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Take another's it is out, the test is over.
I couldn't smoke.
Wow, that was a beauty.
It is out and here he goes.
This delivery has in years as.
The goal.
On the front foot with Brian Waddell and Jeremy Cody powered by News Talk, said B at iHeart Radio.
Hello, we're on the front foot once again, although I feel that they were on the back foot the way that this match when ed he with a chance still alive to make the World TIS Championship Final.
The black Caps have.
Dropped the ball literally in a test they could have won. You can't drop the next Bradman as Brook has been to him, drop him five times and expect to win and not expect him to score big. Jeremy Canney. I was watching cricket at one of your favorite grounds this morning, Sabina Park, Jamaica, and the wist Lindy's had serious case of dropsy as well against Bangladesh.
Really I didn't know that what was this, what was the what was the game? There was?
Well?
I got a Test match at Sabia Park in Jamaica. They haven't played a Test match there for three years. But the Test match started late because the ground was wet. You remember that, I remember, yeah, yeah, And so they had sitting number of overs. But Kimar Oach got a couple of wickets. He's been playing Test cricket for fifteen years, did you Rose really?
No? I didn't know. That's quite a long time.
Yes.
For bowl that's incredible, yeah, but never mind, back to the Test match. That's a real disappointment. We could have won that game.
Well, we had chances, didn't we a lot of them.
We got stuck in for a start on a matted, kind of grassy pitch the first day, quite thick, you know, and sort of tennis ball bounce because it took all the friction out as soon as it landed on it, and so you had to wait for that ball. And that's why Conway got out so quickly, pushing out the ball going past the vertical with his bat one hand of course on it, you know who he is, and it went too far and just provided the bowler with the cork bold quite reasonable catch and his follow through.
But yeah, so it was a tennis ball bounce, but we did get to three for two hundred about by say the end of the second the second session, and because we'd only lost three wickets, we did have a chance. There was our chance done day one to really forge ahead of it and maybe get to three hundred and ten or so and not lose two many more wickets,
but we did. Of course, we lost five wickets in that last session, with Mitchell getting court by the backstop and Williamson cutting to backward point and Blundle, you know, getting caught at backward point and Smith just turning it to backpad and all those kinds of things that happened, and we lost off ive.
For one hundred and twenty. Yeah, so they weren't. It was a shame that we didn't.
We lost that first opportunity, and then you said to yourself, oh no, hang on. We got a few more the next day and the next morning three forty eight, and then we had them four for seventy.
And we thought, right, we'll we'll keep taking a few wickets.
No we won't, because that's exactly when the catching crisis fell into full swing. And of course you know what happened then, and Brooke just kept on going and had various but Pope kept on going and then Oakes kept on going and.
Brooke, Yeah, well that was the story of the game.
And just before we carry on with Gus Galloway who's joining us as well, the view from the oval, Tom Latham's reaction the jual and Captain.
Yeah, look, I think post first innings for being put in on that sort of surface to I think first read, to be in the position we were, you know, we probably would have liked a few more runs if we're able to extend some of those partnerships to I guess, those significant partnerships that do make a difference in a game, then you know, things might have looked slightly differently. But to have them sort of seventy eighty for four with our tails up, take some catches and you know, certainly
myself included, you know, things might look slightly differently. So even though the result of the game, you know, does look quite big, there are small margins in the game of cricket, and unfortunately things aren't quite full the right the right way, and you know, by no means of not trying, and you know, boys are putting the effort in some days, you know, that's just crickets, the game we play. Unfortunately, things like that happen. I don't think
it's something that requires work. You know, we certainly put the work in, you know, behind the scenes, training days and all that sort of thing, and you know, it certainly hasn't been a thing that's a continuous thing that's been happening. It's just one of those games where sometimes when one goes down, sometimes they all keep keep falling. So, as I said, I'm certainly myself to blame as well
in that situation. But as I said, we'd like to stay nice and level and try not to overemphasize things. You know, we know we need to be better and we'll certainly hopefully do that and want Yeah, I think we're always constantly looking to adapt, and we certainly know the way that the English are gonna are going to play.
