This is a big one for England in Wellington. New Zealand are a favourite to win it all, and England approach the game on the back of a bit of a shoeing by the Aussies. It seems a little more important when, if we lose this game, our main rival for the 4th spot in our group may well be picking up a point v Australia after Cyclone Marcia.
Comments on the game, while I am sleeping, can be put here….
Being Outside Cricket 
I know I am fighting to have KP back playing Test cricket for Eng and fighting to get rid of those in ECB who are destroying Eng cricket but NZ is my team.Dan Vettori and Brendon McCullum play and alls right with the world.If KP were playing this would probably be the worse day of my life.Good luck my “Caps”🐰🐰🐰🐰
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OK 15 overs, England 60 for 3 and I may not stay up much longer. Ballance looking like a batsman who’s not played much cricket for a long time …….. Morgan looking twitchy. Still not sure about Moeen. NZ superb so far.
Commentators saying it’s chucking it down in Brisbane so Bangladesh could get 1 unexpected point for no result against Australia. Rather handy for them
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England 104-5
Taylor got a peach of a delivery! England deep in a hole.
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Why am I even up?
England 108-6
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Wow wow wow! Southee making the ball sing.
England 110-7
Is there even a point in hoping England reach 200?
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Broad showing zero interest in fighting it out and supporting Root. He looked scared to be out there!
England 116-8
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From the BBC on Broad dismissal:
Oh dear. Possibly the worst dismissal of all. Stuart Broad appears to be scared off the ball and Tim Southee knows it. He just bowls fast and at the stumps – like you would to a number 11
England now 117-9
Root showing no intelligence here now! First ball of Southee over, takes a single and leaves Finn facing 5 balls, he only needed 2! But surely Root should just think I will face this over out?
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If Paul Downton thought KP was “disconnected”, what on earth will he say about Broad?
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England all out 123. Yes Broad I agree this is the best batting line up you have ever been in!
Southee 7-33 (9 overs)
Well done sir!
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Yah, as Broad comes out I saw him scratching around and was thinking, ah, yes, so how long is it going to take until he is done stalling and decides he really doesn’t want to be out there? That one from Boult the over before that flew over the stumps was when I was sure.
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That was a stunning display of bowling and fielding from New Zealand. Southee incredible, McCullum’s field settings wonderful to see, the ground fielding kept the pressure on so well. A total performance.
Just over four years ago, NZ lost a five match ODI series 4-0 against Bangladesh. They’ve come a long way and it’s great to see.
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NZ 27-0 after 2overs. I think England might be a few runs light.
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Spare a thought for Jade Dernbach.
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Still going and what a privilege to watch NZ. McCullum strike rate over 300 so far
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NZ 57-0 4 overs. McCallum 48 of 17.
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Wow wow wow, McCullum hits 4 consecutive sixes.
NZ 96-0 6 overs
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McCullum 4 sixes in a row off Finn. Whatever you do, catch the highlights prog
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Wow. I thought I was getting up early to watch the end of the first innings. It turns out to be the end of the second. Hope they can finish it before ‘lunch’. Must rush back to commentary, it’s probably over.
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NZ need 12 more, and they’ve gone for lunch. Congratulations, England. We’ve found another group equally capable of Downtoning the whole thing up.
My reaction to the performance is understated, but only because the whole BTL gamut of metaphors involving painful, non-consensual activities seems inadequate to describe it.
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Stupidly they stopped for lunch with NZ 12 runs away. A farcical end to a game full of such moments. Shambles doesn’t even begin to cover it.
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Hey, hey, Moorsey needs the time to construct his and the captians interview plans.
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Farcical? Game winning runs being the 5 wides in the 13th over, now /that/ is farcical.
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Yeah, Scotland were not competitive against New Zealand. England were. At least, going by Dave Richardson.
So why should this team of jokers get a free pass to the next World Cup? Why not make the like of England qualify, to avoid all the one-sided mismatches they subject the fans to? I don’t think Ireland would beat New Zealand, but you’d struggle to do that team worse than England.
Anyway, such stunning displays of incompetence would embarrass the ICC, if they were capable of experiencing shame.
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To be honest I was expecting to lose the first two matches, particularly as I think Australia and NZ are the strongest teams in the tournament, but the manner of the defeats is what disturbs. Would put the Scotland game next up as no more than 50/50 right now.
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Best thing that can happen, England ship needs to sink. More they lose more pressure on the ‘coach of his generation’.
I hate myself, I am up watching England but I am in deep conflict, this whole management setup is rancid and only way for them to be shifted is if England lose and lose on a continues basis.
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Let’s take the positives:
– I’m positive that if the ‘disruptive’ influence of KP were still in the dressing room it wouldn’t have made any difference because KP was never the problem.
