Blackcaps vs England: On To The Nek
Aotearoa's glorious Blackcaps have another Test series win in the books as the second Test in Hamilton sizzled and fizzled. To be straight up, this wasn't the most exciting Test series and after getting enough funk from the Bay Oval pitch to keep things interesting, the Seddon Park deck was a piece of bread in a South Auckland food court. There were batting milestones to be devoured and it's a lovely thing to watch players cash in when conditions, then game situations fall in their favour, just without the mayhem that whips folks into a Test cricket frenzy.
And that's all good. I just have a feeling as we leave this Test series and slide into the series vs Australia, of meh. This feeling differs greatly from the buzz in my loins on the first day of the first Test in Tauranga and has nothing to do with the Blackcaps because everything was actually quite fresh and interesting from a Blackcaps perspective in Hamilton. England are quite clearly at a different stage of the Test cricket cycle and are establishing elements of their team that the Blackcaps have already built.
The Blackcaps know what they are all about and have an extremely settled group of cricketers. If we have ever expected success from the Blackcaps Test team, this is it because all the pieces are in place for a strong baseline of performance and appreciating where this Blackcaps group currently is, can be easily done in observing England's team. This isn't about ol' mate Joe Denly's dropped catch or other headline stuff, it's simply about one team who has played a lot of Test cricket together and another team who has just started that journey.
To suggest that this has been planned, wouldn't quite align with my views around NZC. Maybe it's coincidental, or maybe everything has been perfectly laid out; Aotearoa is in a fantastic position for the Test Championship. It's as though this Test group has been set up for the Test Championship, again not necessarily from a skill perspective unless we are talking about the general skill of playing Test cricket. There is a team identity, there is experience and there is a comfort in knowing that everyone in that group has 'bought in' to what has been established.
What I've found most interesting in seeing the Blackcaps go about their business, has been the culture or team environment. I've expressed this with the Matt Henry/Lockie Ferguson situation and this is nothing negative about Ferguson, it's all about what Henry has done for the team over a long period of time and a certain level of morals, values, whanau, mana in this environment that doesn't overlook those efforts.
The Blackcaps decision-makers could have very easily read the mainstream media headlines and brushed Henry to the side for 12th-man duties once again, selecting Ferguson for the second Test. Shit the bed, they could have gone a step further for the first Test and according to the cricket experts, Ferguson was going to get a run ahead of Tim Southee. Instead they didn't deviate from their alignment, gave Henry the opportunity and Ferguson has been slowly integrated into the Test environment.
I don't really care about how well Henry bowled or what Ferguson may have done at Seddon Park. This is me observing an environment and how decisions are made in that environment, which may be completely false, but I feel alright in connecting these dots. What we definitely have, is a stronger stable of seam bowlers with Ferguson in the mix and now there's Daryl Mitchell who can do a Colin de Grandhomme kinda job.
That Seddon Park pitch was boring, so there is no need for grand conclusion on Henry's bowling or whether Mitchell moves the ball like de Grandhomme. Henry is lurking as someone who is there, but more in the shadows because we don't quite know what Henry is capable of in Test cricket with consistent opportunities. I'm none the wiser now, after Henry's opportunity in Hamilton and the sporadic nature of his appearances are exactly what you don't want when offering insight to the value of a player.
So Henry's going to average 48 with the ball in Test cricket while he's popping in and out. At the very least, Henry is part of a winning group and contributes to that group, then I'd also point out that Henry has taken a wicket in each of his last five Tests. Henry has faced a different opponent in each of those five Tests, never playing consecutive Tests against the same opponent; vs Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, England.
The good vibes and loyalty may stretch into Northern Districts Knights favouritism, when considering Mitchell adds to the Knights gang in the Blackcaps Test team. Another batsman could have been chucked in, or play with a bumper bowling attack, yet Mitchell was called in despite never really appearing to be in the Blackcaps Test mix. Mitchell's got obvious similarities to Colin de Grandhomme and ended up being a copy and paste selection in terms of all-round abilities.
Can Mitchell bowl like de Grandhomme? Well he's not moving the ball like de Grandhomme, but de Grandhomme may not have extracted any assistance from that piece of bread pitch. Mitchell showed his quality with the bat, in more traditional fashion to de Grandhomme and that knock highlights the team environment where players come into the group and feel empowered to succeed. Whether it's Mitchell, Will Somerville, Ajaz Patel or Tom Blundell; these blokes step up to Test cricket and execute their role in the team.
There are concerns about Jeet Raval's form slump.
Otherwise, everything is fairly settled heading into the Australian excursion. The Blackcaps are a better team with Trent Boult and de Grandhomme in the 11, more grizzly and comfortable with what they do. What we have seen in this series vs England though is that players can be injected into the team when required and this is relevant because a lack of Test cricket in recent summers has seen very little player turnover. Now we've seen players sprinkled into the Test group and we're better off for the experience.
Last year, Ross Taylor averaged 23.08. Weird because Taylor's exploded with runs in white-ball cricket in recent years and his Test stuff deviated from the general trend, only in 2018 though. In 2017, Taylor averaged 81.60 and in 2019 Taylor is averaging 71.28, having hit two centuries and two halfies in just six Tests. Taylor has had a yearly average of 70+ three times in his career (2013, 2017, 2019) and while 2019 may have Taylor with his lowest average of the three years, his strike-rate of 67.70 is the highest of those three years.
BJ Watling's averaging 80.33 this year.
Kane Williamson's averaging 76.16.
Tom Latham's averaging 65.62.
The whole batting line up is slick, these four are the monsters though and there is something different in each of these batsmen that different folks are drawn to. Personally, I'm all about Taylor and throughout this rather crazy second phase of Taylor's career, I've written all sorts of different things about Taylor. Taylor moved to 2nd in Test runs for Aotearoa and somehow he's hitting nek level after nek level, which remains the most beautiful thing in cricket.
As the Blackcaps team culture, environment and vibe is my major note from this series, it's only right that Taylor is mentioned. Taylor is matua Ross in this team and if you zone out between balls, you'll miss Taylor chatting plans with Williamson and watching the Williamson/Taylor duo across all formats recently has been lovely. Williamson is the skipper, quite clearly in charge of what's going down, but there is always a reference to Taylor and sometimes I ponder the mana of Taylor in that Blackcaps group.
Everything changes in Australia. Aotearoa has previously gone to Australia as a bits and pieces group, trying to kick it with the dingoes while learning about what makes a kiwi cricket team, a kiwi cricket team. This Blackcaps group goes to Australia with a grizzly group of Test cricketers, all performing pretty damn well and also with immense leadership. Whether it's Williamson commanding respect through his presence, batsmen at the peak of their powers doing their job, the skill of our seamers who have been on a long road of learning the craft or matua Ross' presence in the background, this Blackcaps Test team feels ready for a trip across the ditch.
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Peace and love 27.