The Cricket Debate Podcast: Can Jack Leach spin England to victory in Christchurch?

Bob Willis and Jonathan Liew join Charles Colvile to discuss whether England can force a win in Christchurch, Joe Root's conversion rate and more.

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The tourists need 10 wickets on the final day at Hagley Oval to claim a victory and draw the series, while New Zealand require an unlikely 340 more runs for a 2-0 win. With bad light expected to be a factor, will England run out of time?

Cricket Debate

Bob and Jonathan also debate why the time to be made up from day four has been added to the end of the fifth day - when presumably bad light will come into play again - rather than at the start.

With 10 wickets required on a day five pitch, debutant spinner Jack Leach is expected to have ample chance to show what he can do as England hunt for wickets - our panel ponder how he might fare, leading to a discussion about England's spin options, including whether they dispensed with Adil Rashid too soon in red-ball cricket.

After the captain made his seventh half-century of the winter but once again failed to convert it into a hundred, Bob and Jonathan consider why Root has struggled to go on and whether the Yorkshireman gets the credit he deserves for reaching 50 more frequently than any other batsman in the world.

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Also on the agenda:

• Have England lost the "muscle memory" associated with winning away from home?
• Were Root's side too cautious with the bat early on day four?
• How has the role of a cricket journalist changed over time?

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Watch The Cricket Debate from 5.30pm on Sky Sports Cricket with coverage of day five of the second Test between New Zealand and England starting at 10.30pm.