2015 Australia V New Zealand Test series

3 Test Series
1ST TEST : Brisbane
2ND TEST : WACA
3RD TEST : Adelaide Oval

Series betting compliments of William Hill
1-45 Australia
6-00 Drawn Series
4-50 New Zealand

The market suggests Australia will dominate this series
Im not so sure
NZ are a very settled line up , and will be very competitive
AU might have batting issues , with no established batters apart form Warner and Smith
AU does have a great attack though , Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood, Lyon
Peter Siddle is the back up
Provided the pitches are not as flat as they were in the recent Australia v india series , then I think Australias attack can be the diff in this series
Be interesting to see how lively The Gabba and Perth pitches will be

FORGOTTEN PLAYER ?
James Patttinson is a superb Test level bowler
When he gets to peak fitness , he deserves another selection

A drawn series wouldn't surprise.

If the pink ball hoops around in Adelaide then the NZ bowlers who are very good at getting swing could take a bagful. A steamy Brisbane could also assist them. NZ probably have a better batting line up then us and have some players who can score big and quickly.

We should dominate Perth but neither of the other two tests are a given.

Huey might possibly be correct about the batting line ups
Australian batting line up ?

1 WARNER
2 ?
3 SMITH
4 ?
5 ?
6 M MARSH

Possible line up

1. Warner
2. Bancroft - seems to be favourite
3. Smith (although may drop down to 4)
4. Burns / Khawaja - Burns looked OK when he batted. These two are probably contesting for the same spot and the one who gets the most runs in the shield opener wins!
5. Voges - need some experience in the team
6. M Marsh

I think they will go with Johnson, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon although Siddle could be looked at as being unlucky to miss out. I'm not 100% convinced that having the two Mitch's in the same team works

Australian Test squad: Joe Burns, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (capt), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle

Australia pull a little surprise by recalling Burns to open with Warner.

No real surprises in the squad. Would have been nice to see Maxy Klinger get a surprise cap!

Number nerds alert.

Finch and Carters put on 503. Carters 209, Finch 288. They faced 364 ( Carters ) and 363 ( Finch ) balls each.

All that time at the crease together, Carters faced just one more ball.

CA XI 1/503

Booney wrote:Number nerds alert.

Finch and Carters put on 503. Carters 209, Finch 288. They faced 364 ( Carters ) and 363 ( Finch ) balls each.

All that time at the crease together, Carters faced just one more ball.

CA XI 1/503

And it was the ball that got Ryan Carters out !

503 partnership is the 4th highest First Class  opening partnership I could find

561 is the highest opening First Class partnership
That was by Mirza/Aktar , Karachi 1976-77  season

The highest Australian First Class partnership found
Mayne/Ponsford 1923-24 season , they put on 456 ffor VI against QL

I will assume that this  Cricket X1 V NZ fixture is counted as a First Class match ?
If not , it is still an incredible partnership

CRICKET X1 1/508 DEC
NZ 0/0 DEC
NZ 0/0 DEC

NZ did not want to bat on an unsafe pitch
NZ did not bowl any quick bowlers on day 2
The game is now abandoned
The reason , the pitch was to sus to bat on

That might mean the double tons will not be credited to Finch and Carters career stats ?

Ive seen the pitch, and yeah it looks rooted
Thats quite amazing considering a score of 1/508 was achieved

1/508 and it is a terrible pitch.......with a great pitch perhaps we would have seen a score of 3/1279 dec

18-21 November 1988
Australia v West Indies

AU 167
Valetta 37
Walsh 4/62

WI 394
Greenidge 80
May 3/90

AU 289
S Waugh 90
Marshall 4/92

WI 1/63

WI won by 9 wickets
This was 27 years ago
This was the last time Australia lost a test at the Gabba , the venue of the first test v NZ this series

It took an exceptional team like the West Indies to win a test match at the Gabba

Which pace attack would you rather face
MCDERMOTT
CHRIS MATTHEWS
DODEMAIDE

or

MARSHALL
AMBROSE
WALSH

Weather forecast Brisbane Test Match
THU 5 possible shower
FRI 6 possible thunderstorm
SAT 7 possible thunderstorm
SUN 8 Possible thunderstorm
SUN 9 possible shower

Bookies are betting between $4-75 to $5-00 a drawn match
Taking a rather scant regard of the weather

New Zealand should smash us 3-0 with the team they have.

This might tempt Paul

TO WIN THE SERIES
$1-44 Australia
$4-50 New Zealand
$6-50 Drawn series

I think Australia has the better bowling attack and reckon they might  win the series

For NZ to win the series it might need argubly their best bowler Trent Boult to consistently dismiss David Warner and Steve Starmith for low totals

Good start for the boys. 0-100 at lunch, Burns looks to have settled after a scratchy start.

