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What exactly does this tour over to the cricket viewer? There's no contest between evening IPL and an afternoon test match.

I think with the success of the IPL, may be from next year all countries and IPL had to give enough space for IPL tournment to go unhindered by the national teams commitments from next year.
I am sure by the end of this year there will be 2-3 more IPL teams taking birth and hence more international players from all countries especially England have to make themselves available.
I hope the fight between England and Kiwis will be a good to watch as both are fantastic sides.

Good to hear that he hasn't ruled out a return to Gloucs, although I fear that we might end up in a managerial limbo waiting for him to become available.

Any comment or questions on Bond? Given that he has started the county season well, NZ's refusal to play him for political reasons should be a fairly hot topic.

i dunno, y'know. something tells me that an afternoon watching England at home to New Zealand could be fairly interesting. obviously the IPL thrill seekers will disagree, but surely test cricket is essential viewing for any true student of the game. the casual observer is excused!
it would be a stunning achievement if the caps managed to win even one of the longer games since their squad just does not look up to scratch...

A Test series against New Zealand is a bit like a roast dinner without the meat.

But even so, it is 100 times more interesting than a 20/20 series would be.

Looking forward to the Test series. Hoggy picked up a good haul this week, so wonder if he'll be back in Peter Moores' thoughts!

Dear Sir,
I defer from Kapil Dev's view that that the Indian Premier League would develop talented players in India. It may be true in terms of One Day cricket, but not in Test Match cricket, as these young players learn bad habits from a technical, and temperamental aspect, which will be not be beneficial to them in the longer version of the game.
Therefore if other international teams think that good quality up and coming cricketers can be moulded, or developed into quality players by playing more One Day cricket, rather than Test Match cricket, one must evaluate the prose, and cons, and make their decision accordingly.
Yours Faithfully,
M. R. Somasunderam

I do think that Shane Bond is something people should be talking about. Of course with the way he's started at Hampshire we'd love to be playing him. And I think we should, personally. He has defended his reasons for joining the ICL all along and said that his NZ contract allows him to play for other tournaments as long as they don't clash with international matches, which the ICL hasn't (but ironically, the IPL, which is supposedly 'official' does).

It's about nothing more than BCCI's sour grapes-ness over TV rights and the [ever-present] spinelessness of the ICC to not conform to the BCCI's wishes. I personally think that NZC should take a lead (as they have done over other issues, like Zimbabwe) and field their strongest team.

If it was for a political reason then I could understand it (like the Rebel Tours to SA in the 80s), but this is about nothing more than money and cricket politics.

I'm thoroughly looking forward to the NZ vs MCC tomorrow - especially since I've been serving the NZ team this weekend at my hotel.
I think I'd much rather watch this series than the 20/20 in IPL, and hope that the IPL doesn't end up detracting from, as it were, old-fashioned cricket.

20/20 is great to watch, but there's nothing quite like a test match, sitting outside in the sun with a beer...

I feel sorry for NZ cricket; it's never been the big, showy organisation that India and even their neighbours Australia have, and their lack of 'star players' has always been quietly discussed, but never with any conviction since they've performed well over the years.
But now, missing more than a full team of decent squad players to the ICL and IPL, along with the current players who'll suffer physically, these certainly are worrying times for NZ, even during this test year for the two india tournaments

i pity these NZ cricketers coming to England to play boring 'test' match cricket with crumpet at tea time.

please understand that you are not 'testing' yourself and the audience knows it. we are not that stupid.
if you enjoy testing these cricketers please subject them to a marathon or some kind of triathalon. do not dress them in whites and make them hover around a field all day on the pretext of endurance and stamina. its a joke.
arrgh, how boring it is going to be watching Alastair Cook and Ian Bell plod around all day for a boring hundred when batsmen are doing it in 20 overs or less.


please ban test match real cricket.

@11.

''arrgh, how boring it is going to be watching Alastair Cook and Ian Bell plod around all day for a boring hundred when batsmen are doing it in 20 overs or less.''


Horror - does someone shackle you and MAKE you watch it?

Personally, I prefer test matches, only in that format do the subtle nuances become apparent; I do understand that, to children, Twenty/20 is more exciting and if it serves to whet their appetite for the longer game, it's all to the good - but it's like comparing fish fingers with fresh sea bass!


I'm looking forward to a long (and hopefully dry!) summer of good test cricket - bring it on!

Never under estimate the Black Caps. Those guys are tough and are capable of doing the unthinkable. Let us wish the two sides a good time in the middle. The two supremely talented outfits have a responsibility to make Test cricket exciting.