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England in NZ

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Latham showed us how to bat, there. But the bowling hasn't been bad. There's nothing for Curran, but they've all bowled with discipline. Woakes was excellent.
 
mackembhoy said:
Looking like a very ill judged decision to bowl.
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Couldn't believe it when I heard it.

Also, no spinner, picking an injured player (Stokes) and Ollie Pope keeping wicket.

Were there the usual daft field placings and bowling changes to complete the Captain Root package?
 
Only caught the highlights but seems a poor decision to bowl. I know they expect the pitch to improve further but we could already be out of the game by this time tomorrow if they get 450 plus.
 
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Watched up until the lunch break and thought Latham played lovely. England once again a bit toothless with the exception of Woakes, Archer seems to be bowling within himself and there is a concern from my point of view that he seems to struggle to bowl consistently quick. I think it was Old Trafford in the summer when he went missing a bit after bowling very well at Headingley and Lords. Curran again looked like cannon fodder any time he got his line and length marginally wrong. Also seems a poor decision to not play a spinner when Stokes was clearly unfit to pick up the workload of the 5th bowler.

Bit of a side note, is Ross Taylor the most underrated batsman of the modern era? Averages 46 from almost 100 tests and has always been exciting to watch - strong, dominant and brave, yet rarely seems to be mentioned in the same breath of players like Root who average around the same.
 
Boo said:
Latham showed us how to bat, there. But the bowling hasn't been bad. There's nothing for Curran, but they've all bowled with discipline. Woakes was excellent.
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Agree, Woakes has looked decent. And Latham is a class act.

On Woakes, he needs to be a nagging line bowler abroad, with that useless Kookaburra. Be patient. He is accurate enough to do it in South Africa and New Zealand, certainly. Maybe in Australia too - but only as part of a balanced attack. Anderson did ok there in 2011, but you a) have to be really accurate; b) need the batsman to back you up with scoreboard pressure; and c) the other two seamers needs pace or bounce. You certainly can't be playing him with Anderson down there, they are too similar.

Sooner they bring Dukes or even the Indian ball in as standard, the better. The Kookaburras are total gash, ruining cricket down there.
The Breen Machine said:
Watched up until the lunch break and thought Latham played lovely. England once again a bit toothless with the exception of Woakes, Archer seems to be bowling within himself and there is a concern from my point of view that he seems to struggle to bowl consistently quick. I think it was Old Trafford in the summer when he went missing a bit after bowling very well at Headingley and Lords. Curran again looked like cannon fodder any time he got his line and length marginally wrong. Also seems a poor decision to not play a spinner when Stokes was clearly unfit to pick up the workload of the 5th bowler.

Bit of a side note, is Ross Taylor the most underrated batsman of the modern era? Averages 46 from almost 100 tests and has always been exciting to watch - strong, dominant and brave, yet rarely seems to be mentioned in the same breath of players like Root who average around the same.
Click to expand...

I'm not worried about Archer's pace. He bowled slower at Headingly and got tonnes of wickets. He varies his pace depending on the pitch. He also prefers longer spells to crank it up, but Root wants him to bang it in in four over bursts. He isn't that type of bowler. He's a line bowler who can, as an added bonus, bowl fast.

Root isn't using him properly imo.

He's also young.
The Breen Machine said:
Watched up until the lunch break and thought Latham played lovely. England once again a bit toothless with the exception of Woakes, Archer seems to be bowling within himself and there is a concern from my point of view that he seems to struggle to bowl consistently quick. I think it was Old Trafford in the summer when he went missing a bit after bowling very well at Headingley and Lords. Curran again looked like cannon fodder any time he got his line and length marginally wrong. Also seems a poor decision to not play a spinner when Stokes was clearly unfit to pick up the workload of the 5th bowler.

Bit of a side note, is Ross Taylor the most underrated batsman of the modern era? Averages 46 from almost 100 tests and has always been exciting to watch - strong, dominant and brave, yet rarely seems to be mentioned in the same breath of players like Root who average around the same.
Click to expand...

I think largely because he's typically been something of a bunny for us.
 
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Not that I'm defending the decision to bowl, and I was surprised (purely on the basis of us not wanting to bat last and chase the game), but it was very much a green wicket early on yesterday, with a weather forecast of typically English overcast conditions in the afternoon.

I can see why he chose to bowl, but it very much depended on getting wickets regularly in the first session. When 29-2 became 86-2, with Latham comfortable, we were screwed.
 
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