Weather forecast isn't great so keeping the scoreboard ticking over is important.

Stumps day1
AU 2/389
Burns 71
Warner 163
Khawaja 102 not out
Starmith 41 not out

Would be some happy or relieved Australian selectors
They have got it right so far with Burns and Khawaja

3/897
Thats the New Zealand bowling figures in the tour game and this test match

Forecast is for thunderstorms
That might be the only way NZ get out of this match without a loss

Straya win the toss and bat.

2/416 at stumps....match already over

Burns 40
Warner 244*
Khawaja 121
Smith 5*

AU 9/559 DEC
NZ 2/140
Stumps day 2

R2-3 MAN OF DISTINCTION
Won at Kembla Grange races today 14/11
One of the owners made 253 in Australias first dig

AU 9/559 DEC
WARNER 253
a fantastic batsman to watch
KHAWAJA 121
unfortunately pulled a wattostring

NZ 624
TAYLOR 290
the highest score by a NZ batter v Australia
my fav NZ player , lovely batter and brilliant slipper
WILLIAMSON 166
the 3rd highest score by a NZ batter v Australia
I had thought after seeing him early in his career , he would not make it as a Test cricketer, and not for the first time, I was wrong
STARc 4/119
living up to his name

AU 2/258
SMITH 131 NOT OUT
his 1st 2nd innings ton in Test cricket
had he got out at about 3/50 I think Australia might have lost
perhaps his most important knock in test cricket
VOGES 101 NOT OUT
his test career started aged mid thirties
for his age his batting is quite exceptional

Australia lead by 193 with a day to go
What will Smith do IF the Aussies bat well in the 1st session ?
Should AU lead by 300-325 at Lunch does he declare ?
He probably would if NZ led 1-0
But with AU 1-0 up, there is no need to give NZ a sniff

AU 9/559 DEC
NZ 624
AU 7/385 DEC
NZ 2/104
Bad light stopped the game , something we wont have to worry about  in the 3rd test

24/1672 in a batfest

Australia lead 1-0
If we get another flat pitch I have a name for the Adelaide Test
The Pinky Flat test
Some of the mature posters on this site may know about Pinky Flat



3RD TEST SQUAD

INS
Pattinson
Shaun Marsh
Okeefe

OUTS
Johnson retired
Khawaja injured

Some good selections
Pattinson has taken 14/196 against NZ at an average of 14!
Shaun Marsh has never failed against New Zealand in Test Cricket ....

A couple of letters to the editor in the Advertiser


WE CANT HEAR YOU
*Ben Hornes article this week on the 2nd test against NZ in Perth was spot on, dead pitch, dead balls, dead electronics
But he missed one point
Where were the spectators?
Over half the stands were empty, a few adults in the outer with plenty of space for the kids to run where they wished
The question needs to be asked: Is WA equipped to run a Test match?
The Kiwis have not been given a fair go*


CHEAP FEED
*Heres something to chew over
Watching the cricket in WA this week I spotted a large sign
$5 lunch before 4:00pm
Never see that at the Adelaide Oval !
We need an enterprising caterer for family meals*

Food for thought

3rd Test
Adelaide Oval
Stumps day 2
NZ 202
AU 224
NZ 5/116

Yes this game is on the Adelaide Oval
Low scores , what the  ?
25 batters out in 2 days
Only 3 passed or got to 50
Latham 50
Smith 53
Nevill 66

8/118
AU  were in deep manure
Lyon was caught behind , walked off thinking he was out
Replays showed he was out, and yet he was wrongly given not out
Lyon made 34
9/190
STARc came in
Was given out LBW first ball, reviewed, decision rightly reversed
He then smashed 24 not out off 15 balls
Peter Nevill made the highest score of the match so far with a gutsy 66

The Enzedders have not had much luck with the review systems this series , and it has continued this match
The Lyon muff so far is a very costly blunder
It may have cost NZ drawing the series

There is a potential of this test being over within 3 days
I wonder how often thats happened at Adelaide Oval ?

NZ 202
AU 224
NZ 208
AU 7/187

Over in less than 3 days
Australia were 7/185 needing 2 to win
Mitchell STARc  came in to bat  with a fractured foot
I found that surprising with  capable lower order batters Lyon and Hazelwood batting behind him
Still it worked , with Siddle and STARc putting on a 2 run partnership

Australia won the series 2-0

So do we think the day night test was a success or a failure?

Personally, despite it only running for 3 days, I found it far more entertaining than the first 2 borefest batathons.

It was fantastic to finally something in the game for the bowlers. I thought the pitch was fantastic as well - maybe if we had a few more pitches like that our batters might learn the art of patience again.

Big thumbs up from me.