Mash

Honey, I Blew Up The Tom Banton (1992)

@andrewvoerman I reckon it doesn’t matter if Aus are loads better than NZ: no shame in losing to them (even heavily!), and there’s extra prestige/occasion in playing Aus which more than makes up for it anyway. Fundamentally I don’t think women’s Tests are in a position to be picky about this.

@NoHotMashes Haven't said anything about domestic systems. Any of the other three active teams would make for a better first-up opponent. Obviously NZC isn't looking at that, which is a whole other debate. For me it only makes sense if there's a global commitment and a greater purpose.

Not giving your players that opportunity at all for non cricketing reasons when you don’t even have to host a Test match is worse. The debate has always been about that opportunity which players from only four countries are privileged to have right now.

@andrewvoerman You said the gulf between teams was the issue, but that’s the case with loads of cricket already. Fundamentally no team - even Aus - currently has a proper domestic system in place to prep for women’s Tests. I don’t really see how NZ ever start playing Tests if that’s the bar.

@NoHotMashes None of them hadn't played one for 22 years, which is one of several things making for wildly different contexts I'd love to see NZC get behind a unified, multi-country effort to give women's test cricket meaning Agreeing to play a one-off test v Australia of all teams isn't it

@andrewvoerman @awcwvlc why does it matter if a gulf in talent is exposed? Australia have generally smashed all the men’s Test sides who’ve visited them in the last decade, should those sides not have played either?

@awcwvlc "non-cricketing reasons"? In the last 10 years NZ are 2-18 v Australia in ODIs and 7-19 v them in T20Is, but yes, they should be running to play them in a format they haven't played for 23 years that would only further expose the massive gulf in talent between the two countries

@shaanwaseem2 I don’t really see how NKR fits into the team at this stage tbh. No space in the top 4 for him and not much point batting him lower than that. Would rather just pick Unadkat and Salil

The SRH 11 that starts against RCB - Abhishek, Head, Ishan, Klaasen, Aniket, Nitish, Livingstone, Carse, Shivang, Harsh, and Harshal. The primary IP options would be Unadkat, Salil and Sakib.

espncricinfo.com/story/ireland-… just not at all convinced that it’s a very good use of England (or anyone’s) time to essentially support a bunch of Australians who want to play for Italy

find this ECB view a bit baffling because presumably they’re not really expecting any of this lot to be around in 2029/30 anyway. can’t Baz just do a handover note like the rest of us

espncricinfo.com/story/ipl-2026… he just wants a go at the Championship I reckon. we’re finally going to find out if Sam Curran could replace Ben Stokes in the Test side (think the answer is ‘probably not’ but best of luck to him)

@SamRoy84 Yes, absolutely, although you get 2-3 games against low quality opposition in WCs too. Think IPL is the best metric really given consistently good bowling lineups (although flat pitches recently) so interested to see how he goes there gone had a great 2025.

@NoHotMashes In T20Is outside WCs, many teams mostly play with not their optimal starting XIs (teams except Ind), which make run scoring in bilateral T20Is a lot easier (plus, in general, flatter pitches).

IMO, Eng should drop Buttler. He has had 1 50 in last 4 ICC white ball tournaments averaging 15.33 (2023 WC), 42.8 (2024 T20 WC boosted by 1 83 not out vs USA), 27.33 (2025 CT), 10. 87 (2026 T20 WC). Plus, he is looking worse and worse with the bat.

@JNSports1 @nickcricket I mean, he was great in ODC but that’s kind of the minimum you’d expect given the level nowadays. Interested to see how well he does in Div 1 which can be a bit of a nightmare for openers at times

@nickcricket @NoHotMashes Tribe is the real deal mind , anyone who has watched him in the county championship would agree. He was woeful in SA20 and T20 will never be his No.1 format- I’d imagine the hype comes from 5 tons in 6 games averaging 200 odd or whatever it was.

replacing Duckett with Tribe would easily be the maddest thing this regime has done thus far. lots to like about Tribe but a bit baffled why he seems to be at the top of the pecking order for a lot of people

@nickcricket I’d happily never see another big drive for the rest of my life

@NoHotMashes He'll have to make a big case, went away with the Lions in the winter but isn't new and shiny as the likes of Tribe Aye you pick a high talent youngster with a big drive and suddenly he is averaging 30 after 60+ Tests

@TomBanner96 That bit’s fair enough. Just think there’s a slightly mad obsession with getting talented youngsters into the England team before they’ve actually done much, in a way that doesn’t quite exist in other sports

@NoHotMashes From what I've seen of Tribe, he passes the eye test in a similar way to Bethell. They clearly like his technique

@nickcricket I like Gay but would want him to be properly dominating the early season. Have become a bit Baz-pilled in that I’d much rather a proper talent like Rew or Cox opened than a 7/10 county opener

@NoHotMashes Personally I’d be looking at Gay if he starts he season well, good age profile and a decent record over a number of seasons

@nickcricket Averaged 18 @ 121 in SA20 so just a bit baffled by the hype. Rehan arguably has a better body of work overall but doesn’t seem to be talked about like that

@NoHotMashes Real lack of a genuine option who hasn’t played before. Tribe hype mainly seems to come from the SA20 and and a few knocks no one watched last season

@KarthikeyaCric I do see where you’re coming from. It just feels as though if apparently nearly *zero* bowlers worldwide are currently able to consistently bowl to/execute a plan, then that’s maybe not actually the issue/solution? So little margin for error on these pitches

@NoHotMashes I think given points #1 and #2, just consistently going at below average runs per over would suffice? There’s very few bowlers who consistently bowl to a plan and execute it with their field set. Feel like that shouldn’t be too much to ask for?

On a cricketing level, I think all three of the below are true: 1. T20 pitches are flatter than ever 2. T20 batting is better than ever 3. T20 bowling is worse than ever Apart from Bumrah, and Hazlewood when fit there’s no elite T20 bowlers anymore.

@KarthikeyaCric If there was a group of elite bowlers showing how to do it then fair enough, but I think the fact that there are 1.5 guys who can do this *in the whole world* probably means it isn’t that solvable by bowlers?

Archer, Rashid, Shaheen, Zampa etc were supposed to be in that elite tier and since they’ve fallen off no one has stepped up to replace them. T20 bowling has to evolve to push back the batting revolution. India have Bumrah and the others don’t - which itself is a HUGE advantage

@stokaljona Curran is just not really quite there as a bat at this level is he

JOverton should not play again and Curran should bat at like 10 unless there’s a collapse

@stokaljona Clinging to my ‘T20 is noisy, he’ll be fine’ belief for two games more

@NoHotMashes I agree but I was thinking Banton opening in that case (you’re right that he hasn’t but Buttler just looks so so far off it)

Overton in for Rehan is what I expected but would rather it have been for Buttler (which feels like a mad thought and completely obvious at the same time)