Saturday, 21 October 2006

Ben on...a sticky wicket

Apparently the glue used to hold the pitch together in last night's match, when New Zealand became unstuck, was PVA. I wonder if they can peel it off like fake skin after the match.

2 comments:

Suhas said...

I think New Zealand lost the game in their heads before it started. All that talk about 'occupying the crease and grinding it out' only had a negative impact. Too much undue respect to the pitch and Murali. I mean, Murali's a great bowler but they weren't playing him for the first time or anything. Another failure for Marshall and the predicatble dismissals of Vincent and Styris means the New Zeland top/middle order is in chaos once more.

Anonymous said...

Agree and disagree with you suhas. Agree with the first sentiment - NZ did indeed lose the game before it had even begun. Plus i think the Sri Lankans have hit a purple patch of form lately and the loss to Pakistan was a one off (never underestimate a Pakistani team with its back to the wall).
However I dont think the top order is an issue. The pitches in the tournament have been pretty substandard to say the least. Conditions are obviously pretty tough with all the low totals reflecting this. Makes for some exciting games though!
Still think we need Ross Taylor in there somewhere. But we also need someone whose a bit more of a 'rock'. Vincent, Astle, Fleming, Oram - theyre all strokemakers. Our rock is supposed to be Marshall but hes been awful. Do we have anyone in the local scene whose been getting a ton of runs but without the powerhitting of someone like Taylor? I think Ryders a hitter also. We need someone like Matt Horne. But, you know, good.
Anyway, make or break against the Pakistanis. Cant wait.