You know.
The pleasant thing from our point of view, we're able to create opportunities, which is which is what you need to do against this English side, and we know they're going to keep coming hard from from one to eleven and we've seen that over a period of time. But as I said, yeah, isolated to that innings where where we created enough opportunities to bowl them out and you take catches and things might look slightly differently, you know,
from the first and second inning. So yeah, obviously we were at our best this game, and we certainly acknowledge that, and I hopefully we can be better heading into Ellington and Gath.
I take some of the points made thereby Tom Nathan, but I'm sorry his comment that it's not an area we have to work on and it hasn't been troubling us very often.
To my mind, I disagree.
It is an area that needs work when you drop eight catches and I don't think they.
Do the work enough work to be confident in the field. How did it look to you?
Well, you've watched a lot of cricket, Brian. You've seen this team, the squad, you know, a group of players over many years warming up and you get a field for it, don't you. I mean a interesting watching England. I think they spent forty five minutes playing the keep the soccer ball up in the year today. But you do see the end doing some fielding routines. But I find it it's really interesting because you used to see a lot of bilding routines as part of the build
ups and the start of the play. You know, you would see them playing those exercises where someone would roll the ball out, they would run from say a cover area, pick it up, throw it. The stunts run around and they would have those cycles. You'd see lots of slip catching being practiced, and you would see outfield catching being practiced. You go around the ground, wouldn't you watch? That was the usual way.
You'd go out as a team, and you'd go and those sort of five or six would the outfielders would go around the ground high ones, flat ones ones coming out of where the crowd is. The crowd at that state a stage, you're arriving, aren't they. So you actually get an idea of what the background for a flat catcher is like, and you get your high catches and you see what it's like. You can triangulate on that and take your high catches. Same in the slips. You
work with the left handers right handers. And that's exactly how we used to warm up usually as a team. I didn't see the New Zealanders out there, to be really honest, the entire match. They did not arrive out other than to do little exercises with the guy Chris Donaldson. But that was about it. We didn't see them. They batted on the background. I don't even know whether they had catching practice.
No, I well, I didn't see any. What you know is they go over to the nets at the back by the you know, the Richard had the academy, and they all have a net that the guys who are going to be batting bat and that's what you'd expect them to do, and they go over there during the day when the team's batting as well. Equally, you know, you see the bowlers warming up with the with the peepers, people with the you know, the baseball mits and so on. But you don't see the fielding that we used to see.
And you know, I'm not I wouldn't worry too much. From England's point of view. On one occasion, we didn't see Brendan McCallum on his knees and heading slips, catching and doing it to right and left hand angles. And I thought England's catching was very good in this match, you know, you see, well it was better than than you Zealand, wasn't it.
And to say that that didn't cost us the match that's the most elementary you know analysis, you would make that our eight catchers.
You know.
Basically Harry Brooke got one hundred and seventy one for six. That's what he got, you know, and that's what was Yeah, you cannot you cannot drop players of that ilk and that quality.
Well Brook was dropped on, Yeah, was dropped on eleven.
He didn have been one hundred for five.
Yeah. He put on a good partnership with Pope and Stokes came in and they moved it around Brook. You know if Oakes was dropped, yeah, if he covers, if he'd been out for eleven, I think it would have been a very different men. Yeah.
Yeah, But what it does for me, sadly is we are developing some fast bowling talent. Oh rowk to me is an outstanding talent. Smith came in and I thought had a creditable game. Yeah, he got a bit expensive in the big thrash towards the end, but they were let down in the field. Smith had a five for or even six four rob from him by Paul Catching, didn't he.
That's correct, It was absolutely correct.
