New Zealand vs Australia: 2nd Test, Day 3 AS IT HAPPENED - Kiwi seamers run amok to leave Aussies on the brink

Gee whiz!!! You would think Australia haven't won a test series for years with all this negativity :happy:

I think that was an article on here that said 31 years probably means we haven't lost a test in NZ for 31 years to NZ which is a long time if true. Id agree Kiwis are a decent team . Cameron Green got us out of dodge with hazel wood first test too

Thats harsh on bowlers for me outside of the fact the pitch didnt suit Lyon and starc could be rotated out in a test like this but selectors and old school groupies wouldn't have any of that. NZ have some talent on their home deck lets be fair on that their batting isn't bad with Ravindra and Williamson being huge talents and conditions were absolutely perfect for them when they batted. Labs dropped a vital slips catch to reduce the total 40 to 50 more too although he also took a screamer . I bring this back to our batsman yet again

Well....I think Hobart in 2011 was less than 31 years ago. Win , Lose, or Draw, what this mini series has told me, is the Kiwis are well worth playing more than once every 7 or 8 years.

Seriously! Are these the same bowlers that allowed NZ to score 400 odd in their second innings?

Is this the same bowlers that had nigh on 400 scored against them in the third innings of a Test. Christ; if they are the answer, I am seriously wondering what the question was.

Issues aplenty regarding the batting; in real terms the bowling is hideously overrated, Come the start of next season, just send a C grade or D grade side to Pakistan, Who knows? Who cares? It's white ball cricket; ultimately it's rubbish. CA need to extract their heads from their nether regions and schedule some serious Shield Cricket between October and December this year. Anyone who wants to play Test cricket should make themselves available, if not, just burn them. Got a side of geriatrics running around at the moment, comfortable lapping up their own bath water based on past glory's. Seriously just give Cam Green a few million, tell him to stay away from IPL and send him off to a season of County cricket for a year. Don't know what to do with the bowling, Nesser and Murphy have been effectively told they're rubbish, same with Kuhnemann, probably the only Australian who has opened the batting and bowling within a three Test career. Talk up the bowling all you want, they were spanked senseless for the latter half of yesterday and most of today, Grr.....

I wonder if we'll hear the "tired excuse" for the old hands. The two at the crease are both captaincy material. They'll get us home. Only need 1 an over.

They have managed to do that especially against Australia in dramatic fashion several times. Wow we haven't lost a test there in 31 years and some are saying our batting isn't in decline right now after this series and the West Indies series on home soil let alone the last 3 English matches abroad

Look out for the Gazpacho!!!

Personally, forced to choose, I'd go Green. We saw what he can do when he's able to free the arms like he did when batting with the tail. In that innings, and basically every other innings, his defence outside the off stump does not convince. As far as our ability to win a series against India, that 174, though a great innings, though a bit of a mirage. The trouble with dropping any of the other three is the message it sends. A stable and successful team needs to be able to absorb allowing the best players to ride out rough patches. Otherwise you're making a change, not because the next man up is a better player, but because you're just hoping they'll be better than out of form X.

My argument is its decline in the last 12 to 18 months for sure and its test level only we are talking about so dont bring other formats in to it as I dont disagree on those formats or haven’t even debated them in this analysis . The mean averages dont lie either bush but we are seeing some mediocre series efforts since England let alone India away which is always tough thats the bottom line. Drawing with West Indies is poor form. Draw with NZ in NZ is not winning so we need a win tomorrow but the batting is not compelling no matter what we say or debate . its declined. Bare in mind I’ve been a huge fan defending smith labs khawaja everywhere, carey and even Mitch marsh in England consistently for years. And I think the bowling quartet are 4 of our best ever particularly cummins and hazel wood. I am just accurately aware of just how good some of these players have been and drop off with the batting in the last 12 to 18 months. To be fair Head has struggled abroad period really , he’s frustrating as not the smartest decision maker when they are setting fields to lure him to mistakes and he’s a senior batsmen now in to the 30s . Time is ticking for him too on his best years as 31 next summer . I just noted we haven’t lost a test match in New Zealand for 31 years. Lets hope we dont decline with that stat tomorrow as well.

Is this the new peach tree dish?

So your argument is that the team has declined from a brief six month window in 2019-20, even though that team drew an Ashes against the worst England team in living memory, including one of the worst chokes ever, went out in the World Cup semis and ran over a terrible Pakistan? Obviously won’t mention how rubbish they were in the 12 months before that. So since then we’ve won two world cups and a WTC, won away in Pakistan and drawn a much harder away Ashes and again steam rolled another Pakistan team (a much better one). Okay mate, sure. There’s no doubt Smith and Khawaja are declining and Labs form has dropped away, but it’s had to call any of this a decline, when the high point was so fleeting and exactly the same as the current situation (though we have a bunch of trophies now).

Liked the way Marsh and Head were going about it in that 40 minutes or so. No point dithering around like poking and prodding like Khawaja and Green were. If they just bat positively but not recklessly they are a crazy chance tomorrow. No need to point out the serious batting issues that need to be addressed. We are all aware of it. Smith and Ussie are close to finished. And Green and Marnus didn't seem to know what to do when they were out there.

Hopefully the Kiwis find a way to lose.

Id sat the high point was 19 ashes, 19/20 Pakistan kiwi walloping at home it was a great year of Aussie cricket and that was with Warner hitting a series average of 7 in England . Smiths best series ever in uk. Labs best series ever in uk brilliant bowling poor captaincy for me cost us more wins but thats another story . The only consistency since has really been the brilliant bowling of the quartet especially cummins and hazel wood. The English series this time round was much poorer , cummins got us out of jail with the bat in one test. We were lucky to draw the series as opposed to bungling the 19 series for a draw we should have easily won. Id say we also toured India better a few years back than last year as well. We certainly haven’t lost to West Indies at Gabba for a while and the Indian tour to Australia last time round won with a third string bowling line up. Im pretty sure thats all factual above. Theres been a decline in the last 18 months on batting averages across the board in the top 6 to back that up. I dont think I can document the decline any better than that without sitting down for a while and crunching more data and quoting more performances . A draw tomorrow would also confirm continuation of the decline but the averages of smith labs khawaja in the last 12 months not as good already. Ill leave green out of it he’s young and had debut tours abroad which is never easy more recently . The only batting story you could promote is Mitch marsh before the windies he had a great year . Tomorrow head and marsh need big runs or its a continuation of the averages slide. Here is hoping they make a fist of it. I hope so

Its a big worry leading into next summer against India. But there's still a chance tomorrow for our number 5 and 6 to do something special.

Yeah I can’t even work that out myself. I just feel the experiment hasn’t exactly worked and the mountain of runs Smith scores at 3/4 means to me that he offers the most value to the team there. Gun to my head, I’d like Bancroft to open, Smith to 3 and Labuschagne out for now. Let him go back to the Bulls for a bit. Realistically though, after all we saw with Warner, I don’t see them dropping or changing anyone.

I dont rule it out Doc but unlikely . The tail has saved the batting a few times so you never know . Sunny weather will help but some rain early and cloud later. 202 with our last 6 seems steep to me with the brilliant bowling from Henry getting lbws or edges a plenty. Heres hoping the kiwis banana slip it as another draw result abroad for Australia seems the standard outside of India . We desperately need Head to have a good innings and get consistent for the future of Australia has he has been poor since his Adelaide knock against Paksitan who aren’t world beaters in Australia