NZ Story CM

[CM13492]

Sqad to tour England
1.A.Redmond
2.J.How
3.P.Fulton
4.M.Bell
5.R.Taylor
6.D.Flynn
7.J.Ryder
8.J.Oram
9.B.McCullum
10.C.Nevin
11.J.Franklin
12.K.Mills
13.D.Vettori (capt)
14.J.Patel
15.M.Mason
16.M.Gillspie
17.T.Southee
18.I.O'Brien
I have selected a large number of bowlers as I feel that is the area we most need to improve and I'm hoping that the openers can give me a good start to the innings my middle order at least to start the series will be quite settled with Taylor, Oram Ryder and Flynn starting but I will use the tour matches to settle my openers and bowlers

[CM13492]

Itinerary

We have 3 tour games before the tests begin with Kent first up then Essex and finally the MCC
A 3 test series follows before we play a 1 day friendly against Worcestershire and then a T20 game tour ends with a 5 match ODI series

[CM13492]

Team for 3 day friendly vs Kent

1.P.Fulton
2.M.Bell
3.J.Ryder
4.R.Taylor
5.D.Flynn
6.J.Oram
7.B.McCullum (wkt)-
8.D.Vettori (capt)
9.K.Mills
10.T.Southee
11.I.O'Brien
I chose this team with English conditions in mind as the ball should swing hopefully the openers can give us a good start to the batting and im excited to have a look at our middle order as well

[CM13492]

NZ v Kent Review

Kent-492 all out
R.Key-124 J.Denly-76
D.Vettori 4-97 I.O'Brien 3-91

NZ-200 all out
J.Kemp 5-49 R.McLaren 4-51
NZ-374-5
B.McCullum-81no D.Flynn-79

A dissapointing start to the tour with only 2 bowlers performing well and then in the first innings we got starts and threw them away Flynn has nailed the three spot after i swapped him and Ryder around in the second innings and McCullum batted well to score 81 off only 106 balls but we need to look at our bowling. A plus is that Bell made a start in both innings and Vettori bowled well breaking partnerships just when we needed it but i think Gillespie and possibly Franklin will come in for the next game

[CM13492]

NZ v Essex preview

decided to make only one change bringing Gillespie in for Southee who took 1-110 in the last match hopefully he will give us the edge we need in our bowling no Franklin as i think wills could be our most effective bowler in the English conditions.
1.Fulton
2.Bell
3.Flynn
4.Taylor
5.Ryder
6.Oram
7.McCullum
8.Vettori
9.Mills
10.Gillespie
11.O'Brien

[CM13492]

NZ v Essex Review

Good match though the 4 hours on day 2 could have cost us a good result but thanks to another good innings from Matthew Bell scoring his second 50 of the game we won, Mills bowled a superb opening spell of 3-14 on the first morning to get us of to a great start and the rest of the bowlers chipped in well then Bell and Fulton put on a huge opening stand of 140 albeit against a poor bowling attack with Fulton getting man of the match for his 115. Flynn againg showed his ability scoring 49 to avoid a collapse after the fall of that first wicket and then in the second innings O'Brien and and Gillespie took 9 of the 10 Essex wickets O'Brien being particularly impressive taking 5-56 and only going at 2.95 an over.

[CM13492]

NZ v MCC preview

only changes again in the bowlers with Mills, O'Brien and Vettori being rested and Southee, Franklin, and Patel getting a chance to push for selection. I resisted the urge to alter the batsmen as all have made 50+ contributions so far and I'm hoping that they improve though I'm pushing Ryder back up to 3 so he can get a bit more time in the middle
1.Fulton
2.Bell
3.Ryder
4.Taylor
5.Flynn
6.Oram
7.McCullum (capt/wkt)
8.Franklin
9.Southee
10.Gillespie
11.Patel
The pitch looks flat though there will always be some cloud around for the bowlers

[CM13492]

NZ v MCC review

NZ-399 for 2 dec
Fulton-163no Taylor-154no

MCC-189 all out
Hyams-86 Winwood-60
Southee 4-54 Gillespie 4-64

NZ-205 for 3 dec
Oram-52no Ryder-40

MCC-121 all out
Southee 4-46 Franklin 2-17

Very good win with Fulton again scoring a hundred and he was supported in the first innings by Ross Taylor who made 154 then Southee and Gillespie came at the MCC both getting 4 wickets each in the first innings, Southee was particularly impressive taking 8-100 and showed a much greater control than Gillespie. I chose not to enforce the follow on as I wanted to let Oram get some time in the middle also Ryder made 40 as well as his first innings 61 at 3. The only thing that has disappointed me so far is the poor bowling form of Oram but I will leave him in the 6 slot for at least the first 2 tests and hopefully he can take some wickets or at least offer some control. I am pleased with the preparation for the test series and hopefully we can cause an upset, I do have some decisions to make such as who will open the bowling with Mills and who will bat at 3 Flynn or Ryder.