Both were the highlights of the bowlers. To me, we know what Henry's like, he's a very consistent bowler. But to bring those other two in, I've just John. I just got some of the notes here that I made during the match, wads, and that's that's a certainly there.
Smith and o'rourk o rought.
For his pace and consistent paceover about fifteen or sixteen overs, I think he bowled and was up there around about one hundred and forty six k's and so that's outstand that's into ninety miles an hour. And Smith was he was a bit excited at the start and got some few little balls, but he looks to be to me, when he's pitching the ball up a bit more, he can he can sit you on your backside as well. I thought he looked jolly useful, as you know, as a fourth seamer. So I was pleased to see both
those additions and our attack. When Jamison gets a bit better and when Sears gets better, you won't have Saldi there. I'm afraid he will not be in that top four or five bowlers.
Yeah, fair point.
Well, that's one of the issues they're gonna have to deal with. And Smith looked as though he fitted into the role of an all rounder. He's not yet an all rounder, but his batting effort on the final day with Mitchell was excellent.
What do we do at number six?
Is Tom Blundell the number six batsman or should Phillips go there Blundell concentrate on his keeping Garth or do we need another working keeper?
Well, I think we're getting to the point actually where I mean, you know, our views will be different to the New Zealand camps. I think looking at talking to n Smith about Blundle, he clearly thinks there has been a deterioration in his keeping. You know you can. I think you've got to put him at seven now. Phillips has to be more involved in the game. He's a player who thrives on pressure. He thrives on being involved. Get him up at number six. You've got to get
him for me, That's that's essential. Blundle, I think I didn't think he kept particularly well on the Subcontinent. Keepers would say it's a very hard place to keep, and I think that's a fair comment. However, you know I don't Yeah, I just don't see that Blundle is you know, he dropped a few. I'm not talking about catchers, but he dropped a few balls. I didn't think his footwork was as good as it normally is. And most of all,
you know, you have to have keepers. If you're betting in that number seven position, you've got to be scoring runs. And it seems like a long time since the twenty twenty two summer in England where Mitchell and Blundell were so magnificent for New Zealand, and really since that time, and indeed in the last calendar year it's well. In fact, if we look at this year, he had one hundred and thirty eight against England at Mountain Long and Nui, you know, a very good innings. Since then, his highest
score has been thirty eight. He's out of form. Yeah, I don't think that.
I mean, as far as Tom Blundell, he's he's been a good player and he will return. It's just a question at the moment. I think he's lost a lot of confidences. What they do with him, I guess they'll play him. I think as far as your immediate question was in the next test. But I also would add to what Garta said about his keeping is that he's standing quite deep and that he's taking the ball quite often. The knee below the knees and that pushes the slip
cordon back a little. They need to be able to keep the slip Courton cordon almost in front of where Blundell is keeping.
Otherwise the are not carrying.
And if you remember the first catch that went to Latham, and I think it was from Duckett when he was still batting, and it was quite low. It certainly carried to him, but it was he was wanting to come forward to the catch and hit the heel of the hand. Now, if he was up another half pace, that would have been a comfortable catch for him. So he's forcing everybody back just a bit too deep.
Is that the change in our pitch conditions, because I think if we look back to the Indian series of the bounce was low there, but our pitches here in New Zealand are starting to give more bounce the basiers of even the pitch at Hagley had a bounce that was consistent right the way through. There was good carry and there has been a change in what we have on the park for our players.
