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Cricket 2021 - all things cricket for this year on pfm

^ the last few years have finally eroded any sense of inferiority NZ may have had comparing with the 'mother country'. And not just cricket.
 
Much admiration for the way Kane Williamson conducts himself as NZ captain and the way his team plays. I have them as big favourites against India in the best Test team decider due to the similarity in English/NZ conditions, especially for their bowling cohort.
 
I think this afternoon provided a big clue to the Test teams mentality under Silverwood and marks a change from the Baylis era when we would have all been out for 90-110 chasing the game.

I support Silverwoods approach but I am painfully aware of our lack of talented and experienced batsmen at this level which has been a problem for quite a while now and makes winning matches bloody difficult.
 
We are missing a couple of key players to be fair

3 at least... Stokes will come back in unconditionally. Buttler likewise, although not as clear cut if Foakes had been fit. Archer is an either/or with Wood, so if both are fit both would be selected for the final group.
 
Stokes and Butler are fine batsmen for their positions in the team but we should not be relying on them to cover for the failures of the dedicated batsmen at numbers 1 to 6.
 
Stokes and Butler are fine batsmen for their positions in the team but we should not be relying on them to cover for the failures of the dedicated batsmen at numbers 1 to 6.

You have to let new players settle in. Crawley and Lawrence look to have great potential, and provided they don’t succumb to the usual rhetoric the English cricketing media have for instant results, they will come good.

I do feel we have better strength in depth regarding our seam bowling and wicket keeping, as opposed to batting and spin, tho.

Chris Woakes would have played in any other country’s test team much more than ours, but when you have two proven wicket taking seamers it’s difficult.

And, on a track offering little seam, it was good to see us keep things tight for long spells.
 
I agree that Crawley is the future and the management are to blame for his current lack of form having shoved him in as opener against India over the winter. I am sure he will come good again and his style may well be suited to Australia conditions next winter although he looks more like a number 4 than a 3 to me (granted pretty much the same thing in the present England team).
 
It does seem a bit OTT to suspend Ollie for something he did 8 years ago ! He appologised for what he had tweeted in a professional way which I felt was appropriate , a lots of people will have said things 8 years ago that they would not dream of doing so now
 
It does seem a bit OTT to suspend Ollie for something he did 8 years ago ! He appologised for what he had tweeted in a professional way which I felt was appropriate , a lots of people will have said things 8 years ago that they would not dream of doing so now
The ECB like a lot of sporting bodies are taking a stand against racism; this is to be applauded. The player in question was an adult at the time & I am not convinced that such views simply disappear with age.
 
I think the point is that there is a lot of difference between what a 19 year old would say 8 years ago and a 27 year old would remark on in2021 when race is a much more sensitive issue . It also seems to be rediculous that it only becomes an issue when he starts his test carreer , surely it should have been dealt with a long time ago .
 


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