– I’m positive that Moores is not a good enough coach for this level.
– I’m positive the ECB has no management strategy that actually relates to cricket, only ones that relate to revenue, sponsorship, which school you went to and what kind of family you come from.
At some point the press spotlight, rose tinted as it may be, will have to fall on Moores. At that point it will swiftly switch to the ECB who appointed him again. It will probably take a summer of test misery but the mainstream lickspittle press just cannot keep ignoring the management issues for much longer. Unfortunately, that is not something I am positive about.
I don’t suppose Duncan Fletcher is bored with India yet?
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What the F?
What the F’ing F?
I never expected us to win – indeed, after the Australia game I was mostly just looking for a few more signs of hope. But this…
Gah.
I feel like a Radio 5, 606-style ignoramus.
Virtually all I can think of in reaction is:
Morgan OUT
Moores OUT
Downton OUT
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I woke up at 3:30 hoping to catch a reasonable part of the first innings and much of the second. I flicked on the score and saw that we were all out. I went back to bed! Is anyone that shocked that it has come to this?
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Took my time getting up this morning due to back problems. Switched on the tv to hear that the England Cricket Team had been rushed to hospital with apparent heart and breathing difficulties. Well, that’s a surprise I thought as I don’t believe they have a heart. Still, with no more than a few seconds break I heard that the ECB, none of whom are in Australia/new Zealand, are playing a long game and not at all disappointed by the news about the team. The ECB have their money and their investments, have their position in cricket history secure and are considering the future of the game and their income for 2023 -27 seasons……..
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From the Selvey match report:
“When the ball is swinging, not hugely but sufficient, then countermeasures are needed. Not only did the atmospherics of the stadium demand it, but so too the dimensions with longer straight boundaries than square so the length was always going to be full, and both Boult and Southee were exemplary in that regard”.
Southee didn’t pitch it up because of the f***ing ground dimensions – he always bowls like that. NZ look at their own skills, the conditions and the opposition (in that order) – not the tape measure. Also McCullum made the crucial decision to bring Southee back with attacking fields when Morgan was out whereas England, when they had Australia in trouble, brought Joe Root on in the 25th over. Read the match situation and attack vs. stick with the plan.
All the post-match discussion on Sky has assumed England “should” win enough remaining games and qualify. Hmmmmm. Apparently, Alex Hales is going to come in and save England. We’ve pissed you about endlessly Alex and can only ever go on about what you can’t do – but now dig us out of this hole will you?
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Selvey BTL is worth it just for quebecer.
ATL makes no mention of mismanagement or anything big picture like that.
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quebecer is on great form. Liked this one from the bigfeller as well:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/20/england-suffer-humiliation-new-zealand-southee#comment-47816806
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Quebecer has been modded for his highly entertaining takedown of our favourite ECB apologists.
Boo.
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Never got the chance to see it. Dash.
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I paid $100 to ESPN so I could watch some of the World Cup games live online in the evening here. Really wanted to watch England games but a few others as well.
This game had ended before I switched on.
Can I have my money back?
Well done NZ, just have no clue what to say about the England team. Loved a comment I saw on cricinfo’s commentary. McCullam had just failed to score the fastest one-day fifty ever, and then someone mentioned Finn still had a chance…
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https://twitter.com/TheCricketGeek/status/568625200712921088
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Slightly disappointed NZ didn’t get put in to bat. Would’ve been interesting seeing Mick Lewis’ record beaten in 5 overs.
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It’s not the losing. We are England fans, the Barmy Army got its name for a reason. Watching England lose is a fundamental part of following them.
However, over the last 18 months it has become about HOW they lose. How many of the team are playing to their potential? Who is at fault for so many players not playing well on so many occasions?
Maybe the team isn’t good enough compared to the other top teams but they should be performing a hell of a lot better than they have been.
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Andyinbrum lets rip:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/20/england-suffer-humiliation-new-zealand-southee#comment-47825321
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“I told you that Paul Downton was an incompetent so far out of his depth that fish with lights were above him.”
“We outside cricket, told you this would come to pass, & we’ve been ignored, moderated or dismissed as irrelevant KP blow yards. Well we told you so & it happened, so stuff you & the horse you rode in on”
Nice 🙂
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You most certainly did and you were right. It is a mess. Now the only ones to focus on IS the ECB. They all really do have to go now. Moronic idiots who have completely ruined England Cricket. Despite what the ECB and its media acolytes prophesied: a new era of exciting cricket after KP had been unceremoniously thrown out, all we have is mediocrity writ large. Those “outside cricket” have been proven absolutely right. What happened to those who attacked those of us “outside cricket?” All those commentators who couldn’t shut up about how the ECB, Downton, Clarke and all their mates knew what they were talking about and we were all “nasties” and not proper fans. What are they saying now? Well not very supportive at all it would seem. Even DP is putting the boot in and grumpy old man, Willis, even Agnew is far from complimentary. Not heard anything yet from Selvey and his mates. Wonder what kind of spin they will try and put on this fiasco. As far as I’m concerned they can suck it up or blow it out their ear or rear! At least they can’t blame KP anymore. There is only one place to look now and that is at the ECB.