I think the pitch at Hagley, I think that you blow the first day and a bit, wasn't it was, And that's the point I wanted to make once is that there, you know, and that when I think they talk about it having a slight tennis ball bounce on the first day there. We had to chat to Tom Latham after the game and he mentioned that, and Kane Williamson in his after match interview on day one talked
about the ball just not quite being there. That's very normal at Hackley Park and Tom Latham also said that the basin can be a little bit like that as well. But yeah on day one, Yeah, good bounce after that though, But interesting, I think back to the Basin Reserve twenty twenty five years ago and grounds like Carrisbrook as well, where you know, I can recall really good bounce on those pictures. There was a period where Carrisbrook was hard
and fast. Absolutely it's skyiney actually, you know, hard to believe when you think about Danitan's climate and the ground temperatures and those sort of things. We've moved away from that. One of the issues that Jerry and I were talking about Brian is, you know, when we watched England just smacking us the New Zealand side all around the park
for that one hundred and four runs. You know, this pitch was Taylor made for their betting and we were chatting about having to make pictures where you're going to get a bit of turn or you're going to get a bit of scene movement. You've got to get the ball to move on was if you can't get it to move.
How prior to pitching, so that you if you either swing it or pom pitching, you seem it or you spin it. We've got to change the direction of the ball against a team like England, otherwise they you see the very best kind of example and iteration of how they can be. They just because it takes lengths out
of the game. You know, unless you're very short and it's bouncing hell of a lot anything in length, they can just hit through the line and they do that very very effectively, and so it makes it very hard
for our bubbles. And we've just got to say to ourselves, look, let's produce pictures that are a little bit damp that lasts so that we're not penalized if we lose the time that it'll last through a paps a couple of days where the ball moves around a bit, and let's back our top order to be better defensively and stay in more than the opposition. And I think against that opposition that they have at the moment, we are better, but they are better at attacking than we are.
We've got to take it.
Away from Brian Waddle Jeremy Coney on the front foot.
Is there a confidence crisis for Conway at the top. He's a shadow of the player who was averaging nearly fifty, scored a double one hundred at Lords and really looked an opener. Yes, he's got the big money and good luck to him. I hope he enjoys it and is able to make the most of it. But is he delivering at Test match level what we can expect and what we've expected from him previously.
The answer is no, Brian, and not the moment.
No.
He had an innings in India where he bettered very well. I think the condition suited for a couple of innings where I think the condition suited him a bit better over there here. You know, I think it's it's pretty simple. Really. His confidence is gone and that's reflected in his footwork going.
And you know we saw on both occasions, the first one driving Atkinson back a really awkward shot with very limited foot movement, and then an attempted pull shot in the second innings where you know, very awkward when you see it going to mid arm and him being caught there by woke. So I think you know when you see players like Route, for example, Williamson in this Test, when they're in the zone mentally, there's no clutter in their brains. Their feet just seemed to move nicely from
the from ball one. Almost With Conway, I just thought he's almost trying to hat his way out and hope. And for me, I don't think I'll be playing him. I'd give him a break. I think he deserves it. He looks absolutely shot of confidence and he doesn't look like he's enjoying quick bowling. He certainly is suspicious.
Of facing anything slightly quick where he has to move his feet, and his feet are becoming a bit more frozen on, you know, around the pop increase.
When he plays.
The difference between playing forward or playing back is minimal. You can get away with that as long as you transfer your weight sometimes, but I just don't think he's getting close enough to the ball, and so.
That's why you're seeing that.
Bottom hand come off the bat so often, and so the top hand just keeps on going, keeps on going, and keeps on going, gets way out in front of himself and that's when it goes past the vertical and you end up not controlling the shot.
You also, the bottom hair normally guides it, and so if you.
Haven't got the guiding part, quite often you're you're playing not in the line of the ball. That's what you're doing with that bottom hand keeping it in the line of the ball.
So you know his.
Footwork has contracted, it's all been pulled in too small and it's become minimal. And so you know when he doesn't get inside the line once that pool stroke that he got out to in the second innings, that should really have gone much squarer and he'd have been fine, but he picked out in the on. So I feel sorry for Devon Conway. He might have to go back and play a few little first class.
Games and then come back again. That's okay.
That can happen to players so and then and then it's transferred to his catching. He'd put down the comfortable catch at midwicket as well, you know, running off off Brook, running out quite near the boundary so I'd hoped that because of his Indian innings he had got through it.
