Never mind. You still make better beer and hi-fi systems.
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Thrashed. This is a rather transitional Test side but weak performances across the board it seems. We still seem unable to adapt to patient, flat track Kookaburra cricket.
Looks like whoever kidnapped Joe Root over the summer still has him locked up somewhere. Captaincy crippling our best batsman.
NZ will be very happy, not least because Williamson did not contribute that much and others stood up. Though I suspect his influence as captain, like McCullum before him, is large.
Don’t expect the pitch for T2 will be much different.
Anyone know why this series does not count towards the much heralded test championship?
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The Aussies won by an innings and 5 runs. Not as much fun not playing England, think we have NZ later in the season.
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Perhaps it was organised outside the allowed time frame?
I have not seen any of the action, but I have listened to TMS and the subsequent podcasts. IIRC this sort of collapse, under-performance, is a regular feature of test English cricket.
All credit to NZ, especially BJW.
I’ve disappointed by Silverwood’s comments, but I would expect him to support his team in public. I hope he was more forthright in private.
Root sounds out of his depth, but similar things were said. About Cook when he took over from Strauss(?). For me he shows no sign of understanding where he might have made mistakes. How long do you to stick to a plan that is failing?
Special mention / praise goes to two new commentators: Steve Finn and Mark Ramprakash, the latter bringing great insight into the game.
I have to say I enjoyed Steve Finn on TMS, a nice balance of self deprecating humour and insight but Ramprakash really annoyed me! I thought he was dull, supercilious and talked too much cliché. His knowledge was obvious but his manner grated on me after a while.
It is good TMS brings in new voices at times though. During the Ashes I was pleasantly surprised that Cook was so good. Smart, not frightened to be critical of former colleagues f needed but also entertaining. I hope they keep him. Maybe Ramps will grow on me!
Bruce
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I agree about Cook … hope he stays.
Ramps sounds condescending, perhaps it’s because he has recent insight that I found him instructive, although a tad too serious.
Looking forward to the next test; and I hope it’s not so one sided.
Should we ask Richard to re name this thread Cricket?
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Good idea - or just start a new thread?
For an English cricket fan/follower this thread could be named ‘Arghhh…!’ (or even ‘here we go again’) given the events of the last few days.
I’ve always given Root the benefit of the doubt re his captaincy (who else?) but having seen a post-match I/V on Sky yesterday when he referenced Archer and the latter’s need to learn about managing his effort (amongst other things), I think he needs some coaching on leadership and what a proactive captain needs to do.
Sad to say also, we need some players to step-up e.g. Leach needs to be able to control an end with lengthy spells. As a package, in benign conditions (esp. with the K-ball) post the initial 20 overs or so with the new ball, the attack looked toothless.
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Ah well you had some serious luck against the Kiwis and like all things it’s run out. Good on the Kiwis, they deserved the win. I was to busy watching the Aus v Pak to watch. The little bit I did it looked like you England were simply out played. Beaten by a better team, it happens.
I raised my concerns about Roots lack of “mogul” during the Ashes, nice guys don’t always win.
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Pete,
You’re right in that a lot of credit needs to go to NZ who are, as a team, a bunch of ‘fighters’, unlike the lower batting order in the England team which has got such a big & regular crumple zone! This said, you expect your top 6/7 batters to get material runs.
On a personal note, when I was a young-ish opening bowler, the team skipper positioned himself at mid-off/on so as to keep the ear of the bowler and offer encouragement, rather than escaping to the slips. I think such small things can help in managing a game.
No bad troops, just bad generals?
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Pete
Out of interest how were the test match crowds v Pakistan?
Bruce
Down. 40,000 for the 4 days, there’s now talk that if they don’t play a day/night test next season Brisbane may lose test cricket altogether.
Shame cause in spite of a big win the cricket was pretty good.
It’s 5 years today since we lost Phillip Hughes. 
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Thanks for pointing out re Philip Hughes. Shook the game.Personally it was Boucher’s eye injury that made me become a more regular helmet wearer both batting and keeping. Never done for either before.
As for crowds an average of 10,000 a day is not too shabby. Here we’d expect most series to sell out 4 days at least against any country but our stadia are smaller (from 15 up to 30 k at Lords) so maybe the economics are better. I hope the crowds stay up for the rest of the Pakistan series; maybe it needs to be competitive for that. NZ to follow should bring them in though? When Eng toured W Indies you could here individuals clapping in the crowd on the commentary it was so sparsely attended.
I want Test cricket to remain viable and prosper. It is still the best form of the game for me.
Bruce
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While 40,000 seems reasonable our test venues hold 40,000 plus. They’re big stadiums, 10,000 people makes them look vacant.
That’s the look on some cricketers too …
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Especially the English ones 
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