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#3442255 10-Dec-2025 11:47

Bit frustrating, 3 edges, 2 through the 5th man gap and 1 dropped short, a streaky shot off Foulkes just gets over the in field, Tickner like the last test was too slow in getting to a ball Foulkes stopped off his own bowling and the batsman ran well out of his ground, Tickner at first looked casual thinking nobody will run on a mis field, at least this test he hit the stumps but was way too late. Id be putting somebody like GP in that position, Tickner showed last test hes not a great in fielder, put him on the rope and hope is hands catching are better.

I think that green surface is a bit of a false one vs Hagley, the ball never seems to cut and move prodigiously like Hagley.

Aggggh Latham drops one in the slips. I was going to say earlier they need to move in a couple of feet. Not an easy one but Id expect Latham to catch that. Not carrying to first slip, they already had signs of this earlier so not sure why they havnt moved in.

Edit: Tickner makes up for the earlier miss with an LBW wicket, if he takes another 4 I will forgive him for the last test fielding.

Edit: And another from Tickner. I knew if I gave him some grief he would produce ;-p. No, good on him, only bowler getting real movement off the pitch. Get Hope and we could get them for under 150.

lachlanw

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#3442330 10-Dec-2025 13:11

TeaLeaf:

Edit: Tickner makes up for the earlier miss with an LBW wicket, if he takes another 4 I will forgive him for the last test fielding.

Edit: And another from Tickner. I knew if I gave him some grief he would produce ;-p. No, good on him, only bowler getting real movement off the pitch. Get Hope and we could get them for under 150.

Pretty sure that counts as 2 international test wicket assists there for you Tealeaf

thermonuclear

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#3442344 10-Dec-2025 13:44

TeaLeaf:

Ferguson, Milne, Orouke, KJ, Matt Fisher, Sears, Nat Smith, Henry...............................

You can add Henry Shipley, Logan Van Beek, and Mo Abbas to the list apparently, the seeming mismanagement of guys who bowl pace in this country is worrying.

Still early but the attack is looking pretty innocuous and Latham has missed a trick in deciding to bowl first.

The side NZ picked was to be expected based on the cattle they had available. Change of coach yet they still appear to have this pathological desire to bat Phillips at 7. Regardless of who the wicketkeeper is (maybe Gilchrist aside) there's no way any gloveman should be batting at 6 in a test side. The top six spots should always be for players for whom batting is their dominant skill. Phillips has to pile on the runs and force a change to this policy.

TeaLeaf

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#3442349 10-Dec-2025 14:04

lachlanw:

Pretty sure that counts as 2 international test wicket assists there for you Tealeaf

I am doing my best haha. To be fair he probably knows he owes the team a few wickets.

Im enjoying having 3 bowlers who can get up around ~140kph. That use to be KJ's pace consistently but thats his effort ball now, to manage that back injury. Ben Sears cant be far away, playing white ball in Melbourne club cricket. Id like to see Sears, KJ and Matt Fisher back alongside Henry and Foulkes or Clarke as our Squad all rounder bowlers to replace an injury.

thermonuclear:

You can add Henry Shipley, Logan Van Beek, and Mo Abbas to the list apparently, the seeming mismanagement of guys who bowl pace in this country is worrying.

Still early but the attack is looking pretty innocuous and Latham has missed a trick in deciding to bowl first.

Phillips has to pile on the runs and force a change to this policy.

Is abbas injured? He is another young genuine all rounder with Clarke and Foulkes, potentially was an over 30 and under 30 batsman bowler. If so that sucks, Im a big fan of his batting style.

Yeh as much as Ive been promoting the young WK with his high Avg, a lot of that is based on getting a lot of not outs as a #7 WK. GP is a genuine #5 let alone 6, 7 is absurd. He needs some time to get an avg 40+, which has the potential for.

Dochart

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#3442352 10-Dec-2025 14:12

thermonuclear:

TeaLeaf:

Ferguson, Milne, Orouke, KJ, Matt Fisher, Sears, Nat Smith, Henry...............................