Well, can we imagine a change at the base reserve. I can't see it, but will Young?
What do they do with him?
Well, you know, I would play him. I would replace Conway. I'd remove Conway and say, look, go and go and have a think about you. Go and perhaps go and play some first class cricket or you know, and just relax, get that joy of the game back again, take the pressure off yourself, and I put Young in. I think every New Zealand cricket fan thinks that there should be a place for Young in this side, and I think they're right. I think Young has an excellent temperament. I mean,
his figures aren't startling. He's averaging thirty in Test cricket, as you know, but he's been on the ascendence here and I thought his series in India was fantastic. I also think for a player like Young it's much harder because he's never really in and he comes in as a replacement. So his record is actually, I think pretty good, and it's trending in the right direction. So I would do that. I don't think they will want Yeah.
The one thing that interested me out of all the batting in that Test match too, was England seven to eleven. We don't have players at seven to a lever who could deliver what Atkinson and Cass did, and they did it with quality in the way they played their strokes. Yes, there was a little bit of the aggressive and agricultural about it at times.
The boy they looked hard to dismiss Jerry Man.
Were they good words? I mean Atkinson looked the top top batsman, didn't he He came out, Wokes was dismissed quite quickly, wasn't hem? And we thought, right here we go. We're away here now, you know, we've got a couple in a row. And boy did Atkinson finish that idea of you know, he got off the back. They dropped a couple of short to him to test him out. Whack six, They dropped another one down, he whacked four. You know, he really was hitting the ball very hard
and cleanly. Then they tried him on the front foot, beautiful cover drive going through, you know, to the boundary again he got I think forty eight runs at a real good clip of about thirty four balls. And then when he was dismissed out came Cass at number of ten I think, and he was thirty three not out of twenty four balls. They just really put the hammer down and added about sixty or seventy runs very quickly against our better bowlers when we thought we could finish them off.
You're absolutely right about those two. Steve Harmerson said Wads that you'll never see a better number ten batting for England than Brandon Cass and on the strength of what we saw I had to agree with him. As Jerry said, They've got, you know, their proper batsmen. They really good footwork, extending back in the crease off the back foot, good extension when they come forward, and they can hook.
And pull on the front foot.
And here he goes.
The bouncer.
I'm gonna bowl my traditional bouncer, good said it before.
I've got a few paces run.
Yeah, and it's coming off sixteen yards Because there were thirty no balls and that was far too many for a Test match overrates. Get on my wik what is match referee David Boone? Therefore, is he going to coach the New Zealand team how to catch in the field or is he going to punish some of these sides for their overrates. Day one eighty three overs and it had included an extra half hour, Day two eighty two overs included an extra half hour. Day three seventy eight overs.
There was a change of it each year and that is into an extra half hour, So that means there were about seventy on Day one, seventy seventy six, seventy seven, Day two seventy eight and seventy three and day three.
When are they going to do something about it?
They talk about it a lot, but nothing ever happens bang day for six.
That's certainly yeah, you're absolutely right, Watts. You've made the batsman duck of he's dropped his onto the stunts. Mate, well, good bouncer. Overrates, to be honest in this match were just downright contemptuous of those paying customers who came in and sat on the bank and watched all day. And I just thought eleven point three per over by England New Zealand we'd a hell of a lot better either twelve point three. So both teams were guilty and I
think it's about time. We've often talked about this one, haven't we. And I would just add to it as far as England are concerned, Why do you spend all the time smashing the ball in order to earn more time to bowl the other team out, only to bowl eleven point three overs an hour. Tell me about that? How does that make sense? It doesn't at all, does it. That's just saying earn a whole lot more and then
don't even use it. So this is stupid, and I just feel it's about time umpires started to be given power and then they can actually what they can what we could call make a decision. They don't make any decisions. They make no decisions about no balls. It all comes from the fourth unbuy and we wait and we wait, and suddenly suddenly the last ball of the over is a no ball, and everyone goes back and has to get into their same positions again. So much time wasted
on those sorts of things. It's about time we forgot about money, because that is now in England anyway, that is an arrangement between the players union and what's called an MoU of understanding, and now the boards pay those fines for the players, so it's nothing to do with the players. I think it's about time we started to aid the choices are you either add runs to the opposition and as long as the umpire on the field is saying to the cap listen, you're too slow. You're
two behind, you're three behind. When you get to four behind, five runs per over is going to go off. If you go to seven behind, it's ten runs an over or whatever it is. They decide there needs to be some point of making a change in the match.
