NZ under GrahamB (Version 8.14)

[GrahamB]

NZ Squad to tour England 2008

Openers
Peter Fulton
Matthew Bell
Mark Guptill

Other Batsmen
Gregory Hay (captain)
Matthew Sinclair
Iain Robertson
Timothy Weston
Ross Taylor

All Rounders
Brandon Hiini
Jacob Oram
Grant Elliott

Keepers
Brendon McCullum
Derek De Boorder

Pace Bowlers
Andrew McKay
Michael Mason
Tamahau Canning
Kyle Mills

Spinner
Daniel Vettori

The squad was selected with both the Tests and the ODIs in mind.
For this reason, Jamie How was left out in favour of Mark Guptill. The only other marginal selection was young keeper Derek De Boorder, who was given the nod ahead of the more experienced Chris Nevin.

[GrahamB]

A shadow test lineup played in the first two warm up matches against Kent and Essex.

P.Fulton
M.Bell
G.Hay (capt)
I.Robertson
M.Sinclair
B.Hiini
J.Oram
B.McCullum (wk)
D.Vettori
M.Mason
A.McKay

In the third warm up match, the other squad players were given a run, except for Ross Taylor who was injured. The performances of Timothy Weston and Tama Canning were under scrutiny in particular, with the possibility that they could force their way into the test side.

P.Fulton
M.Guptill
G.Hay (capt)
I.Robertson
D.De Boorder (wk)
T.Weston
J.Oram
G.Elliott
K.Mills
T.Canning
M.Mason

[GrahamB]

England v NZ (1st Test)

NZ
P.Fulton
M.Bell
G.Hay (capt)
M.Sinclair
T.Weston
B.Hiini
I.Robertson
J.Oram
B.McCullum (wk)
M.Mason
A.McKay

Brandon Hiini and Jacob Oram have shown sufficient bowling form to warrant their spots in a four man pace attack. Tama Canning was unlucky to miss out on selection following his performance against the MCC.

England
A.Cook
M.Vaughan
K.Pietersen
O.Shah
A.Strauss
P.Collingwood
A.Flintoff
M.Prior (wk)
R.Sidebottom
S.Harmison
M.Hoggard

[the_gas]

Good luck, you'll need it.

With England i recently spanked the Kiwi's 3-0 in the test series and 5-0 in the odi's.

[GrahamB]

Good luck, you'll need it.

With England i recently spanked the Kiwi's 3-0 in the test series and 5-0 in the odi's.

Cheers mate. I hope to improve on that dismal effort.

[GrahamB]

England v NZ (1st Test)



Whoa - this was too close for my liking!

England won the toss and got first use of a belter.
Vaughan and Pietersen looked to be taking their side to a mammoth score with a big second wicket partnership, but we fought back well on the second day to dismiss England for under 500. Hiini was the most successful of our bowlers with four wickets.

It was imperative that we also make use of the batting conditions, because the bounce was expected to deteriorate as the match progressed.
None of our batsmen produced stunning individual efforts in the vein of Vaughan and Pietersen, but an impressive team effort saw us take a slender first innings lead!

The English top order were again impressive in their second dig, allowing a declaration which gave their bowlers a chance of procuring a win.
Pietersen led the way with his second century of the match.
Our bowlers performed tidily, but without much success.

The pitch was now pretty dicey, so we were on a hiding to nothing. Matthew Bell stuck it out well, but failed to get support from the other end. It was eventually left to McCullum to protect the tail for the final twenty minutes and get us through to the draw.

A moral victory to England, but a draw nevertheless!

[GrahamB]

England v NZ (2nd Test)

With the pitch expected to deteriorate in favour of spin, both sides included a spinner.
Dan Vettori came into the NZ side in place of big Jake Oram, whereas Monty Panesar relegated Andy Flintoff to 12th man duties for the English.



England again won the toss and got use of the best batting conditions.
The top order repeated their efforts of the first test and England were threatening a big score. However, the longer tail put up little resistance and we managed to restrict them to 421.
Opener Cook scored a fine century, while Pietersen seems unstoppable at present. Vettori showed how dangerous he could be as he finished with four victims, and Andrew McKay also impressed.

It was essential that we post a big score due to the fact that we would be batting fourth on on a turning pitch.
However, the key difference between the two sides to date has been the failure of the NZ batsmen to turn good starts into big scores, and this was again the case. It also didn't help that Harmison put McCullum out of the series with a snorter that damaged his ribs! So we were now a batsman short for both innings just for good measure!

England found things a bit more awkward in their second innings, but luck seemed to go their way with edges falling away from fielders and the like. Add to that Pietersen, who showed his class while those around him struggled, and the English were able to declare and put us to the test.

At four wickets down (effectively five because McCullum couldn't bat) going into the final session, it was all on.
Matt Sinclair was due for a good innings and fortunately he delivered just when it was needed most. He was the glue that held us together, and he got good support from allrounder Hiini in particular, as we staved off the English threat to come out with an honourable draw.

[GrahamB]

A timely three day friendly was scheduled between the second and third tests. Why can't all tours be like this?

Those test players who looked like they needed further game time played, but some were rested to give other squad members a trot.

Tama Canning again took the opportunity to push for a test spot, with figures that earned him man of the match. In contrast, Andrew McKay failed to impress and is sadly out of touch at present.
Iain Robertson scored a fine unbeaten century to boost his confidence leading into the deciding third test.

[GrahamB]

England v NZ (3rd Test)

NZ
P.Fulton
M.Bell
G.Hay (capt)
I.Robertson
M.Sinclair
B.Hiini
T.Weston
D.De Boorder (wk)
J.Oram
T.Canning
M.Mason

England
A.Cook
M.Vaughan
K.Pietersen
I.Bell
A.Strauss
M.Prior (wk)
A.Flintoff
R.Sidebottom
S.Harmison
M.Panesar
M.Hoggard

Interestingly, the English have retained Panesar whereas we've gone for a four pronged pace attack.
Derek De Boorder makes his test debut due to McCullum's injury, Jake Oram replaces Dan Vettori and Tama Canning comes in to replace Andrew McKay.

[Ausathon]

good team its been a good series welldone.