My boy Rae comes on and finishes Roach! 
Have a rest for a few hours lads.
So, according to me we need to bat normally for about a session and then play increasingly aggressively for another session. Set them about 400 in 3.5 sessions and hope to knock them over cheaply.
Not a bad mop up job this morning - 39/4.
They won't have Roach to bowl so hopefully some hay to be made.
Sun hasn't really emerged consistently this morning to bake out the pitch for tomorrow. Ajaz will be looking at it with interest though from another day of wear.
@Chris-B said in West Indies tour of NZ:
My boy Rae comes on and finishes Roach!
Have a rest for a few hours lads.
So, according to me we need to bat normally for about a session and then play increasingly aggressively for another session. Set them about 400 in 3.5 sessions and hope to knock them over cheaply.
It's a pretty harsh truth that he is more than likely playing his last test.
I've really liked his attitude and he has shown he belongs at this level. In pretty much any other era he would have had a long career but dare I say it there is some depth in NZs fast bowling stocks and a host of good players to come back.
@Chris-B said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 Yeah - rankings probably something like:
Henry
Jamieson
O'Rourke
Duffy (he's been impressive and jumped up the list)
Sears
Tickner
Fisher
Foulkes (can swing the ball a mile in the right conditions, but shades of Lance Cairns for me)
Rae
Looks more or less right, Jamieson despite the incredible average just hasn't played enough to usurp Henry from the top of the list.
I'd probably rate Tickner ahead of Sears.
No Smith ?
Yeah all fit and firing you'd have Henry, Jamieson and O'Rourke as lock ins with perhaps Smith and Foulkes battling for that "all rounder" spot.
But Jacob Duffy has been excellent, Tickner too in his brief appearance at the Basin.
Patel is obviously in the equation too, also Santner vs Phillips......
Once all are back and taking into account Raes age he'll go back in the wilderness which seems a shame.
I hope enough of them are fit for the tests next year.
@MN5 If Phillips plays, I reckon he needs to bat at 6.
At 7 he seems to think his job is to have a bit of a tonk, rather than playing as a proper batsman.
I'm not convinced either Smith or Foulkes are good enough batsmen to warrant playing them ahead of guys who are better bowlers.
If a pitch will assist spinners, I'd pick:
Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Phillips, Hay, Santner, Jamieson, Henry, O'Rourke.
If it won't:
Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Phillips, Hay, Jamieson, Henry, Duffy, O'Rourke.
@Chris-B said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 If Phillips plays, I reckon he needs to bat at 6.
At 7 he seems to think his job is to have a bit of a tonk, rather than playing as a proper batsman.
I'm not convinced either Smith or Foulkes are good enough batsmen to warrant playing them ahead of guys who are better bowlers.
If a pitch will assist spinners, I'd pick:
Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Phillips, Hay, Santner, Jamieson, Henry, O'Rourke.
If it won't:
Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Phillips, Hay, Jamieson, Henry, Duffy, O'Rourke.
Same here. It seems to be a bit of a worldwide phenomenon to pick guys who are handy at both at the expense of guys who are better bowlers and/or batsmen.
The NZ squad seems to have quite a few of these.
I like your teams, Top five absolutely pick themselves. Conway has done more than enough this series to push Young down the pecking order. If Hay takes over fulltime and I hope he does soon then his record would indicate he should be batting at six with the option of Philips leap frogging him if quick runs are needed.
If either of your teams played I'm fairly sure NZ would have won the series 3-0 pretty easily.
Foulkes isn't fast enough or consistent enough, from what I've seen of him, to be effective outside swing and pitch friendly NZ
@Chris-B said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 Phillips for me is a batsman who can bowl - similar to Ravindra and Mitchell.
He's not playing like it when they bat him at seven.
His place is under threat (in my team) because I want him to bat with more starch and less cavalierly.
Having him bat at six might change this mindset a bit.
The danger at 7 is he has limited partners to feel that he can bat for a long time
Ajaz must be licking his chops at the look of the pitch, cracks everywhere
We will need to accumulate quickly to allow enough time to bowl the Windies out, and provide a total that will tempting but be just out of reach
@Chris-B said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 Phillips for me is a batsman who can bowl - similar to Ravindra and Mitchell.
He's not playing like it when they bat him at seven.
His place is under threat (in my team) because I want him to bat with more starch and less cavalierly.
Having him bat at six might change this mindset a bit.
He's not in their class as a batsman ( NZ are very lucky to have both of them ) but a better bowler than either of them so definitely much more of an all-rounder than they are ( ridiculous that the player profiles list them as all-rounders but I digress....)
But how do you justify a guy averaging 48 in first class Cricket batting at seven ?
I guess Adam Gilchrist was pretty handy at doing just that.
I wish I knew how the rankings worked for test batting..... ( and bowling for that matter )
Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell have remarkably similar career records right at the minute on account of the former having a great run and the latter having a bit of a slump. Both currently have very good averages, similar amount of runs and tests......
