International cricket thread

Eric the half bee · 04-06-2026 06:39PM

Was it Athers who was very criticial of Robinson in yesterday's Times?

Perhaps he's going to claim that he was trying to gee him up!

Strumms · 04-06-2026 06:50PM

6 down now, decent bowling. Threatening lines and lengths from the English but jeeez the shot again.
29/6 😵

Gillespy · 04-06-2026 07:04PM

Ireland showed the New Zealand top order weren't up to much last week. Four down relatively cheaply. That was in nice batting conditions against a weaker attack.

Glenn Phillips doing the right thing and trying to do what Brook did.

ArmaniJeanss · 05-06-2026 09:59AM

I really don't get some of the hatred for this England team and 'Bazball'.

For me they have created some of the best moments in test cricket - 500 runs on day 1 against Pakistan, unprecedented run-rates, that 100 in 9 overs against NZ at Trent Bridge, seeing 300+ Day 5 targets as achievable rather playing for the draw.

And without doubt some epic failures and inexplicable decisions along the way. But always superb entertainment and a general sense of 'what the **** will they do next?' which left you on the edge of your seat. I'm old enough to remember Chris Tavare and his co-openers striving to get to 35/0 at lunch on Day 1, and know which method of play I'd prefer to watch.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 11:10AM

Philips, the only NZ batter to make any mark on the score board, goes in the second over. 66/7.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 11:57AM

Jamieson did his best there to put NZ of touching distance of England but overall abysmal batting performance by them. Some excellent bowling by England. Eng lead by 27.

Gillespy · 05-06-2026 01:33PM

Getting away a bit from New Zealand now. Not helped by Ravindra with another inexplicable dropped catch. Henry is bowling at least, very expensive few overs but should have a wicket. Still enough happening for the bowlers.

VillaMad · 05-06-2026 01:41PM

England 72/1 at lunch and lead by 99 which coincidentally is the exact lead they had at this stage against Australia in Perth before it all fell to pieces, so we'll see what they have learned.

Still a tough pitch. New Zealand didn't get it quite right with the ball and Duckett and Gay got enough shots away. Conditions are to stay the same for the rest of the day, so England will look to bat out the day. Rain is coming tomorrow and it looks like a possible washout.

After Matt Henry had back spasm issues yesterday, he doesn't quite look right again today, so England will hope to get the others into their 3rd and 4th spells and cash in later on in the evening.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 03:02PM

England firmly in control now. 120/2...lead by 147....

Strumms · 05-06-2026 03:20PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124526409#Comment_124526409

that was little more than a regulation catch, can’t figure how he dropped it. His bowler was visibly unimpressed with the effort.

Sky looking particularly gray and the New Zealanders looking for the groundsman to come on to fix / tend to one of the bowlers footmarks / landing zones …in addition we’ve had physios on, sub fielders bringing in jumpers, drinks etc…. And now this. 💩. And it’s worked, straight after the lengthy delay, Gay is gone… half century on debut, not too shabby he looked ok out there.

ArmaniJeanss · 05-06-2026 03:32PM

5 Down with the lead around 150, so suddenly game on again.

But not looking good for Sunday tickets.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 03:35PM

3 quick wickets for NZ..England still in charge.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 03:44PM

Now Stokes goes....

VillaMad · 05-06-2026 04:27PM

England 166/6, lead by 193. Great half-hour for New Zealand where they ripped out England's best players. Pitch is not good as typified by Bethell's dismissal and with that uneven bounce added to the swing and seam all match, it has been a match for the bowlers.

Saying that a good 30 minutes with the bat for either side and they can whittle down any total but there is always a ball with your name on it. Interesting to see whether New Zealand will just decide to be aggressive when they reply as that might be the best policy.

Gillespy · 05-06-2026 05:45PM

Bounce is so inconsistent England probably have plenty. 55 over old ball is still seaming around as well.

Strumms · 05-06-2026 05:46PM

Yes pitch is dreadful. Considering this is supposed to be the ‘home of cricket’ ffs. The delivery that did for Bethell stayed about 5 foot lower then he’d have expected considering where it pitched.

