BLACKCAPS In Australia - Gabba Preview: A Look At The Bowlers
Yesterday I took a little looksie at the bowlers from both Australia and New Zealand, those who will have the job of taking 20 wickets and keeping a lid on the flow of runs if wickets aren't coming. While there are world class bowlers on either team who will play their role in ensuring that this is an exciting Test, there's also going to be an interesting collection of batsmen on display in Brisbane.
Leading the way are two of the best batsmen in the world in Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. They share the ability to score lots of runs in Test cricket, they share captaincy-worthy cricketing minds and they share an all round cricketing ability that only the very best players have. They certainly don't share textbook techniques though with Smith mastering a unique technique which only enhances is run-scoring and is vastly different to Williamson who could be used as a 'How To Bat' example.
The differences in how these two batsmen go about their business should be celebrated as it reinforces the fact that there are different ways to be successful in Test cricket. Williamson averages 45.70 with 10 hundreds and 15 fifties while Smith has an average of 56.27 with 11 hundreds and 12 fifties. They've also scored a similar amount of runs so far in their Test careers, hovering around that 3,000 run mark (Williamson has 3,199 runs vs 3,095 runs for Smith) and their work in the last year and a half has seen them graduate from being the best young batsmen in Test cricket to sitting in the pack behind AB de Villiers as the best batsmen in Test cricket.
Runs are always important for any cricket team's best batsmen and with Williamson to come in at no.3 and Smith likely to drop down to no.4, both batsmen will be called on to counter the new ball which should produce wickets. Williamson's patient nature and his near-perfect defensive technique will serve him well if he comes to the crease after the loss of an early wicket, he's the perfect man for the job in that regard as he'll absorb the fire from Australia and then look to counter by pouncing on anything slightly off the mark. Williamson has all the shots so he will be able to deal with quick short-pitched bowling as well.
Smith isn't as patient as Williamson, which isn't a bad thing thanks to an exceptional eye and an attacking nature. A staple of Smith's game in Australia last summer was how he would come to the crease and immediately score runs, not allowing the bowlers the opportunity to gain confidence as he walks across his stumps and whips good balls into the leg-side. Like Williamson, Smith doesn't have a glaring weakness to target and his slightly weird way of batting does present an illusion of opportunity for the bowlers - they think there's a weakness or a flaw, only for Smith to play a shot that only he can.
It's going to be a pleasure to watch Smith and Williamson get busy on a Gabba pitch that will challenge and then reward them if they can stick it out. They'll both benefit from the batsmen ahead of them who will be asked to toil hard at the start of the innings against lethal new ball bowlers. Australia look likely to promote Joe Burns up the order to partner David Warner while the BLACKCAPS should roll out the same opening combo used in recent times in Martin Guptill and Tom Latham.
Burns and Usman Khawaja who should bat at no.3 for Australia both call the Gabba their home, hence why they were selected. Both opening pairs have a righty and a lefty which is smart, especially against bowlers who love to swing the ball. Both opening pairs also have an aggressor (Warner and Guptill) as well as a steadier hand (Burns and Latham) and there's also question marks about these combinations lurking in the shadows.
Warner stands alone as the most experienced and best opener on display. Burns is new to the job and he is one of these Australian players who has to perform to maintain his place in this 'New Australia'. Guptill has enjoyed some success in Tests recently, but he and Latham simply haven't faced a bowling attack like Australia's just yet. The openers are always highly influential to their team's fortunes and this is only enhanced by the quality of pace bowlers who will be hunting for wickets.
Ross Taylor is crucial to the fortunes of the BLACKCAPS in Australia and he's my batsmen to keep a close eye on in Brisbane. Taylor wasn't that good in England where he scored 62, 8, 20 and 48 in four innings' and we have to go back almost a year when the BLACKCAPS were in the United Arab Emirates to find Taylor's last century. Taylor is a stroke-player who can take the game away from Australia once the Gabba pitch flattens out, the challenge will be if Taylor has to face an Australian bowling attack that has taken a few early wickets and is full of confidence. Taylor often falls victim to quality bowling early in his innings, like most Test batsmen where his need to feel bat on ball ensures that he plays at balls that perhaps he shouldn't. I've got Taylor as my main guy because he's equally as likely to be an easy early wicket as he is to hit a relatively quick hundred.
Who will come out on top of the veterans in the middle order? Brendon McCullum has me a little bit worried and it's part of a larger worry about Aotearoa's admiration of McCullum as his aggressive willow-wielding will be put under the microscope by Australia. I won't blabble on about McCullum too much, I'll just say that if McCullum isn't scoring runs and his borderline reckless stroke-play doesn't work, then his position as skipper may be untenable. If he's in-form though, well then the BLACKCAPS have a weapon who can quickly pile on the runs and/or switch the game on its head. Adam Voges is the Aussie veteran in the middle order and he's under the pump as he largely failed in England after a promising debut in the Caribbean.
What makes this battle between the two batting line-ups even more interesting is how deep each line-up goes. BJ Watling is good enough to open in Test cricket and provides a solid presence down the order while Peter Nevill has shown that he's a capable replacement for Brad Haddin. Each team has an all-rounder who likes to whack the ball around while also capable of tightening the screws, yet they are also under pressure to prove their worth with the bat in the Test arena. Mitchell Marsh was made to look silly in England and Jimmy Neesham is yet to face a bowling attack like Australia's so this will be fun - they can each score runs as well which will be incredibly frustrating for either set of bowlers.
As always, the rewards will be there for the batsmen if they are able to handle the threats posed by the bowlers. Australia's new brigade will headline a group of batsmen who will be eager to stamp their mark on this team and settle the nerves of cricket fans across 'Straya while the BLACKCAPS have shown great signs in their resurgence, yet they haven't faced anything quite like a group of angry Aussies on their home turf. Bring it on.