DJ Mitchell
2019-2025 35* 55 5 2175 190 43.50 4058 53.59 5 15
DP Conway
2021-2025 32* 60 3 2463 227 43.21 4610 53.42 6 13
Yet Mitchell is still ranked 10th in the world and Conway 31st. I'm assuming it takes into account opposition/home and away etc ?
Mitchell hasn't got a ton in his last thirty innings, Conway has had two in his last seven......
103-0.
These two are trying to outdo their first innings efforts. Conway in particular looking magnificent.
First time there has ever been two consecutive hundred run stands in test history.
Lead of 253. A declaration an hour before stumps would be nice, big question mark if the NZ attack can roll them though.
Conway just needs to reach 73 to bring up 300 runs for match
The nz record is 343, can anyone guess who holds that record?
@Virgil said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Conway just needs to reach 73 to bring up 300 runs for match
The nz record is 343, can anyone guess who holds that record?
World record is Graham Gooch with 456 I do know that.
As for NZ I'm going to guess Stephen Fleming. He got a few big double tons.
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@Virgil said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Conway just needs to reach 73 to bring up 300 runs for match
The nz record is 343, can anyone guess who holds that record?World record is Graham Gooch with 456 I do know that.
As for NZ I'm going to guess Stephen Fleming. He got a few big double ton.
That’s a bingo, Flem with his 274 an 69 vs Sri Lanka
Both unbeaten too
Is it too soon to talk about scoring a 200 and 100 in the same match
@Virgil said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@Virgil said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Conway just needs to reach 73 to bring up 300 runs for match
The nz record is 343, can anyone guess who holds that record?World record is Graham Gooch with 456 I do know that.
As for NZ I'm going to guess Stephen Fleming. He got a few big double ton.
That’s a bingo, Flem with his 274 an 69 vs Sri Lanka
Both unbeaten too
Is it too soon to talk about scoring a 200 and 100 in the same match
No cheating I promise. I remember long before the days of the fern having a discussion with a workmate about whether Fleming was class or not, that innings ( and I remember him doing ok in the second too ) backed up my claims. Others have got double tons but generally failed ( or not even batted ) in the second innings so they were ruled out.
Conway seeing it like a beachball, well and truly MOTM, they need to score quick to force a result so hundred for him definitely on.
Conway can look ropey early in an innings. But he's absolutely loving it out there right now
Hard to see this being much other than a draw, unless Ajaz can get it turning square somehow.
Only the third time in history the openers have both scored a ton and a fifty in a match ( with Latham bringing up his 50 )
That's a cool stat considering this is test number 2614.
But yeah, tough to see NZs attack knocking these guys over with enough time to force a win.
time to start going for records if you cant win, they have one now, if they both get a ton, i suspect thats another
Apparently this is the record for most runs scored by the opening partnership in any test.
@Godder said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Apparently this is the record for most runs scored by the opening partnership in any test.
Yep it would be.
No disrespect to any number of past NZ gutsy openers but its not an area of the game littered with kiwi greats. I think it's outstanding that the Black Caps have this record.
Devon Conway!
Just the 10th batsman to score a double hundred and hundred in the same test
@Virgil said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Devon Conway!
Just the 10th batsman to score a double hundred and hundred in the same test
His resurgence of form is quite frankly outstanding.
Thrilled for him, I thought his career was all but over this time last year.
The boys should race towards a 400 lead as soon as possible and if they lose a wicket we should declare if the lead is over 350
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
18 off the over before tea.
Latham has quietly snuck to 80.
@canefan yeah they should get Philips to pad up to come in next for a swing.
Don't want to waste any time getting out there. I want to see us heaps the pressure on. 4 men at least in the slip cordon and a man close in front of the bat. Pour it on
@canefan said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Watching the comms, Bish is huge!
Him, Courtney and ( especially ) Curtley were a menacing bunch for sure.
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@canefan said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Watching the comms, Bish is huge!
Him, Courtney and ( especially ) Curtley were a menacing bunch for sure.
Ask Ken Rutherford and Mike Gatting. They know 
. The golden era of WI quicks was a sight to see. Menacing is right
The top 4 averaging batsmen in tests so far in 2025… obviously if Latham and Conway are dismissed it will change
Henry Nicholls - 188.00
Rachin Ravindra - 105.75
Devon Conway - 99.57
Tom Latham - 81.20
@canefan said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
@canefan said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Watching the comms, Bish is huge!
Him, Courtney and ( especially ) Curtley were a menacing bunch for sure.
Ask Ken Rutherford and Mike Gatting. They know
Bishop had lots of injury issues but still had a brilliant career.
@MN5 said in West Indies tour of NZ:
Shit from Conway getting out right after the break and exposing KW late in the day.
They shouldn't be out there much longer. Should have sent a pinch hitter
