Black Caps Black Book ... /Diary - November 24
It's hard to say too much with a negative tinge because the Black Caps did exactly what I had personally requested - cheers lads. The fight, the determination and a bit of heart was evident, especially after it wasn't so in the first test. While you might be battling against the spin or reverse swing, it can be overcome by simply being excessively determined - putting away shots or batting a certain way relentlessly.
Throughout the test we had a few examples of that, which while I was just looking for some sort of improvement, to see it filter though in to all aspects of their game was lovely. Tom Latham showed guts at the top, just knuckling down and batting how one opener should. Ross Taylor came out in the second dig and had a plan, he executed that plan and hit a century. Then we have our seamers who picked up some wickets! Hoorah! Tim Southee got 4 (3, 1) and Trent Boult also got 4 (2, 2) as they toiled hard and weren't put off by their lack of impact in the first test. Nice.
While it wasn't a complete performance with the bat, only Corey Anderson and Trent Boult were dismissed for less than 10 runs in the first innings. Anderson and Latham did the same in the second crack, poor Cozza. So most of our batting line up get in, which means that while they might not go on to get 50's and hundy's, they aren't collapsing and they are batting some sort of time. If you can't get runs, just stick around and make your wicket at the very least slightly difficult to get.
This is where Brendon McCullum comes in as a great example. We'd love B-Mac to be turning his 43 and 45 in to big scores, but it's good that we're not swiftly loosing top order wickets. These are wickets where you can get a ripper at any moment so it's easy to say that he should convert blah blah blah, but look at this way - the Black Caps got off to much better starts than the first test, let alone the past few years.
Solid, the Black Caps looked solid in the 2nd test. Not overly amazing, but they definitely didn't look like the cricketing equivalent of tourists wearing fanny packs and sandals - they've already done better than the Aussies. Everyone's chipping in, it's a step forward which is all you can ask. You can't expect them to go from being pretty crap in the first test on foreign soil, to winning the next. Small steps.
Mention the Niche Cache and get 20% off most cricket gear at Sports First
Negative Ned just slid in through the window, he reckons Anderson sucks and the spinners suck. It's been a rough tour for not only Anderson but also Jimmy Neesham, but form comes and goes so we can't kick up a fuss when they're out of form. I will, once again say that having two all rounders who aren't making a major impact with either bat or ball makes it difficult to carry them both. That's a negative consequence of picking 2 genuine all rounders.
The spinners? Well it's a learning curve. Both Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi wouldn't be happy with their inconsistency on the final day, but I doubt they would have bowled in such a situation too often before. It's easy to say that because it was turning a mile that they should have skittled the Pakistani's ... the Pakistani's who know exactly how to deal with a 5th day turner. The key ideas of test match bowling still apply - keep it tight, build pressure and force some sort of mistake. They'll be better for it.