It's Friday yet again, and another long weekend beckons; the last one until Easter. And at this stage, the weather forecast for all three days is great; a mini-summer perhaps!
There's a plethora of sport over the weekend, there are some interesting things happening on the political scene, and there's the vexed subject of Waitangi Day itself. That gives plenty of potential discussion fodder today; but of course, YOU set the agenda here, so go for it.
The Friday Forum is open for business, and as always, the floor is yours...
6 comments:
It's not like we've had much of a summer yet :-P
Go Black Caps! May you thrash the Zimbabweans as thoroughly today as you did in the test!
You're not wrong there Kane; it has been a summer to forget, weather-wise. Still, the farmers around here aren't moaning, so that's a bonus!
And as for the cricket; let's just hope that New Zealand bat first, or it could be an abbreviated match.
Yeah, well, I live in a small rural town, so I bet a lot of people near me (ie farmers) are happy too :-P
Yes, I, too, hope NZ bats first. I think we need a longer game so we can develop our batting, not just our bowling and fielding. And the best way to do that is for the batters to bat as long as possible, not just for the reduced period that is likely to occur in chasing Zimbabwe's likely low score.
That is one thing I like about the way things are going under Wright - he is clearly trying to develop the side for the long term, bot just looking at the immediate moment. Given the troubles the Black Caps have had for many years now I think we need that development.
I also like the ruthless attitude, which I have never seen from them before.
Finally I love the bowling accuracy, which again I have not seen before. It is amazing stuff and is actually reminiscent of what Australia done to thrash India despite India's amazing bating line up, so it could win us games against good teams even.
I think the plan to play four quicks is a good one, although it won't always work, and we must develop an international-quality spinner to complement the seamers. But the team seems to be thriving under Wright's coaching, and that bodes well. The series against South Africa will give us a pretty good marker as to where we are at.
Yes, it was a good call, especially on that pitch. Southee proved his reputation with the bat is well-deserved anyway and Watling got 100 at no. 7, so the tail was not as long as it looked. I'd love to swee Bracewell prove his batting reputation too, but he is doing well enough with the ball to deserve his spot.
As for spinners, my prediction is that Rodney Hira will become a permanent fixture in the T20 squad... and eventually maybe the One Day and test squad. He certainly has the potential.
Well, we lost the toss, which is good news as it was the only way NZ was going to get to bat first. Both sides were always going to choose to bowl first with the green on the pitch - which is exactly what Zimbabwe did. So for once I was glad we lost the toss ;-)
http://www.blackcaps.co.nz/news/domestic/2/extended-coverage-for-plunket-shield/9382/article.aspx
better than nothing. I loved going out for long runs during summer and listening to cricket .... now we will be stuck to a computer to follow.
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