You can add Henry Shipley, Logan Van Beek, and Mo Abbas to the list apparently, the seeming mismanagement of guys who bowl pace in this country is worrying.

Still early but the attack is looking pretty innocuous and Latham has missed a trick in deciding to bowl first.

The side NZ picked was to be expected based on the cattle they had available. Change of coach yet they still appear to have this pathological desire to bat Phillips at 7. Regardless of who the wicketkeeper is (maybe Gilchrist aside) there's no way any gloveman should be batting at 6 in a test side. The top six spots should always be for players for whom batting is their dominant skill. Phillips has to pile on the runs and force a change to this policy.

With Blundell out I would definitely bat Phillips at 6 and Hay at 7. It’s time for Phillips to have more opportunities with the bat. At 7 it’s going to be really hard for him to score 100 with the next set of players after him.

TeaLeaf

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#3442354 10-Dec-2025 14:23

Dochart:

With Blundell out I would definitely bat Phillips at 6 and Hay at 7. It’s time for Phillips to have more opportunities with the bat. At 7 it’s going to be really hard for him to score 100 with the next set of players after him.

Definitely

GP FC has 6 Centuries and 26 Fifites, which spells late middle order ie #5/6. Avg 40

Hay FC has 1 Century and 17 50s, but only 29 matches with avg 48.

Both are excellent aggressive batsman, they go together as bookends in case one fails, naturally they will end up batting together a lot. But early in his career, I would expect the experienced player to get the middle order #6 giving him a chance to keep saving NZ as he has a few times now, he hasnt had the opportunity at #4 to produce big centuries, it feels like Phillips has always been asked to produce big runs and quickly with the top order failing a lot in last few years. Mitch Hay will go on to do similar but let him get some Test Experience.

Hay has been tidy behind the stumps so far.

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TeaLeaf

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#3442407 10-Dec-2025 15:01

Time to get GP warming up to RIP that seam into the grass and see if it turns or bounces.

Edit: lol and here he is. avg 31 is pretty darn good given he bowls pretty much on grassy surfaces so far.

Eidt: I reckon with GP, get someone in the mid on position close to the pitch, so it takes away the easy single but also has a fielder in the corner of the batsmans eye every delivery, mind game. And now GP turns it the other way, hes really becoming a genuine attacking spin bowler with variety.

Edit: Tickner, hes only 2 wickets away from making up for dropping the 1st test and the casual run to a ball which should have had the batsman short of his ground. Of he keeps things on line with that 142kph ball, he can change my mind. But that run up is very prancy.

Edit: GP has some serious loop at times, bowling that regular offspin missing the bat not by much, I reckon its his Doosra cutting the other way will hit the top of the back of the bat up in the air to be caught.

thermonuclear

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#3442413 10-Dec-2025 15:22

TeaLeaf:

Is abbas injured?

Yep, well, he played against the Windies in their warm-up match before the 1st Test. He was a batsman-only in that game as he's coming back from an injury sustained while bowling.

Jamieson and Sears they are supposedly managing back to indestructable fitness by building their bowling loads up gradually. Might be a genius move or they might end up like Mark Wood, rehabbing for twelve months to be ready for the Ashes and breaks down again after eight overs and ruled out of the rest of the tour.

As I heard Michael Vaughn say the other day, he's never heard of a cricketer improving their match play by not playing matches. In the "good old days" NZ bowlers used go on long tours and play half a dozen County sides then have to rock up for 3-4 Test series. Now it's extremely rare for NZ to play anything other than two-test series and untold limited over stuff. Not sure it does NZ's top bowlers any favours other than financially.

TeaLeaf

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#3442417 10-Dec-2025 15:36

thermonuclear:

Yep, well, he played against the Windies in their warm-up match before the 1st Test. He was a batsman-only in that game as he's coming back from an injury sustained while bowling.