Don't like it myself. Personally.
I'd rather have fielders taken off the field for a certain number of overs. Boy, would bowlers hate that if you said you lose two fielders when you get you know, five or six behind, you lose two fielders off you go. You haven't got three slips, you've got one. You haven't got you know three in the covers, you got one. I'll tell you what bowlers would hurry things up? Then I can tell you if that started to happen.
The only thing I want to add ons is that is just to make the picture a little bit worse, and that is that those eighty three overs that England bowld on the first day best year and about twenty didn't they twenty one between them? Yeah?
The spinner, yeah, and so there was plenty of overs that were bold gars. Did you take your tape measure out to the middle and measure the gap between the pop increase and the return crease and all that.
Sort of stuff.
Thirty no balls And it wasn't just one bowler. They were all having a field day.
Yeah. Well, I'm glad you asked, because I did, and it was It was absolutely right and normal. It was extraordinary, wasn't it. I mean Smith, it's interesting talking and looking about Nathan Smith. His delivery stride for a man of his height is extraordinary long. It's like Joel Garner or someone. Yeah, you know, but he needs.
To shorten that once because then he'll stand a lot higher and you'll get more bounced. He can get bounced much closer to the batsman too.
Yeah. Cars was another, you know, a criminal that I think. The thing about it also, Yes, frustrating. I don't know how many of those note balls were off the last ball of an over wod. So the fielders were moving and getting into place for the next over. Yeah, and the TV umpire would call them back. And you know,
this is another distraction. I mean, one of the things that I do think is eating into into the time during the day is the reviews by the umpires, and so you know, I don't justify the run rates being slow. I think they're dreadful. But the overts you mean the overrates, sorry, yeah, the overrates. I don't justify the over rates being slow. But we are seeing, for example, when the third umpire was looking at a catch being taken and whether a
fieldsman had got their fingers underleath it. Tom Latham took one at second slip. You know, everything about it told you that he had taken the catch. We saw his fingers getting underneath it, We saw a sight on angle of it, and it told us the catch was taken, and that then necessitated another three or four of just roll it back if you've got a different angle. You know, some of these reviews are taking five minutes and it's killing the game, it really is. You've got to in
the same way. Umpires, if they ever have to make decisions, now.
Well, what do they make once? What decisions do they make? They don't make nobles, they don't.
Make catchers because that's checked out. They don't give lb or if they give it.
Out, everything backs the umpire if it just nicks the leg side top of the ball. Yeah, that's an umpire's call they're not making. You know, they're damn lucky they get away with them. So that's a good decision. The court behind none of that. That's all done by the all by drs and all that stuff. The only time they ever make decisions when that one team gets three or four wrong early and they got none left.
Rod Tucker guessed a few right today, so that was that was something I'm sure he'd be proud of. Yeah, a lot of interesting things. So just quickly, are we imagining changes to the New Zealand side in Wellington.
I'm fantasizing about them, not imagining. I'm fantasizing because it won't happen. Young and I've talked about and I'm afraid I would stand Saudi down and bringing Duffy those are my two changes. I bring Duffy.
I was watching Duffy bowl this morning and he bowls a damn heavy ball and I thought he'll look quite useful. He also moves the ball away from the right handed just a tad and that would give Tom Latham, I think, a very good extra guy to turn to, because if Saudi doesn't open the bowl.
