Ben on...all-conquering

After whipping the English 3-1 and demolishing the Irish, the Black Caps will tonight complete a clean sweep of the British Isles by battering the Scottish.

Five stats from the Irish demolition (courtesy Cricinfo)

• New Zealand's 290-run triumph eclipsed the previous record for the largest win (by runs) by 33 runs.
• James Marshall and Brendon McCullum became the first opening pair to pile up 150-plus scores in the same innings. It was also the first ODI hundred for both Marshall and McCullum.
• New Zealand's total of 402 for 2 is their best in ODIs, and the sixth ODI total over 400.
• The 266-run stand between Marshall and McCullum is by far New Zealand's highest partnership, and the second-best opening stand in ODIs.
• The 18 sixes hit by New Zealand equals the record for most sixes by a team in an ODI. McCullum was just two hits short of the record for most sixes in an innings by a batsman.

Ben on...first cab off the rank

Kevin Pietersen, England captain. Am I alone in being surprised by this appointment? I would have rated it as likely as, say, Parore being made captain in his day. But there has been no outcry from the English. "A new era" they're calling it. Pietersen claims to be humbled by the appointment, which is certainly something new in the new era. However, he also believes he's going to be so good at it he won't even have to try.

Ben on...more links

Just in time for the last match in the England series, I am adding BBC's Test Match Special to our links. It isn't really that special, but it is a decent professional perspective.

Cricket Mystery I am adding because it is a New Zealand site. It is pretty ugly and the posts are quite stuffy (not helped by the fact that I can hear John Morrison mumbling through his moustache when I read them). Mike on Cricket can hardly point the finger with regard to site design and hackwork, but at least we don't have a business strategist on our team. Anyway, it does look like it is getting better with time and they are posting with good regularity.

Pro-fern-ity is another NZ cricket blog from the LJ fraternity. There must be more of us out there, floating isolated and lost in the blogosphere. Where are you NZ cricket bloggers? Come home.

Ben on...controversy aside

Too much focus on the controversy here. Let's not forget it was a fantastic game of cricket, won by one run by the last batsman after the last ball. There are two classic final overs to an ODI: the no. 6 trying to clear the field in chase of double figures and the death bowler trying to prevent the no. 11 scratching a couple runs.

Relive the last over.

Ben on...the spirit level of cricket

The Collingwood Incident has kicked up some stink. It wouldn't be a decent controversy in New Zealand however without a bit of self-flagellation. According to some, Vettori is the villain for his potty mouth and petulance. And pretty much everyone has been quick to recall the run out of Murali, over which some believe we have surrendered the moral high ground on questionable run outs.

These two controversial run outs hardly bear comparison; they lie on opposite sides of the 'being a dick line'.

I would have been very happy if Murali had been called back and my respect for Fleming would have risen greatly. But really, Murali only had himself to blame. In every other similar circumstance, the batsman waits with the toe of their bat on the line, standing as far back down the pitch as they can to show their impatience, while the ball is returned to the keeper. Everyone understands that the ball is still alive.

The fundamental mechanic of running between wickets is that it is up to the batsman's judgement and his legs to get him to safety and the fielders' fielding skills to get him out. In Murali's case, his judgement failed him in a peculiar way.

In Elliot's case, the fundamental mechanic broke down. Having to deal with being bowled over is not supposed to be part of running between wickets. Obviously it was no one's fault, but to take advantage of a situation where the game has broken down is clearly at odds with the spirit of the game.

Ben on...dueling apologies

Trust New Zealand to respond to an apology by saying sorry:

"I think we're a little bit contrite ourselves. I think there was a little raw emotion there at the end that we're a bit disappointed in so I apologise to Paul and his team."

Talk about raw emotion! It doesn't come much rawer than a good "fuck you". It's good he apologised, but I actually really enjoyed seeing the boys letting their feelings show. There was a fair bit of anger on the balcony, but plenty of elation too. It's not far from "fuck you" to "fuck yeah!"

Ah, controversy!

Please feel free to abuse Paul Collingwood in the comments section.

In the immediate aftermath of The Oval match it seems that Collingwood is being a good deal of leeway by New Zealanders for the fact that he has apologised for running Grant Elliott out while the batsman lay dazed on the ground. But, how much of our generosity is the result of post-victory euphoria? If we had lost, you can bet your bottom dollar that right now I would be busy converting office stationary into an effigy of Collingwood and constructing a bonfire on Willis Street (probably outside the gym next door, just to piss off all the smokers who stand outside it - honestly, where are their health priorities?). And I imagine that I would not be the only one bristling with righteous indignation.

At the time Collingwood decided to uphold the run-out appeal, Ian Smith compared the event to the infamous under-arm moment. But he was premature. If we had lost the match I am sure he would have been right and Collingwood would have been reviled as Greg Chappell still is today. But we won. And that means Collingwood's moment of madness will hardly be remembered in six month's time, let alone 25 years. And for this reason, the England captain should be extremely grateful that his team choked, wobbled, shot themselves in the foot and lost the match.

Ben on...topsy-turvy

Strange things happen on the other side of the world – everything is opposite. I went to bed last night, praying for rain, with the All Blacks outscoring the Black Caps and woke up to find that our tormentors of the last two months have been humbled.

I am going to have to read the commentaries to find out how this could happen. A quick look at the scorecard hints it wasn't so bizzaro however: Elliot 56 & 2-9, Mills 47 & 2-42 and Southee 4-38. Looks like a top-shelf performance from a top ODI side.

Ben on...new rules after we need them

Paul Collingwood seems to be the only person happy with the outcome of the last ODI. In contrast, Suave is livid.

The ICC has acted in admirable haste in amending the laws to include fiddly details about reducing the between-innings interval:

Where the innings of the side batting first is delayed or interrupted, the umpires will reduce the length of the interval.

In the event of time being lost (playing time lost less any extra time provided) up to and including 60 minutes in aggregate, the length of the interval shall be reduced from 45 to 30 minutes. In the event of more than 60 minutes being lost in aggregate, the duration of the interval shall be agreed mutually by the umpires and both captains subject to no interval being of more than 30 minutes' duration or less than 10 minutes' duration. In the event of disagreement, the length of the interval shall be determined by the ICC match referee.

That will no doubt help the next time a similar situation arises. No help when a completely different problem arises however.

Wouldn't a better all-round solution be to simply allow some flexibility in the rules or allow for the application of common sense?

Ben on...tour high point

Could this near possible victory be the high point of this dismal tour of England? It's the closest we've gotten to a win so far, so shouldn't that be some sort of distinction when looking back on this game? Not according to the Guardian over-by-over commentary:

"I think generally we should all forget that this match ever happened. Let us never speak of this nonsense again."

Sportsfreak didn't even get to start their OBO commentary, so over there the game was forgotten before it even began.