By 'success', I'm not necessarily talking about winning, though I hope NZ will go in with that mindset. I'm simply referring to what I think should be done to ensure they play good cricket, make life difficult for the Aussies, and leave a good impression overall.
STAND UP TO THE CONDITIONS: Much sideways is predicted for the fast men on this Gabba track, and the humidity should favour swing. What the batsmen will really need to adjust to, however, is the extra bounce. At the Gabba, at least, that would mean leaving the ball confidently on length and avoiding extravagant drives of the backfoot; once a session or two of movement is seen off they should be able to cash in. The bowlers should look at pitching it up, and using the bouncer selectively (I'm looking at rookie Doug "No Fear" Bracewell in particular).
OPENERS MUST FILL THEIR BOOTS: The Guptill-McCullum opening axis is important not only because they have to set a platform, they also need to shield a middle order vulenrable against the moving ball early on. For example, NZ's trump card Kane Williamson has already found himself pushed up to no.3 after six tests; while it is good to see the management not treating him with kid-gloves, he might be wasted if he has to come in at 15/1 everytime. For the openers to do their bit, Guptill should keep playing straight and cut out the million-dollar shots, while Baz simply needs to be judicious in choosing which balls to try depositing into the Tasman.
PLAN AND ACCORDINGLY TARGET THE AUSSIES: Besides the debutants, a few in the Aussie lineup are currently under a bit of pressure. While I wouldn't bet against Ricky Ponting, Brad Haddin, Philip Hughes and Peter Siddle turning out for the India series, NZ can certainly do their bit to make it tough for these guys. My mind goes back to how NZ hastened the departure of a fading Matthew Hayden in 2008, and the Waugh twins from the one-day side in 2002.
SERIOSULY CONSIDER PLAYING FIVE BOWLERS: NZ will definitely be playing five specialist batsmen, Young as keeper, Vettori as spinning allrounder and three pacemen. The remaining spot could either go to a sixth batsman (Dean Brownlie) or a fifth bowler (Trent Boult). Initially I thought the extra batsman would be the way to go. But seeing how Shane Watson and Jacques Kallis have been highly invaluable by providing that extra bowling option for their sides, and seeing how Zimbabwe impressed everyone with their attacking approach in the test last month, perhaps the positive option, Boult, could be considered if the wicket is a good batting one.
GET THE MOST OUT OF JOHN WRIGHT: Not only does coach 'Shake' bring a great deal of common sense and level headedness to the table, he is the one person in the management who knows a thing or two about beating the Aussies, having figured in NZ's series win in Australia (1985) and their last ever test-win against them (1993).
Top Cricket From The Second Tier
13 years ago
2 comments:
So, I wrote this piece for All Out Cricket about how New Zealand shouldn't get too cocky and start thinking they can beat us. It was the old "we fight when our backs are against the wall" stuff.
Here's something I've learnt about writing recently - you don't always have to believe what you're writing. And this time, I didn't.
The time is nigh, my friend. Here's hoping for few thunderstorms in Brissy and a good series.
NZ have certainly been publicly cocky, which is out of character (as mentioned in my previous post). 94/4 at lunch as I'm typing this, so they need to be careful how they go about this whole aggressive mindset.
Yup, should still be a good series. Brisbane is one of the most interesting test venues around, thanks to the nature of the pitch and weather. Hope the rain doesn't have too much of a say!
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