Jamieson and Sears they are supposedly managing back to indestructable fitness by building their bowling loads up gradually. Might be a genius move or they might end up like Mark Wood, rehabbing for twelve months to be ready for the Ashes and breaks down again after eight overs and ruled out of the rest of the tour.

Is it a hamstring issue for Abbas or back?

My opinion is, if you are fit enough to play 4 day you are fit enough to play Test and can have your overs managed just as well in Test cricket, especially with GP and somewhat Rachin able to put in plenty of overs.

But the fast bowler IR list is substantial, bizarre or stupid, Im not sure. KJ still looks as dangerous bowling 130-135kph to manage the strain. As for Sears, leg injuries are not lengthy ones usually.

TeaLeaf

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#3442426 10-Dec-2025 16:28

Into the tail, bowl some bouncers and yorkers mixed up.

GP turning it both ways on the grass, hes going to be good day 4 and 5 when the Basin turns with the grass gone,

Edit: I think Latham has been a lot more responsible with the Reviews after wasting 2 the last test, one that hit the bat we couldnt review and likely cost the match, as did about 10 things lol. I would like to see Latham more attacking with the field though.

Edit: Nope, Tickner drops another in the field and starts to laugh about it. Not a fan, you have to be able to field as a bowler if you can't bat. GP wouldnt have dropped that.

Edit: man down, man down, another bowler, Blair Tickner looks to have blown his shoulder trying to field. He looked very awkward. I feel sorry for him, despite his issues with fielding, he has 4 wickets and was putting the ball in good places. Luckily NZ has GP and Rachin and possibly Mitchell (although they never let him bowl, despite bowling in the nets).

Dochart

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#3442434 10-Dec-2025 17:04

We might lose this test. Tickner gone and being stretchered off now. Looks very serious as doctors and ambulance too are there with him and now we are a pace bowler short.

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TeaLeaf

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#3442436 10-Dec-2025 17:07

Dochart:

Looks very serious as doctors and ambulance too are there with him and now we are a pace bowler short.

To me it looked like a dislocated shoulder. But Im no doctor, it could be worse. Time to try KJ or Sears next test. Manage their bowling effort and sessions.

Edit: Rae is getting great movement inward off the pitch, get Foulkes to bowl from that end, he would possibly go through the gate of this tail.

Dochart

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#3442453 10-Dec-2025 17:11

TeaLeaf:

Dochart:

Looks very serious as doctors and ambulance too are there with him and now we are a pace bowler short.

To me it looked like a dislocated BOWLING shoulder. But Im no doctor, it could be worse. Time to try KJ or Sears next test. Manage their bowling effort and sessions.

At first it didn’t look serious at all but something to do with the rope cause some issue as you said could be bowling shoulder. Thats a first time I seen a player get injured cause of a rope. Usually if they crash to the wall when fielding or feet/leg gets stuck on the grass which causes hamstring injury.

TeaLeaf

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#3442457 10-Dec-2025 17:29

Dochart:

At first it didn’t look serious at all but something to do with the rope cause some issue as you said could be bowling shoulder. 0.

Yes was very odd, I think it was more the way he landed than the rope, but the rope could have acted as some kind grip, hard to tell really.

GP gets a clean bowled and Latham stops him bowling any further....... what the

TeaLeaf

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#3442459 10-Dec-2025 17:42

Clarke picks up a miss at the run out and fixes it by firing in a shot. If KJ or Sears cant play next test, Clarkes FC batting and bowling has to have him in the side, hes a good end to an innings, I can imagine Hay or GP having a big tail end innings with Clarke.

Mitch Hay has been brilliant behind the stumps, no mistakes. Hes a genuine WK batsman.

Edit: Latham VERY lucky. Conway too with a run out chance missing by inches. These Kookaburra balls do my head in, this one is swinging around corners, Foulkes got very little swing from the first ball. We did pretty good considering the bowlers used all stood up and losing Tickner is a big loss. Hopefully our second new ball will hoop like this WI first ball.

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