Or even, change the attitudes of the existing players. Knock their heads together, and get them to value their wickets whilst on the crease? It seems no team these days is immune from this "self-destructive" batting, except perhaps Australia.

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

It's very interesting to follow Australia in the games where they struggled badly in the first innings (let's forget the Ashes last year for a second). The tour of Sri Lanka saw Murali bowl them out twice pretty cheaply, but a few of their players completely changed the aggressive four an over stuff and went out to make big scores.

People forget that when we were growing up watching test cricket, the good players used to fail regularly (a fifty wa a good knock). Anything under a ratio of 2:1 fifties to hundreds was seen as very impressive. Now, most players score 100 as soon as they pass 50. Just look at Lara's conversion rate now (compared to his first 70 tests), Vaughan, Ponting, Hayden, Langer - the list is pretty long. In addition, the scores of 500 were really not that common unless it was a belter.

All I'm gonna say is: congratulations to Sangakkara for getting through the day with people falling around him.

yeah - i really hate that kind of run out tho' (i know it's legit) he did it in zim too and it rankled then...but a good win for NZ anyway.

i think i'm going off flemming a little

yeah all credit to New Zealand.... odd at how at an International Test Match featuring New Zealand IN New Zealand the stands were empty... the atmosphere was really dire at this match, and I wonder why.

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Frank Skinner: "You know when Glenn McGrath trod on that cricket ball? Don't you wish it would've been a landmine?"

NZ why do they have to be so unsportsmanlike i thought there were only two people who would do that in cricket today warne and ponting. the mccullum was surprising, but fleming condoning it. they have brought cricket into disrepute from what should be a gentlemens game

Murali should have known better: being caught out of the crease whilst the ball was live would be inexcusable on the part of a schoolboy, and criminal in first class cricket - for a guy with more than 100 Test caps to his name it's just plain ridiculous.

yes - he should have known better and yet it still rankles

I don't know much (for that read "anything") about NZ grounds, but is that venue actually a cricket ground?
It looks like the wicket had been stuck on and the empty stands more like a rugby ground.

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Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

Jade Stadium is primarily a rugby stadium - much like the Westpac Stadium in Wellington for the ODI and on occasions the McLean in Napier and Eden Park in Auckland.

The Basin Reserve (Wellington, test matches) is thankfully cricket only. In general. Most of the time.

I'm guessing the people who turned up to watch the game yesterday thought a rugby match was on

Its hard to get excited about going to see the same team for the 3rd year in a row.

Anyway, as a fan of NZ, I'm pretty disappointed with Stephen Fleming. Yes, he was technically right to accept the run out, but I find it morally wrong and certainly against the spirit of the game to have accepted the run out. I can just imagine the furore if the victim had been an Englishman, an Aussie or even a Pakistani. None of their fans would have been too happy if an opponent had done that. It seems though that there aren't enough Sri Lankans here to be upset by the actions of the NZ team.

And in the scheme of the match, that dismissal could have been very important. Sangakkara would surely have upped the run rate after reading 100 and given the Kiwis a tougher target to reach.