3 innings completed and we’ve had only 2 half centuries.

Have to back England. Far from a colossal lead but with this pitch and this NZ team

VillaMad · 05-06-2026 05:53PM

England all-out for 226, a lead of 253. 16 overs left in the day's play.

Ball was still hooping around, even if England made an impressive enough recovery from 127-6. Just a couple of partnerships and New Zealand could knock this off, but that pitch makes it look difficult.

VillaMad · 05-06-2026 05:59PM

Dreadful shot by Latham who is better than that, bad pitch or no bad pitch.

0/1.

MFPM · 05-06-2026 06:49PM

Be nice to see Williamdon make a sizeable contribution to potentially winning the match in what will be his last game at Lords. He's always been the least heralded of the so-called modern 'big 4'....

MFPM · 05-06-2026 07:06PM

Put the mockers on him there...England should win handy from here. Both batting line ups are suspect. In these 'English' conditions the English bowlers have the edge...

Gillespy · 05-06-2026 07:57PM

Bowlers were let down by the catching. Wickets change the course of a game more than adding up the runs those dropped catches cost. Especially when they were a bowler down in the first innings, their best bowler too.

England have enjoyed the bulk of the luck going. As well as the dropped catches, they were on the right side of a umpires call a lot. Gay top scored but lived dangerously for his fifty.

Gillespy · 06-06-2026 12:57PM

India have named their squad to play Ireland and England and the big news is Sooryravanshi is in it. Bumrah is being rested and Shreyas Iyer is their new T20 captain.

MFPM · 06-06-2026 01:12PM

Players in the dressing room all morning, rain stopped, Lunch is taken for some bizarre reason though rain forecast straight after lunch, then players come out, 11 balls later rain arrives..

England have loads of time so they won't mind too much..

VillaMad · 06-06-2026 05:34PM

Played called for the day after just 10 overs were bowled with New Zealand 55/5, needing 199 more runs.

Weather is fine tomorrow so it should finish tomorrow. New Zealand should really just go aggressive tomorrow rather than poking and prodding which has got them nowhere.

Gillespy · 06-06-2026 05:43PM

Apart from Gay, the others that made any runs so far chanced their arm, Brook and Robinson for England and Phillips and Jamieson for NZ. Tomorrow looks to be dry and bright so batting could become a bit easier. Those two wickets lost today make 199 look very far away.

MFPM · 07-06-2026 12:25PM

England cantering to victory, NZ have one wicket remaining. Fairly insipid performance with the bat by NZ, England bowled well and the conditions didn't help but NZ are better than this.

VillaMad · 07-06-2026 01:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124530793#Comment_124530793

England with a comfortable win by 115 runs. When the pitch is like that though it's hard to draw any conclusions about anyone as any bowler worth his salt would have picked up wickets, so England will just be glad to pick up the win. Bashir being a passenger effectively says it all. Phillips finally was one to show intent and if he had one or two others with the same mindset perhaps something might have been possible, but it was always a mountain to climb.

Along with some marginal calls going against New Zealand and some horrible catching, one of the big differences between the sides was Matt Henry who would have been much, much better had he been fully fit.

New Zealand's top order obviously gets a pass for this test match because of the pitch but after they failed against Ireland last week, that's not good form at all to be having.

For England, Gay had a good debut and Robinson albeit with huge assistance had an excellent return, although it would have been interesting to see him in his third or fourth spell.

Gillespy · 07-06-2026 02:09PM

No spinner in history was getting an over on that pitch. England must have completely misread it to go in with ten men effectively. Bashir did get a few runs to be fair to him.

Henry going down early and Robinson taking three wickets in an over were the big turning points, New Zealand were never winning it after that.

Strumms · 07-06-2026 02:21PM

A pretty poor test…

3 batting totals sub 150 and all done inside 3 and a half days….. thats with time off the field for rain / bad light…. 🤐

A 10 day gap till the start of the next test. Hopefully it’s a better spectacle by both teams.

InsideEdge · 08-06-2026 12:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124531040#Comment_124531040

You can't blame the teams for any of that, the pitch was sub-standard and had a direct affect on the low scores.

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