Sidebottom and Oram back as New Zealand field

Cricinfo - 4th ODI: England v New Zealand at The Oval, Jun 25, 2008

Pathetic by England 221-8 in the 46th.About 50 short at least i would imagine.

Mustard vs Ambrose in ODIs (I'm behind Ambrose in tests):

Mustard's scores:

27, 28, 14, 19, 1 (Sri Lanka), 31, 13, 15, 83, 1 (New Zealand).

Ambrose's scores:

1, 1, 0, 6. Jimmy Anderson's done better than that in one inning today!

I want Ambrose to do well but I'm still miffed at why Mustard was dropped after featuring well in our recent resurgence (and improving after a poor start) and with no good reason (I suspect his county four-day form was counted against him, it's nonsense that a performance in one form of the game should get you a run in the other or cause you to be dropped). Ambrose should be given the whole series but unless he performs next game Mustard deserves a go.

Anyway, 245 isn't a strong total (soft wickets, mad running) but it's decent, if we get McCullum early we're in with a shout of defending it. Well done Bopara (despite trying to eat the ball at one stage!) and the ever-cool Owais Bevan...sorry, Shah.

STOP PRESS: We've got McCullum out for 1! Oh what would we do without Sidebottom?! NZ are 7/1.

It was a poor ball that Sidebottom bowled Colly, so don't get carried away.

BTW I agree in full with your comments on Mustard, if there was any justice he would be in this England side today at the Oval. He was dropped for no reason I can think off.

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Ern

I fully agree! Mustards also a superior keeper so really theres no positives to Ambrose being selected. I have a feeling the captain has far less say in selection now that in the past


Especially as Mustards coming nicely into form in the shorter game - he's done OK in the domestic one dayers and is on fire in the 20/20. His 4 day form should be irrelevant unless he's being considered for the test team!

We also have to consider Wrights place in the XI. Its clear he hasnt got the ability to pinch hit very well - got bogged down again! He doesnt have the class to bat in the middle and his bowling isnt needed. I thought when we binned Jamie Dalrymple the days of playing joke players were over.

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Mark.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry at the situation of the Elliot dismissal.

The reaction of the NZ dressing room (as Ian Smith pointed out, hasnt seen one worse since the underball incident), the look on the Umps face after the collision, and just the plain fact that Bell + KP continued with the game as nothing had gone wrong...? Vettori (very calm), Styris + McCullum etc all lost it, very uncharacteristic for them, but understandable.

This series is quickly turning the fun game of cricket into one driven by success at all costs, with some crazy and disappointing low points.

Im sure you all saw it (or will as some point). NO blame on my part to SB, he didnt even get up after and at least showed some consideration for Elliot (which no one else did). Umps asked whether the Eng boys would appeal, they did, the wicket remains.

Lets hope either NZ win with Mills at the crease or well, England will claim another controversial victory for the records eh

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Hoggy Hoggy Hoggy...OI OI OI!!!

I haven't seen it, but it's up to the batsman to run around the bowler, isn't it? As long as Sidebottom didn't deliberately bring the batsman down - and no-one has suggested that - then England certainly have the right to appeal. And with a game this tightly poised, I'm not at all surprised they did so (and would have been surprised if they hadn't). As to the under-arm reference, someone is exaggerating wildly if he is making any attempt to compare this accident with a piece of deliberate and disgraceful (albeit legal) gamesmanship.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan

England's fielders sound as though they just lost the game. All results available on the last ball and no-one backing up when the ball was thrown into the middle. New Zealand win by 1 wicket, and it sounds like a great game I largely missed!

Sadly, there is a suggestion of acrimony at the finish, with no New Zealander remaining around to accept Collingwood's congratulations. I do hope that it is not as bad as it sounds on TMS or Cricinfo.

Shame.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan

As for comparing with the under-arm incident, it wasnt the seriousness or shock of the actual moment, just the reaction from the balcony, which i can understand fully.

As for the batsmen running around the bowler, its really something you must see from your own eyes, Elliot played it down, he had no idea where the ball was, heard the call from Mills (who was half way down when he looked up) and just ran. He did do his best to run around Sidey but he grabbed for the ball, = collision. Both players down, he limped up to try and run to the crease but it was clearly in vein, as 4-5 Eng players easily finished that job off.

Although "the rules" state that this should have taken place, appeal an all, a bit of nonsense in my opinion, but hey, its over.

The last over, was full of drama. 3 needed, and after Mills ran the 1st for a single, Gillespie hit 4 dots....tense, Wright doing the job he did in Napier. 2 off the last ball, exact situation, and finally he hit one! Straight toe the fielder, a direct hit would have probably got him out, but as he missed, both men at the stumps let the ball go....ok fine. But Broad behind them backing up fluffed it completely Ball ran away, not fully but enough to run at least one more, and that was justice in my eyes.

As for Colly going to shake hands...if i were DV i'd have done the same. The way his sides been treated over the past week must have had him raging as it is, but im sure he understood the laws etc. But the acts of today, the way the England lads huddled after the wkt of Elliot, hobbling off the field (after receiving treatment, in clear pain), it was a look of "we'll do ANYTHING to win".

Yes, a shame that the tours ended on a sour note, but hey, they got what they deserved, lets hope the final ODI is played in better spirit and the tour ends off in a cracking game, (and a 3-1 series win)

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Hoggy Hoggy Hoggy...OI OI OI!!!

I don't much mind what the result is in the fifth game - let's just recover the spirit in which the Test Series was played so that the teams part as mates, ready to do it all again with a smile next time around.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan