Things said in the last 24 hours here that I agree with:
1. Root is not the right man to captain England at this stage. It is affecting his batting, and he is not even that good at it.
Things said in the last 24 hours here that I do not agree with:
1. Leach being a poor spinner. Like any finger spinner, his threat is directly proportionate to the runs that his batsman have put on the board - when he has had some scoreboard pressure he has looked class (he was as good at Lords as Archer, if less brutal). But here, New Zealand knew that England were 100 light and could block him and pick him off.
2. Buttler as skipper? Ridiculous. He has been the lucky recipient of a selectorial gift when Bairstow was dropped instead of him (and Foakes was not given the slot,which would have been the best decision). He's a poor keeper, couldn't hold down a slot as a specialist batsman, so couldn't be given the job.
3. Stokes as a specialist batsman. Ah look, he's great, he really is - but the issue for England was that half hour of madness when he and Pope played shocking shots. That was the time to grind the oppo into the dirt, not suddenly skip from second to overdrive.
4. Archer....wow, you guys are on his back quickly. He has not bowled great, but on a dead track still managed to half kill Nicholls.
In general, they need to give people time - even the people I have criticised above. Pope for Surrey looks a much classier player than he did here, and will get there as the nerves subside, and for the most part its a decent side.
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Topic: England tour of New Zealand 2019/20 (Read 68889 times)