If they have a legside field and bowl a diet exclusively of short balls yes I'll boycott the match

hope you had a good chrissy!

Indeed they have a spin problem and it alleviates the pressure a lot

they  lose another session and Australia are way ahead of the game now. This pitch looks pretty tough and it will be interesting to see how we bowl on it

The field has nothing to do with batsman safety. So you dislike the tactic, but its not a safety issue. Cos the field set is exactly why the batsman is reluctant to play a shot. But its the batsman being negative, and looking to preserve his wicket and forgo runs off the pull shot, not the bowling being aggressive inviting the batsman to pull him, or evade him.

So here, with a helmet, a chest guard, an arm guard, its the field set. Wagner sets a field and bowls to it. Now I see no reason why this should not be legal. Gabriel did it for WI v Eng, Chameera did it vs NZ, Wood did it vs WI. These guys are all a lot faster than Wagner. 

You really all seem to want a redfinition of bouncer as anything at the what? Chest? Hip? Why? A bouncer is a bouncer. These are short balls, they're not bouncers. Cut Shots, Ramp lifts (from chest height over slip), Pull Shots, Swivvle Hooks - there's a million shots available to these balls. 

Steady on, Smith scored 80 and Warner didn't do anything wrong this session.

the field has everything to do with the safety, it incentivizes players leaving the ball and getting hit to protect their wicket. I would have done the same even back playing underage. Players prioritize their wicket over their safety. From the perspective of the player its heroic to take the punishment, from the perspective of fans its exploitative to be ok or entertained by this.

135 is fast enough to concuss, kill a player or break their ribs. Mcgrath broke Peitersons ribs at that pace and Abbot killed a player at that pace in the era of modern protection. Every job has risks, even if its just commuting to work. But we have a responsibility to the players to minimize the risks. 

Yeah - lets ban all bowling 135+ or over. ;) And any bouncers at the head. Very unsafe balls - I agree. Use a tennis ball instead of a cricket ball too. Its softer. 

But seriously, the field is not involved in the safety aspect. That's the batsman's choice to disregard his own safety to protect his wicket. That batman's making a conscious choice to risk being hit instead of hitting the ball. He still has the option to evade. His choice, he is the one making the unsafe decision, not the bowler.

The really big problem you have, is this stuff just isn't that high. A batsman has to duck his head into the ball to bring his head into play. I mean you really want nothing over the hip in cricket? This isn't the old days of a bouncer to the head pre-helmets and if you missed the hook shot you lost your teeth. A broken rib is really the worst reasonably likely injury, that  a chest pad removes. But with these athletes and this pace, its more likely  a brused rib.

But who is this we with a responsibility? Are you a member of an ICC member board or the ICC? I don't see how any negligence claim can be brought to you over a duty of care if you're not. Even then, the players have consented. And if concussion was the issue, ICC permits concussion substitutes. 

But Wagner is yet to retire someone hurt... let alone seriously injure anyway... it smacks of sour grapes, cos he has done this for 4 years.

blundell picked over santner to start with spin 

southee has been economical  but not a lot of penetration. On a bowler friendly pitch too

I'd be interested to know how many balls would hit the stumps from him the last 2 days, he has looked weirdly wide a lot of the time

blundell has been pretty loose which is useful since I reckon the aussies will be trying to lift the run rate this session

Paine nearing a pretty useful fifty here. We've been spoilt with keepers, he gets starts pretty consistently which is useful

51 for paine slapping a short ball through a heavy legside field against the cheats. Paine has had some criticism from the public of late, as has head

good to see them stand up and perform well

santner back on for the cheats. He's really struggled but draws an inside edge against head. Safe in the end

glorious cover drive from paine

paine with an inventive lap sweep for 4

santner has at least kept it tight for the cheats which is an improvement, especially in this period when oz will care mostly about upping the run rate

the cheat is back on for the kiwis with Australia nearing 400

upper cut over the slips for four to start

Head pierces the field against santner for a boundary. Top scored now for the aussies under a bit of media scrutiny. Well done Head

Gday gb,
jj - have followed all this shaking my head as I cannot believe how much we
are complaining about it.
Merv Smith was the best at these tactics & consistently bowled rib to under arm ticklers as his stock ball.
He just got that lift off a full ball that made it uncomfortable for a batsman.
No one ever complained re same.
To me it is just good tactics by the Kiwis & to some extent has worked.
As I said before - our turn next.

Good that someone has been able to explain Santner's technical flaw. I called him as lobbing the ball rather than bowling it. 

 Noone will tell Bumrah to use his front arm. People are permitted peculiar techniques. 

I dont think Santner has a techincal flaw at all. 

Santner is ranked #3 in t20i and formerly number 1.

But this means nothing in test.

But he is not a test quality spinner like Lyon. Prolly a bettter limited overs spinner, though. He simply isn't an overspinner like Lyon, prolly what Lastbroadcast meant by loop, but loop is effected by overspin, it drops more in a hurry and bounces. So an overspinner can toss it up, and not bowl a full toss.

Santner doesn't side spin it much, but nor does Lyon. But with no spin to beat off pitch, and no overspin to vary length, Santner just is not a test threat. He is rubbish darts, like DV model 2, or Ash Giles. He is not beating people in flight, and he is not going to get big rip off the pitch. He is a limited overs bowler. And not a wicket taker. And while 5 runs an over in odi is great, and in t20 outstanding, in tests - its rubbish...

He is not even a FC level bowler, Astle, Sommerville and Patel are ahead of him there. Sodhi too. I imagine. 

Santner's selection is problematic. He will be a NZ contracted player for limited overs, but he does not belong in the test team. Sommerville and Patel win us tests in Asia, they don't get a contract. It smacks politics. And batting dreams. I do mean dreams. I have no confidence in his batting bar being good for a shots down to long on when under scoreboard pressure.

Excellent knock Tim Paine. Looked in control for the most part. Liked the way he put the pressure back on the BCs with his attacking mindset the moment he came to the crease.

Head just saved his Test career. CA asked for a more mature and patient batsman and he has delivered.

Yeah - that partnership broke NZC's back. If Paine gets a duck its 7-290, 7-440 is a different ball game.

Disciplined. Handled Wagner smartly.

well deserved 100 against the cheats for Head. Averaging 45 now incidentally

Okay 30 posts calling NZ cheats. I'll play back.

Good batting by the scared yellow bellied whining moaners here.

Yellow is a chicken reference, not a sandpaper reference, btw :P

470 against the cheats

imagine being so bad at this form of the game that you resort to cheating and still end up 470 behind on a bowlers deck

Excellent batting by the canary yellow chicken bellied too scared to play shots, too slow to evade the ball, so they let the military medium of wagner hit them.

Great innings by Paine. Changed the match for mine. 

Of course because safety matters, the yellow chicken bellied will not bowl fast bouncers or bowl any balls over 140, cos safety and role models else kids wil start bowling fast at school, and kids could get hurt. Won't someone think of the children?

Seriously, I will shove your own "safety" arguments down your throat if you keep calling NZ cheats. We can't even afford sandpaper. 

:)

That mob over at WP really piss me off. You write something one of em does not agree with.. and three of his mates gang up on you. If that aint trolling I dunno what is. The other day one of those trolls jumped into a conversation I was having with someone else.. I responded by saying "stay out of it". Next thing I know I had the post deleted by a mod. I figured I was gaining some respect after several years and some 6000posts.. but there is an element there that only want to disrupt.. to criticise.. to obstruct. Feel like dumping the site.