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To be fair, AndyInBrum put those arguments today. I am very supportive of his line to take!
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I don’t think many of the good posters here on the Guardian claim to be qualified cricket coaches and such. They are just passionate followers (and players) of the game.
And if they were given the job of coach, they will make mistakes. It happens all the time. Great coaches make mistakes, but they don’t stubbornly persist in repeating the same mistakes. They truly learn from their mistakes – and not repeat the same tired old speeches as if on auto-cue.
Needless to say, that the chief cheerleaders would be highly critical if the likes of AndyinBrum or bigfeller (or any of the excellent posters here) were in charge. If only because the greatest coach of his generation spouts more nonsense than they can write.
But they’d struggle to match the overpaid incompetence that the ECB put out, game after game after game. It would be for all to see, if it were not for the Sky paywall. Yet the ECB remains oblivious to it all.
So instead of wasting, say 15 million (and that is probably a conservative estimate) on overpaid coaches and useless hangers-on, the ECB could make the game more accessible. And because there is not a professional nutritionist watching every chewing movement of the players, the players might be encouraged to think for themselves again, instead of regurgitating the same tired and failed cliches and useless ideas.
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I’ve had that Madness song, “You’re An Embarrassment”, running round my head all morning. Can’t imagine why.
But well done NZ. May you go far in this competition.
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One of the few bits of good news is that Paul ‘bit of a side to be reckoned with’ Downton was there in person to see it. Hope all the outfielders looked engaged.
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That’s the quote. A bit of a side to be reckoned with. Pip pip.
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Like shooting fish. Where to start?
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I hope Paul Downton was looking engaged throughout that embarrassment.
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Don’t you mean disinterested? Although of course he never knew the meaning of the word nor did Clarke. Morons. I think Downton is hiding somewhere as he cannot come up with a spin that actually works. Even his many media chums have shown themselves to be like the proverbial rats deserting the sinking ship. Let’s face it allowing Downton to manage England Cricket is like giving the iceberg the job of looking after the Titanic! Didn’t really work!!!
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This is a very interesting paragraph from Vaughan’s latest column…
“The ECB hate anyone talking about the Pietersen factor and have successfully managed to ensure the mainstream media do not bring him up but there is no doubt he should be batting in this team.”
‘they have successfully managed to ensure the mainstream media do not bring him up’. I wonder how they managed that…
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Is that really true. They ask the questions but the ECB stonewall. I’ve felt they’ve not been vociferous enough. Downton’s constant “I’m not going to talk about it ” line rarely gets criticised. That’s what cheeses me off.
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i think it is. Stonewalling comes easy to Downton and Clark. Of course it is only the really outstanding and independent minded who have really asked the question. Others have skirted round it whilst others haven’t even the gumption to ask the question in the first place. What Downton needed was his Paxman moment. He kept on asking the same question to Michael Howard who refused to answer the question. It sealed Howard’s fate and made him look like a right royal pillock. Those that are “inside” cricket are not going to ask THE pertinent question. There is no such thing as a “free lunch!” Those media types “inside” cricket have had too many free lunches and I hope this stuff chokes them all.
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But Vaughan IS in the ‘mainstream media’..!
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Yes he is, but I don’t think until today he has made such a vocal criticism of the whole organisation, the Pietersen affair and the team in general. We needed more articles like this a year ago!
Vaughan states that, Moores/ECB claiming the test win over India was good/showed progress, just won’t wash, as India don’t care about test cricket. This is of course true, but why was he not saying this in his column when the test matches were being played!
I was intrigued by Vaughan’s comment that ‘Peter Moored isn’t stupid’. I think this is correct and incorrect. He is stupid, in that he will keep repeating the same mistakes over and over by relying on his stats/laptop intelligence, rather than trusting his players instincts, skill and ability.
What really shocked me today, was how poor our batting was. We batted like some of the supposed minnows, actually that is offensive to the minnows, who so far have fronted up better than us. We batted like complete novices and Broad was a disgrace.
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Bob Willis called them: “the Grateful Dead!”
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Of topic – nice page layout D…sorry my Lord of the Wolves. You drove me nuts today as I could not load properly, but it was worth it!
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I’m going to watch this, half-pissed, on ITV +1. It will be the first World Cup footage I’ve actually seen.
Looking forward to a bit of #stubris, among other things.
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