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Cricket 38: Ashes Openers Crash and Burns


Philokles

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New Zealand vs Australia is on.

Australia looking comfortable at 2/163 but at least NZ have bowled in quite a disciplined way, keeping the run rate well under 3 and not allowing the Aussies to get away. Big dropped catch from Tom Latham in the slips off Smith, though.

On a blisteringly hot day, someone like Colin de Grandhomme is invaluable for New Zealand. To have a fifth bowler who can shoulder some overs and keep things tight (1/18 off 11 overs at time of writing) is priceless in the Australian heat. They've bowled 60 overs as a team so far and no one has had to bowl more than 13 overs.

It's a real pity Boult wasn't able to play, this is a genuinely tight and decent attack that needed the extra edge Boult would have added. Ferguson has bowled with pace but has been expensive.

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And Ferguson is now out of the attack suffering with an injury - just about the worst thing that could happen on the first day of a Test.

This Day/Night Test business is growing on me, especially with the Perth timezone. Basically play starts at 4pm and finishes at 11pm for the Eastern states which is perfect viewing hours considering the working week.

No doubt Cricket Australia are testing it out to get Test cricket into prime time TV, which I applaud them for doing.

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38 minutes ago, Jeor said:

This Day/Night Test business is growing on me, especially with the Perth timezone. 

I didn’t realise it was a day/night test. I wondered why there’d been so little play when I looked at the score this morning.

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Day/night test cricket is a no-brainer. Even India is finally catching on. 

Plain sailing for Australia by and large, though NZ bowled tighter than many visiting teams are able to. This is a very unexciting test summer I have to say. Will be watching SA v England with a lot more interest. 

ETA: You have to hand it to Neil Wagner. He's another one of those "unfashionable" Black Caps who just gets the job done and has an impressive record. 

ETA#2: Labuschagne reminds me of a right-handed M Hussey. 

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Yep, Wagner has fashioned quite a good career for himself now. 44 Tests and 187 wickets at an average of 27 is very, very handy, and at a better average even than Boult.

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Australia get 416 in the first innings, but NZ made them labour for it. 146 overs for a run-rate under 3 per over and they were down a bowler for virtually the whole innings, so it was a mighty effort from the Kiwis.

The problem for NZ is now they will face the new ball under lights, so we will see how good this vaunted batting lineup actually is. They're good but facing the moving ball with a fresh Starc and co. will be a difficult test.

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For a little while, Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson were hanging in there with a good partnership, and with Hazlewood limping off with an injury there was a real chance NZ could build a big score and make Australia wilt in the heat tomorrow with only two fast bowlers to call upon.

But losing Williamson to a screamer of a catch and Nicholls caught behind (the Wagner wicket is less consequential as a nightwatchman) late in the day has really hurt them. Australia probably won't have to stretch to get those last five wickets and the potential loss of Hazlewood for the innings (or even the Test) might not hurt them after all.

NZ still have a bit of batting left, and they will be hoping that Taylor, Watling, de Grandhomme and Santner (fresh off his century) might be able to make Australia swelter for at least a couple more sessions, but Starc is bowling well so their chances aren't looking great.

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Well, this match probably not...

But with Boult instead of a lame Ferguson I think they still have a chance in the rest of the series. When Williamson and Taylor were batting you could see the potential there!

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Last time in Perth Taylor made 294 and they still didn’t win the match...

Personally I’m not convinced Boult will make a huge difference. He’s definitely a class act but he’s no Shane Bond.

The other thing to consider is that Australia is in very good form atm. They blasted through Pakistan and played well in unfavourable conditions in England. Hard for even this Black Caps side to match up to a strong Australia at home.

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Well, it looks like this match is well and truly gone. A shame that the NZ batting lineup hasn't lived up to the hype - a number of their batsmen have had pretty good years and should have scored more.

Boult is no Shane Bond, but I think he would've bowled at least as well as Wagner did, which would have been an upgrade over Ferguson.

I'm not giving up on this NZ side after two days. I reckon they're still a decent chance for a win in at least one of the remaining two Tests.

The real issue with Australia at home is that their batsmen transform into monsters (Warner being the prime example). Australia has always had a pretty good bowling attack and the batting has been the weakness (e.g. the Ashes), so when home conditions allow you to cover that up then they suddenly become a very good side.

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1 hour ago, Paxter said:

It’s bit of a shame that we are now more than halfway through the test summer and haven’t had anything close to a memorable match. 

It's a pity NZ collapsed and had a massive first innings deficit.

Their bowling has actually been reasonably good. In the absence of Ferguson they may have conceded 400, but at less than 3 runs an over. And now in the second innings they have Australia at 5/160 with all the big guns (Warner, Smith, Labuschagne) out.

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NZ seem to have a much better bowling plan overall, and unlike Pakistan they have the discipline to carry it out without bowling bad balls that release the pressure. I just hope their batting can come to the party in this series.

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Well, that was over in a hurry. Crushing victory for the Australians, their bowling is lethal and although their second innings collapse is a concern, it didn't hurt them as it came when the match was already heavily in their favour.

NZ have bowled well, and bright spots are Wagner and Southee sharing 16 wickets between them, de Grandhomme bowling tidily and the Kiwis controlling the Australian run rate, which is quite a feat in Australian conditions and down one frontline bowler.

But their batting was woeful and they need to be able to rack up 400+ scores if they are to have any chance. The lack of an incisive spinner with Santner's figures of 0/146 off 41 overs is also a problem (in a match where Australian spinners took 7 wickets), but the batting is what they need to fix and quickly.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Controlled start to the Boxing Day test. The NZ pace battery of Boult, Southee and Wagner is operating reasonably well and keeping things tight but Aussies won't be overly worried at 2/85 with Marnus and Smith at the crease. Gamble to bowl first.

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I haven't seen any of the test book looking at the score Australia seem to have things under control in Melbourne now.

Decent start for England at Centurion but while De Kock's still at the crease there's the danger it could get away from them.

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