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typical of recent ex cricketers such as stewart bigging up test teams such as new zealand fact they are a below average test team who england should beat if they are to have any chance af beating south africa india and of course the aussies

I see what you mean about Alex Stewart's blog. Please tell me that no one is spending licence money on this cliched, bland, obvious stuff? Why is it so impossible for ex England players to express interesting opinions [Boycs excepted, and increasingly Atherton..]

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aahhh...everyone is a critic.

I get nowt cricket here in Japan, can't even watch or listen to it, so this blog is better than i can currently get. Good or bad, it is still better than anything here in the land of the rising sun...

I agree that England should walk the series, especially on the evidence of the first day so far. I must say that my sympahthies are with Hoggard, who has consistently been a highly effective Test Match bowler for several years and got dropped on the back of an average (not a bad) performance after the first test in NZ. The question is, how can he actually get back in the team? He may be 'breathing down the necks' of the bowlers England have picked, but the statement made by dropping Hoggard and Harmison seemed to me to be that Moores was preparing for the future, and giving younger bowels a chance to stake a claim. On that basis it is unlikely that either Anderson or Broad are going to be dropped for one or even two bad performances (and so far today they aren't doing too badly!), as this would undermine the whole rebuilding process which necessarily requires a run in the team to build confidence, rhythm, etc. Sidebottom's place is, rightly, sacrosanct at the moment, and I would guess that when Flintoff is fit he will be ahead of Hoggard in the pecking order. I would have liked to see Hoggard back in the side, maybe at the expense of one of the batsmen, but maybe I'm just being a bit too loyal. Unless someone gets injured i think we may have seen a premature, and I think a little ungrateful, end to a really good bowler.

The thing about articles like this from recent England retirees is that they sound EXACTLY like the bland, boring, content-free press statements that the England management makes these days. It's as though they had become so infected by the backside-covering, controversy-shy crisis management approach so beloved of the England publicity gnomes that they have had any ability to be interesting ground out of them.

All he needed to add was something about "putting the ball in the right areas" and it would have been complete......

I hope Hoggy has been given a supply a mints.

Isn't one blogger (Agnew) enough for the TMS and the Ö÷²¥´óÐã? What's the point in Anna Thompson... and now this one from Stewart? All virtually saying the same thing... styrofoam peanuts!

New Zealand do have the capability to spring some suprises. I think Southee could do very well here even though he's still very young. Just a message for kecsmar in Japan (comment 4)..... you can get live radio commentary from this Ö÷²¥´óÐã site. If you really look hard you can find many sites that stream coverage and you can watch for free. I live in Japan but have been able to watch and listen to most of the games one way or another since Ashes 2005 ....

I thought Alex Stewart was a brilliant cricketer, but I'm absolutely positive there are more talented and interesting wordsmiths who could provide us with this blog.

I've just read his words a couple of times and I can't stop myself from imagining them being read from an autocue by a highly efficient but witless Dalek.

hollywollyzaler #9

Thanks, but sadly been there done that tried it all. I cannot listen to any commentary via the Ö÷²¥´óÐã at all, because my ISP is outside the UK, same goes for all.
(Despite paying my licence fee for some 20 years..)
The beeb are missing a major way of making money. I would gladly pay £5 or whatever to listen to TMS or to watch it via the sport web-pages.

I tried during the tests in NZ on NZ websites etc, and in India etc...nope, blocked because of my ISP being in Japan, not "in-country".

The only cricket match I have seen since i left the UK 2 years ago was via CricketAustralia website, to watch the Ashes, paid about £15 to watch every test (after Harmy's first bowl i wish i hadn't!).

It is next to impossible to listen to or watch cricket on the web from Japan.

g*d this is boring.

"But i would also say that we should not write New Zealand off as they will give their all"

?!?!?! mundane to the point of hilarity

and his 'commentary' on TMS is like a lesson in dullard sports management speak.

really, the guy should stick with the coaching and the 'business interests' he's always banging on about...

i think england had a good start and they should wrap up the tail pretty nicely for about 260 if bowlers continue good run.

great start to the summer and england should have a great opportunity to win this home test series. however the question is, can this good form in tests travel into england's odi and 20/20 performamces?

Alex did not elaborate on how Vaughan messed up the bowling putting Sidebottom on at the wrong end. Probably the most significant error of the 1st day, and not helping Sidebottom settle in with the Lords slope effect.