And with a new ball, so he gets some swing. When does he bowl?
Yeah he should be he should be the man that does the hard yards, but he doesn't.
Well, there we go. Well, we'll wait to see what they do at the base Reserve.
I don't think they will either.
Tom Lathan, we spoke to him, as Gar said, and he looked very much to me as if he was unconcerned about not just the catching, and about the fact that they lost the game and there was the next game coming up in the next couple of days. And I was actually quite taken aback with that. I didn't I didn't actually say anything to him because we were heading down to now.
But that's so, that was the story with that.
But yeah, I can see them going once again once with exactly the same side.
I think one of the strengths of this New Zealand group over a long period of time has been their consistent selections onds and their loyalty to players. I also think it's been one of their weaknesses.
Oh well, we'll wait and see for the second tests being played at the Base Reserve starting on Friday.
On the front foot with Waddle and Cody.
I've got an email from Andrew and it's been a quick reaction from you guys. Hopefully or not hopefully this email ages well since I'm only emailing you after the first day of the Test. But I was thinking it it's just me? Or do opposition spinners seem to go pretty well in New Zealand? I did a quick check and there are some figures over the last couple of years.
A brand last year six f one hundred and nineteen and two for fifty two, Nathan Lyon four six and three day peat, five for eighty nine and three for ninety three in Leitch five for one hundred and fifty seven and three for eighty and he says, as I write, Bashir has four wickets and he sees do we just not respect the art of spin bowling as much in New Zealand and Test cricket in particular. Though we played well against spin in India, why are opposition spinners doing
well against us at home? And we've talked about this in the past, But it's a slightly different tech here, isn't it.
Yeah, it is.
I think Darsville is quite strongly about that. He's been waiting to answer this. Look, he says, poised poised here with it quite and I'm waiting to.
Hear what he's got to say. No, no, well, I think conye and know I do feel strongly about it. Yeah, you know it's not I think Andrew raises a very good point. Opposition spinners do do well in New Zealand. I mean it's quite possible. I also remember, in addition to those ones, Maharaz took a five wicket meg at the Basin for South Africa. You know, New Zealand has
not treated spin bowl as well. And it reminds me a little bit of going back into the Frank Cameron erarors where he loved his seeing bowlers and spinners were you know, I mean you had Kensey was our spinner? Yeah he was, he was, Yeah he was, And you had I mean Bockie got some Test cricket and obviously braces and very successful against the Australians in eighty five eighty six. But I think we simply have not had
the courage. If you look at McCullum going to England and saying he plays leech in every game and now he prefers Basher and he's taken Basher out of county cricket with a very moderate record, and he's playing him at the Hagley Oval. New Zealand's best spinner at the Hagley Oval is Cain Williamson, who's taken two wickets. So that tells you a lot about how we play the game.
Was Patel took fourteen wickets in Mumbai and took the end of twenty twenty one and Jeremy Coney and I commentating and through the middle of the night confidently predicted that he would not play in a home series against Bangladesh or so Africa, and sadly we were right. And then he went to England at BOLB two Lords and that was it. He got smashed, of course, and then not used again. So so the answer to to Andrew's
question is we did not treat spinners with respect. We don't develop them in the right way, and we don't create the right conditions for them, nor do we We don't provide pictures for them either. Words do we you think of a picture that changes in museum? It started to one.
Of those you gave some Hamilton lyon there and that was the basin reserve if you remember against Australia recently and that's where.
Philip got Philip did he did?
Yeah, but I don't I don't think that was late February if I remember. And I've got to say, I don't think it'll happen this time. You've seen the match so far, is it that? Have they played two at the basin?
Yeah?
Good seamers right, yeah, And that's the way the basin is. So it'll be interesting to see what fronts up for that second test.
Good email from Andrew. Thanks thanks for that.
Yep, And that's on the front foot twenty at gmail dot com.
If you want to.
