCullum doesn't want to keep though so it will never happen, he now sees his batting as his asset to the team. I rememember hearing something about back problems but he hasn't had any spells from the game for injuries that I can remember.

I'm flying up to Gizzy tonight for this game so will keep a close eye on how BJ and Kruger go.

Jamie How going nuts. 100 not out off 45 balls with 4 overs to go. This is when (being from Paraparaumu) I am actually from CD rather than Wellington!

If McCullum's back isn't up to keeping in test match cricket (and I have no reason to doubt him) then thats the way it has to be. His record as a test opener so far is good enough to warrant him being there as a specialist opener. I certainly would rather have him there than Watling.aitkenmike2012-01-18 18:10:36

Fantastic innings, but Pukekura Park is built for t20. With all their big hitters CD are near unbeatable there

It's a great ground but it's too small, even for T20. You miss hit it and it still goes for six.

Isn't that kind of the idea of T20?

Did anyone notice Jamie How telling Doug Bracewell that the Firebirds bowling is f**king rubbish when he had his mic on.

From memory it was something like 'be patient and wait for the bad ball because you will get some f**king rubbish'. Sky then quickly cut away from his mic.

The boundaries are very short. If I was sitting on the bank I'd be watching every ball cause some of those sixes were thudding into it like lazer beams.

Wait? They mic'd up Jamie How?

f**k me

He's gotta be one of the least charismatic dipsh*ts around in NZ cricket. Not to mention he's useless.

It's not like he got the quickest century in New Zealand domestic cricket ever yesterday. But yea he was sh*t with the Black Caps.

In a T20 match.

In other words, who cares?

Useless is a bit harsh, averages 30 in ODI's, but he looks pure class at domestic level, never translated to the internationals really. But he plays for CD, so I automatically hate him really

Baz 100 from 49 balls, 2 fastest tons have come in last 2 days. A win for meaningless matches

Not hard though is it?

 
No, not if Peter Fulton can do it.

Another player who did alright for a while then went crap.... You could probably create a 6-team tournament full of them

Me and my work mates were trying to come up with a 'nz domestic journeyman XI' and the requirements were that they weren't allowed to have played for nz but had to have played at least eight seasons of first class. I can't remember how many we ended up with but it was no where near a full eleven. It just showed us how many muppets have gone well enough in domestic cricket to earn a call up for the national side but ended up being miles off international quality and were soon dropped back into the domestic cricket abyss.

There would be a few from my province recently - Yovich, the Parlanes, Bruce Martin, Brad Scott, but definately agree, anyone who makes runs usually gets a run.

Nice to see BJ making some runs for the NZ XIN-Bomb2012-01-21 15:18:13

Other than Vettori and Wells, everyone else did pretty sh*t!

How the Parlanes didn't manage to get a call up I'll never know. About everyone else seemed to be tried, and they just kept on getting in the runs.

nothing wrong with the pitch

the parlanes were included, scott and martin considered

As a neutral, I hope Auckland win this today as I think they are the better team, and have a better chance of representing us well in the champions league both through greater talent and greater experience.

25 from that over! Makes things a little more interesting.

Aces should have it in the bag!!!

48 from 2 overs - easy Tegal2012-01-22 16:58:21

Sam Wells in the test squad is interesting. It does show that Wright is desperate to have an all rounder in his side though which is fair enough. I was in Gisborne for the game and Wells impressed me along with Arnell, Wagner and BJ Watling. The usual test guys all looked comfortable and made the most of the game without needing to go overboard.

Wagner is going to be an entertaining player to watch if he makes the test team. He bowls aggressively and gets stuck in to the batsmen - he even had to be pulled away from Ray Price yesterday it got that heated. I think the team could do with a bit of that though.

Of all the quicks (/mediums) Arnel generated the most bounce which the Zimbabweans struggled to score off. He didn't trouble the batsmen as much as Wagner did though.

Also Tarun Nathula looked decent enough and could be worth a go on the sub continent.

BJ looked comfortable at the crease until he was run out and was tidy if unspectacular with the gloves so would like to see him play in napier ahead of the four-foot-two Van Wyk.

Wells was very tidy with the ball and looked comfortable enough with the bat. Can probably improve a fair bit more before he plays his first test though.

I like that he's in the squad, but I think starting him would be a bit too much, he hasn't really set the world alight in domestic cricket. I still love BA's test bowling, but he's probably 5th choice seamer at the moment, I'll be happy with him for ND in that case.

As for Wagner, I would play him in the tests, but I really hope we don't chuck him into the short format.

Agree completely. I've seen alot of Wagner and he is far and away the best quick bowler playing FC cricket, but certainly his limited overs form has been poor of late. He concedes alot of 4 balls, its part of the way he bowls, but while you forgive this to an extent in the longer form, his form in the ltd overs needs improvement before he can be considered. As for Wells, he is a naturally gifted player. Am curious to see how he goes, if given the opportunity. Derserving of a chance? yeah probably. Whether he will be a good test player, remains to be seen.

I agree regarding the need for an all-rounder in the team to provide it with a bit of balance but isn't that essentially what Vettori does?

I think they're not holding out hope on Ryder being an all rounder. Or being fit enough to play consistently.

If you 'like' International Cricket Captain 2011 on facebook, you can download the full version of the 2005 version for free. Nowhere near as good as football manager, but it's a nice diversion (and one my ancient computer can actually handle )

Inspired move from Sehwag to bring Ashwin on first change. 2 wickets in the first morning when asked to bowl on a flat deck = a session victory already for India. Hopefully they keep it up.

Dhoni should take note...

1st session - India
1st day - Aussie

India's seamers have been rubbish (except Sharma who has been unlucky).

f**k off Ponting and Clarke!

ugh... Ponting gets 200. Glad I haven't watched any of this test.