Black Caps Black Book .../Diary - Day Five; A Win, A Draw And The Prince
It was a day on which the bowlers needed to step up and perform, that was the only way the Black Caps would win this second Test. They won the second Test and as a unit, our bowlers did a great job of applying pressure and making the most of some funky conditions at Headingly. Just on that, shout out to everyone involved in preparing that wicket, it was a great Test in part thanks to a wicket that offered the bowlers plenty while also being nice to bat on.
A great Test, with all due respect to England who definitely played their part in both Test's being great, that was in part thanks to this style of cricket this Brendon McCullum-led team plays.
A lot is made of this style or brand of cricket, far too much in my mind because while you're loving the manner in which these Test's have been played, it's about winning. While it's entertaining and great to watch, the Black Caps play attacking and aggressive cricket because it's the best way for them to win.
That set up this win. Our batsmen pounced when England slightly missed their line or length and our bowlers attacked the bat. While the skipper used his field to help the bowlers take wickets and we're pretty good at catching the ball ain't we?
Having two off-spinners up against England's crop of lefties was also a great asset on a 5th day which served up plenty of turn. Mark Craig took three wickets and while not quite being flawless, was good enough ... but I'm all about the Prince.
Prince Williamson, one of the world's best batsmen. Although his 0 and 6 do a shit job of backing that up for me. That's the thing; he didn't feature with the bat but on a day five where you need to take wickets, the Prince stepped up to the plate and took 3/15 off 7 overs.
Williamson bowled a straight one to Alistair Cook on 54, Cook missed it. Somehow the Prince just does it, no talking, no fluff, he just performs even with the ball. What am I on about 'even with the ball', Williamson is now finely tuned at taking big wickets with his offies.
It's a welcome return as well, he fixed up his action and having him able to bowl means that we had a 5th bowler. He only bowled 7 overs but it's about having the options and with Williamson in the team, the option is there to play an extra batsman on turning tracks.
Trent Boult was another stand out for me, getting the ball rolling as he dismissed Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance early on.
That attacking nature was a key today. It's not just about packing the slip cordon or having a short square leg and bowling short, the bowlers have to try take a wicket each ball. We have seam bowlers who pitch it up, allow the ball to swing and nip around and make the batsman play while the spinners don't just dot 'em up, they're bowling straight, putting pressure on the batsman.
While that has its flaws, which I've talked a bit about, it is the perfect method of play on a day five where you need to take 10 wickets. We take the majority of our catches, we bowl with intent to take wickets and the leader sets attacking fields, that cohesion and clear plan throughout the team was the perfect recipe for the scenario.
So who are we to say anything negative about the plan? This team only wants to win, that's how you become the number one side in the world, you win a lot.
I want to win.
Some of you don't want them to win because you get stuck being Negative Ned's.
We won.
We drew the series.
It would have been nice to win the series, but a two Test series is a product of how shit our cricket team was. We need to earn that right, we need to win Tests.
How do we win Tests? Exactly how we won this Test.
So be happy, be proud and stay behind the team.