Cook and Trott Out

Fair play to England but NZ have made this rather easy with some terrible shot and decisions. Irrespective of this, I still firmly think that there are big issues with the England side. Lyth looked out of his depth, Bell struggling and we cannot build an innings without losing cheap wickets. If we don't get support from the middle order we get skittled out dirt cheap.

There is still huge expectation on Broad and Anderson and the other pace bowlers have looked less than threatening. We still lack a world class spin bowler and while Ali is developing he'll never be in the class of Swann and nor is Root. I think NZ have made today too easy for England and while you cannot deny they have done well to potentially (as I write) win this, against a more ruthless side like Australia or SA when we tour in the winter, we'll still be found wanting.

A win is a win , but NZ is never an easy game, we have bowled well today and the batsmen gave the bowlers a decent cushion, Trevor Bailey probably coming in as coach , new hero in stokes , it ain't all bad

1 wicket to go , come on Engerland :)
 
A win is a win , but NZ is never an easy game, we have bowled well today and the batsmen gave the bowlers a decent cushion, Trevor Baylis
probably coming in as coach , new hero in stokes , it ain't all bad

1 wicket to go , come on Engerland :)

England have played some good, attacking cricket which has got the crowd going as well and made it a much more enjoyable experience.
 
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A win is a win , but NZ is never an easy game, we have bowled well today and the batsmen gave the bowlers a decent cushion, Trevor Baylis probably coming in as coach , new hero in stokes , it ain't all bad

1 wicket to go , come on Engerland :)

A win is a win and I agree 100% with you. However I think NZ have been the architects of their own demise (makes a change from England doing it) and this will still flatter to deceive. I still think we're not that strong, struggle at the top of the order and rely too much on the middle order to get us out of jail time and time again. Against a better test batting line up, the lack of a world class spinner will be telling, especially the next time we go to the sub-continent
 
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They've picked this team, they're on the verge of a win, you have to stick with them. Lyth definitely needs to be given the summer. We've chopped and changed too much, we've picked Lyth, he deserves his place, and should be given chance to prove his worth. Stokes has been a revelation so far this summer. Attacking, positive batting, and dangerous with the ball. Looks like he's going to have a great summer, so pleased for him. He's always looked great for Durham, but never kicked on for England other than that one innings against the Aussies. Looks a potential superstar!
 
They've picked this team, they're on the verge of a win, you have to stick with them. Lyth definitely needs to be given the summer. We've chopped and changed too much, we've picked Lyth, he deserves his place, and should be given chance to prove his worth. Stokes has been a revelation so far this summer. Attacking, positive batting, and dangerous with the ball. Looks like he's going to have a great summer, so pleased for him. He's always looked great for Durham, but never kicked on for England other than that one innings against the Aussies. Looks a potential superstar!

Up to a point I agree stick with Lyth although I am not convinced. Bell still looks iffy and making too many low scores. Stokes has been a find and as long as he's not built up to be the next Botham or Flintoff then he should be able to develop and grow. We need someone that can turn a game.
 
Quality win and that shoves a few words down people's throats all over the place

Some great performances out there over the 5 days and after all the negative press it's brilliant to see them win

Stokes - brilliant - turned the match for us twice

Cook - wonderful with the bat and some great attacking decisions

Root - just gets better

So many more really impressive performances

For a team with so many in abject form with no match winners or players who can turn a game and won't bowl out New Zealand they did pretty well

How Lyth can be even talked about negatively yet is hilarious - he has had two innings !!
 
Quality win and that shoves a few words down people's throats all over the place

Some great performances out there over the 5 days and after all the negative press it's brilliant to see them win

Stokes - brilliant - turned the match for us twice

Cook - wonderful with the bat and some great attacking decisions

Root - just gets better

So many more really impressive performances

For a team with so many in abject form with no match winners or players who can turn a game and won't bowl out New Zealand they did pretty well

How Lyth can be even talked about negatively yet is hilarious - he has had two innings !!

No it doesn't and it's about opinions so please respect mine. As I said but I'll reiterate for you, it was good to see Cook back in the runs and a great knock by Stokes. However the top order (Lyth, but Bell in particular) failed and you need to be able to build innings without the need to rely on mid order performances to save the side. We've seen what happens when our middle order fail and we get knocked over for less than 170

Other impressive performances? Stokes second innings bowling was good but don't forget he took 0-105 in the first innings so lets not get too carried away. If anything Broad was the stand out bowler with three in each innings. We still lack an penetrative spinner and there are still issues with the side and NZ certainly helped England with some of their dismissals. Yes it was a good win from 30-4 but I still think we're a long way from being one of the best sides in the world and would put us as 4th best at a push
 
Best couple of days cricket I've watched in a long time, brilliant stuff.

It was brilliant to watch - some cracking counter attack batting - hostile bowling , quality swing bowling and all played in a great spirit. Really enjoyed the last two days especially.
 
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