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The declaration was absolutely the correct decision. We took 3 wickets on the evening after we declared and followed it up the next morning. What was either stupidity or arrogance was enforcing the follow on when the series was wrapped up if we batted again. Hopefully it’s a massive learning curve.The declaration is a nonsense discussion. They declared in the first innings of the first test after 50 odd overs and won. They declared in Pakistan test leaving them a very gettable total and they won. They backed themselves and had every right to and no one complained.
However in this game it was a great declaration in the context of the game for a number of reasons:
1. All of the experts tell you the basin reserve gets better for batting as the game goes on
2. We had a good first innings total and there was rain around
3. Getting them in then allowed us to bowl at them when conditions were at the best they would be bowling wise and get them out cheaply allowing us control of the game
4. The declaration allowed us to be in charge of the game and do what we want after first innings. We can take the ‘safe’ route and bat again or we can get them to follow on recognising that the pitch should stay good for the full 5 days when we chase. I was 50/50 on this but if any tactical criticism is to be given it should be here although personally I think it was a fair call.
5. The reason we lost was because we didn’t play good enough cricket in the second half of the match. This wasn’t an 80 hit 5 pitch and the batting this morning was really poor.
However it’s wrong to be too critical of the players or the tactics it’s their brave approach that has given you the last 12 months and 11 brilliant victories out of 12.
I've got a feeling it will be a tight finish.
This. It isn't our job to entertain New Zealand spectatorsOnly themselves to blame. Reality check before the ashes. You can’t declare, enforce a follow on and get beat when you need a draw to win a series.
This. It isn't our job to entertain New Zealand spectators
Well that wasn't what I was expecting when I checked the score after waking up this morning.
To be fair, one of the consequences of this new era of England cricket is that there will be spectacular defeats to go along with incredible wins. I'd rather see a result like this than playing out day 5 for a draw. If this makes more people interested in Test cricket then it can only be a good thing.
We could of had 2 full days to bowl New Zealand out if we didn’t enforce the follow on. If we batted at the same rate we have for the last 10 games.Take the rough with the smooth guys.
It’s been a minor miracle this turnaround by this England regime.
They have made test cricket entertaining brilliant to watch in a era where worldwide interest was falling.
I hope everyone realises they will just shrug their shoulders and say soo what we lost a game of cricket
And continue to do exactly the same going forward and I am over the moon for that.
McCullum has always said he would risk losing to win and clearly stuck to it in this match
Enforcing the follow on gave us more chance of winning the game but also more chance of losing it, but took the draw out of the equation and meant once again this England team was involved in a super entertaining match.
Another win for test cricket as a whole
That said if this was the last match in the Ashes with us in front they may have made different decisions in this match
I realise I’m in shaky ground arguing against this. We lost and almost certainly wouldn’t have lost had we not enforced the follow on. That said I can understand the decision. We were 200 plus ahead on first innings playing on a wicket that we were told would be better to bat on as the game went on. A one innings game of cricket with a 200 plus head start against a tea lacking a bit of confidence. It’s not surprising given the win at all costs mantra of the team that they chose to back themselves by enforcing the follow on but they lost in part by not having a Woody in innings 3 and batting very poorly this morning. I think if they had their time again they would still probably do the same thing.Should never have enforced the follow on.
Perhaps it’s good to lose THIS game in THIS way to hopefully teach a vital lesson to the skipper for the future.
According to every pundit batting last is as easy as any time in the game at this ground. I agree it didn’t turn out like that but it was still a good wicket.We could of had 2 full days to bowl New Zealand out if we didn’t enforce the follow on. If we batted at the same rate we have for the last 10 games.
We essentially lost the toss and batted at the worst time in the game then voluntarily elected to bat again at the next hardest point. Pure stupidity imo and hopefully isn’t repeated when it counts in the summer.
The wicket was great but mentally it’s always the toughest time to bat especially when the fielding team are pumped up.I realise I’m in shaky ground arguing against this. We lost and almost certainly wouldn’t have lost had we not enforced the follow on. That said I can understand the decision. We were 200 plus ahead on first innings playing on a wicket that we were told would be better to bat on as the game went on. A one innings game of cricket with a 200 plus head start against a tea lacking a bit of confidence. It’s not surprising given the win at all costs mantra of the team that they chose to back themselves by enforcing the follow on but they lost in part by not having a Woody in innings 3 and batting very poorly this morning. I think if they had their time again they would still probably do the same thing.
According to every pundit batting last is as easy as any time in the game at this ground. I agree it didn’t turn out like that but it was still a good wicket.
I can understand what people are saying about being positive and aggressive but at the end of the day we’ve lost and I’m pissed off.
We could of had 2 full days to bowl New Zealand out if we didn’t enforce the follow on. If we batted at the same rate we have for the last 10 games.
We essentially lost the toss and batted at the worst time in the game then voluntarily elected to bat again at the next hardest point. Pure stupidity imo and hopefully isn’t repeated when it counts in the summer.
This. Great game but a defeat still hurts. If our footballers were in the world cup final I would rather win 1-0 in the most boring game ever than lose 4-3 in an entertaining match.
I'm not dissing bazball. It's great. What I am saying is you win some, you lose some but any team a person truly supports should feel hurt when they lose.