[habib]

Started 2 stories at one time!
Bigger question is Who is NZ coach?

[CM13492]

1st Test England vs New Zealand Preview

The pitch looks to be suited to spin and with cloud around for the first few days this could prove to be a low scoring game some rain is expected for day two but it shouldn't affect the chances of a result

England have selescted a very strong side the only real chink is in the debutant Prior at 6 and Flintoff at 7 who hasn't batted well recently. In the bowlers Sidebottom and Hoggard will enjoy the cloudy conditions early and Panesar could come into the fore as the game progresses.
England-
1.Cook
2.Vaughan
3.Pietersen
4.Bell
5.Strauss
6.Prior
7.Flintoff
8.Sidebottom
9.Harmison
10.Panesar
11.Hoggard
New Zealand have decided to go with Ryder at 3 and Southee will play instead of Mark Gillespie. The Batting will hinge heavily on the performances of Fulton and Bell at the top of the order who have performed well so far this tour but will need to set a platform for the strong middle order. Bowling Mills will enjoy the Early cloud cover and Vettori will be dangerous but O'Brien and the out of form Oram will need to keep it tight when they bowl.
New Zealand-
1.Fulton
2.Bell
3.Ryder
4.Taylor
5.Flynn
6.Oram
7.McCullum (wkt)
8.Vettori (capt)
9.Mills
10.Southee
11.O'Brien
the toss will be crucial here whoever wins it will get the best use of all the wearing conditions later in the match and will always have that advantage since both teams contain match winning spinners it will be an interesting match to watch. The early cloud cover favors neither team as both are used to the moving ball.

[CM13492]

Started 2 stories at one time!
Bigger question is Who is NZ coach?

yep decided to take a slightly easier one but as for their coach atm its Vettori but who will take over is anyones guess I'd like to see someone like Tom Moody or Richard Pybus get the job but who knows

[CM13492]

1st Test England vs New Zealand Review

New Zealand-287 all out
D.Vettori-60 P.Fulton-58
R.Sidebottom 3-68 S.Harmison 2-68

England-280 all out
Cook 118
I.O'Brien 5-58 D.Vettori 3-50

New Zealand-253 all out
J.Ryder-87 D.Vettori-42

England-264 for 3
K.Pietersen-111no I.Bell-63
D.Vettori 2-54
Man of the Match Alastair Cook

I could blame the loss on any number of reasons the unlucky injury to Bell who was batting well or the drop of Pietersen when he only had 4 to name two but in the end we didn't get enough runs in our secoind innings. Nine batsmen got starts but didn't go on to make 100's also we played Panesar poorly in the second innings though it was a spinning track we should have made him work harder for those wickets. We got the better of the conditions really but we no-one put in the match winning performance, O'Brien and Vettori bowled well in the first innings but they didn't have enough to defend in the second and once Pietersen got in the result was decided.

[CM13492]

Bell is injured for 2 Weeks will miss the rest of the test series either Redmond or How will replace him

[habib]

yep decided to take a slightly easier one but as for their coach atm its Vettori but who will take over is anyones guess I'd like to see someone like Tom Moody or Richard Pybus get the job but who knows

How about Fleming as batting and S Bond as bowling coach!!!

[CM13492]

2nd Test England vs New Zealand Preview

The pitch for the second test looks as though it will be perfect for batting but again spin will playa part later on cloud will be prominent early with some rain expected on the first day

New Zealand have had to make a change and Jamie How has come in for the injured Matthew Bell whilst Tim Southee has been dropped for the more aggressive Mark Gillespie to give the attack some extra bite. They will be hoping this time one of their batsmen can push on and make a 100.
1.P.Fulton
2.J.How
3.J.Ryder
4.R.Taylor
5.D.Flynn
6.J.Oram
7.B.McCullum (wkt)
8.D.Vettori (capt)
9.K.Mills
10.M.Gillespie
11.I.O'Brien

England have made one change dropping one of their star performers in the last test Monty Panesar for Sajid Mahmood. New Zealand will be hoping that they can remove Alastair Cook Early in this test after his 174 in the last.
1.A.Cook
2.M.Vaughan
3.K.Pietersen
4.I.Bell
5.A.Strauss
6.M.Prior
7.A.Flintoff
8.S.Mahmood
9.R.Sidebottom
10.S.Harmison
11.M.Hoggard