Add something, how did your seventy eight reunion go?
Jerry did? Did? Rock and look after you?
Rockett was there and he was very good. He was there the entire match today.
You got to look after you.
He got it, Yeah, he got it.
He got a golf buggy today and he went out round the round the crowd, up the little benks and things like that.
I didn't I didn't see him because I could.
Just imagine legs flying everywhere and sort of arms going back and him appealing at the time as he went down underneath the cart.
Fantastic like a people visit.
Yeah, yeah, exactly waving and kissing, kissing the grass as he arrived.
Well, yeah, from his cart. Yeah, I saw the hadleys.
Dale was there, and of course Richard, and of course Wally was there. Saw hier w Wall looked as he had gotten the sun a bit early. He was quite quite red in the face.
Jumbo Anderson on crutches and using them as a tool to fend people away. Yeah, isn't usually hitting you in the groin area. Thanks, Jumbo. That's really good. Yeah, we saw writing as well. Isn't good for him. He's back from doing his scouting over an Indian so he's gone.
That's good.
And Andrew, Andrew Orison caught up with Stephen Bock there and got a couple of good stories out of him.
Well, it's hard for me to remember this, but the crowd was loud and the siren was going every time a wicket fell, and the crowd was very close in those days, right into the boundary. The boundary was the fence rather than a rope inside the pitch with the other way or south, And there was a terrible southerly blowing that the two Richards bowled with it and the rest of us bowled into it. Although I didn't have
to do very much in that regard. I had my first bowl in the first innings, I got my first Test wicket. Wasn't a very memorable ball, but I got out Jeff Miller, so I had a wicket. Second innings, I didn't bowl at all. I was fielding it shortly egg and I know that the runout was quite critical because Old and Taylor had potential to take the score through. And it was one of those situations where normally it would happen in a farm yard game with nobody watching
but two dogs. For me, it happened in the middle of the base in reserve and a critical encounter, and Chris Holden was backing away from Richard Hadley, and I knew he would try and get away into the non striker's end and had he was bowling short, so it was odds on he was going to get it off his ribs and it was going to fly around where I was somewhere, so I was ready to take off.
And I suppose if he had.
Loved up a little catch, I might look quite silly, but he didn't, and what I anticipated happened.
And Princess the final thoughts A find a couple of thoughts.
Jeffrey Walcott, Sir Jeffrey Bycott these days is here, I think. But he came out of the dressing room after where he been skinnled by Richard Collins and in the second things, and that really set things a bit of a catalyst.
What was it like when he came because he was Captain England on.
The he was captain and it was very gracious of him. He came right around their dressing room and thanked this all and congratulated us all.
And yeah, you were asking me about my.
Comment to him, I could possibly ask Jeff got hit in the eye at practice or fell off his back and got him on the brow, and so he had a bit of a black eye. And in those days I wasn't as mature as I am now. And when Jeff congratulated me, I thanked him very much. And then I asked if he realized that his Misscara was running. So yeah, yeah, I look back on things like Matt and think shaky cheek you.
Stephen Bock there with a memory from the nineteen seventy eight Test at the Base Reserve, the reunion held through the Test match at Hagley Oval.
Thanks for joining us again.
Guys, it's been a lot of fun plenty to talk about in cricket. We'll look forward to seeing you at the Basin Reserve and I hope you can just put your feet up, have a good rest and enjoy the break before you get here on Friday.
Absolutely, Ondce. Look forward to seeing you man, it's been a while. Rather than just on the zoom zoom calls, I've got to say, well done. Well, I'll see you on the Friday, and you're going to the lunch.
I'm going to the lunch, see you up there once.
Look forward to it, buddy. There's a reunion of the ninety nine New Zealand side and apparently Ken's is coming.
We'll try catch up with them and have a bit of a chapter book or two. Seeing you at make Sure Reserve.
Can I, we'll catch you on the essence can I. We'll give on the summoning.
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