Game 5 Aus vs NZ (January 21st)

"We're scrapping," said New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming after the defeat. "We're nowhere near as good as we can be, but we're scrapping.

That comment interested me because it seems to suggest a bit about his current state of mind. Any captain, especially a straight-talking guy like Flem would have said after a match like yesterday's, "That was a game we know we should have won. We shouldn't have let it get away." Instead, he seems to acknowledge that the best he can hope for is his side 'scrapping'. My suspicion is Fleming thinks he cannot afford to make any (legitimate) brazen comments because of the kind of form his players are in, almost as if it would be a sacrilege to suggest they actually held the upper hand against the Australians. That can't be a good thing. I mean, what frame of mind will the players(especially the skipper) go into the next game with? That they're finally getting back to normal mode, or "Whatever we do we can't seem to win"?

A defeat was always on the cars after yet another shoddy batting performance. It's tough to keep your spirits high when things aren't going on fine in the middle, and I'm worried it may have shown up in the fielding effort yesterday. Two dropped chances to let off Michael Clarke and a missed runout opportunity off Mike Hussey were critical errors; criminal when you consider the nature of the opposition and the fact they were up against a low total. The bowlers performed spiritedly in the absence of Bond, with both Mason and Gillespie willing to punch above their weight. And of course there was Macca. Combative with the ball and explosive with the bat, McMillan finally put in a commited, fiery performance which only he can come up with. Whatever happens in the rest of the series, I'd like to see him in the world cup squad. Yesterday he showed the competitive edge for which he's been well respected by the Australians over the years. Flem and Nath would do well to follow his example.

As far as the aussies are concerned, they can shrug off this game as an abberation and claim that Hussey was always there to see them through. No gloating from a New Zealand fan unfortunately, since the bottom line is they won. Neither England nor New Zealand seem capable of showing up the slight chinks in their armour, although we came close last night.

One last thing. Bond is back for the next game against England apparently. Even if the game is likely to be crucial, will it be justified to play a half-fit Bond ahead of the limited but big hearted Mason? Actually, I would have played Jeetan Patel ahead of them both and I can't for the life of me understand why he's not figured in the playing XI since the 2-34 at the Bellerive Oval.