Blackcaps Tour Of England: First Test Debrief
A Test at Lord's seems like the correct centre point for what is a rather fascinating time of cricket and unfortunately anything major in Test cricket falls under the control of cricket's three nation mafia. So when little ol' Aotearoa pops up with the Blackcaps to amplify these weird cricket vibes in competing against England with a completely different diet of Test cricket, we kinda need to take stock of Aotearoa's standing as the greatest sporting nation in the world.
The Niche Cache is here to broadcast the fact that Aotearoa is the greatest sporting nation in the world. The Blackcaps are just one example of a team or individual competing at world-class level. While England bask in their luxury of regular five-Test series along with their Indian and Australian chums, the kiwis rolled out a performance that didn't appear to lay out Aotearoa's sporting glory but in typically kiwi style showcased everything we have come to love about Kane Williamson and his Blackcaps whanau.
To understand what the Blackcaps are doing, we have to understand how they fit into the Test cricket landscape and nothing about Test cricket is fair. The Blackcaps have had their Test cricket schedule cut in half, some summers diced up, and we rarely get a series that hits the three-Test mark. The need for NZ Cricket to stack some cash has been evident in most of their moves, most notably the abundance of T20 cricket and a lack of Test cricket. For the Test cricket mafia, they have gone in the opposite direction with England hosting India for five Tests and then the regular oddity of Ashes whatever.
India is doing everything they can to churn out another Indian Premier League (or the same IPL stretched out to another time frame) and of course other nations are expected to bow down. India will play England in nine Tests this year alone, after squeezing in a tour of Australia (four Tests) in pandemic times. Australia? Well they can't decide if they like themselves or if they should keep regurgitating sandpaper self-loathing. England are about to start the T20 Blast and then in July will begin The Hundred which has specifically designed to make money and help (?) cricket in England.
These three nations not only have total control over the Test cricket landscape, there is desperation in how they do so. The Test cricket mafia have control over Test cricket and yet they are all doing weird gimmicky stuff to make more money, perhaps exercising further control over a cricketing world that would enjoy far more growth with smaller cricketing nations gaining experience. Cricket wants to grow, the mafia wants to grow… and yet the mafia can't open up and welcome others in.
Kane Williamson has played 38 Tests since the start of 2016. Joe Root has played 68.
Tim Southee has played 32 Tests since the start of 2016. James Anderson has played 51.
In 2018 England played 13 Tests and Aotearoa played six.
In 2019 England played 12 Tests and Aotearoa played eight.
In 2020 England played nine Tests and Aotearoa played six.
This was England's sixth Test of 2021 and Aotearoa's second.
With all their Test cricket experience and the glory of their Lord's home ground, England watched Devon Conway slap a double-hundy on debut.
For an England batting line up that had generally been scoring runs in County cricket - in the same conditions - batting against this crazy Duke ball, Tim Southee took 6w in the first innings made some of England's batsmen look like they had barely faced a moving ball. Neil Wagner flexed with his under-rated strength of moving the ball sideways to grab some wickets and Kyle Jamieson took the same number of wickets as James Anderson and Stuart Broad combined - in his first Test overseas.
Colin de Grandhomme bowled a total of 32 overs in the kiwi summer as he battled injury. In this Test de Grandhomme bowled 22 overs of tidy CDG seam without much fuss.
Henry Nicholls simply extended his epic kiwi summer (LA - 89avg/FC - 70.44avg) with a cheeky 61 at Lord's.
Conway and Latham batted through the first 15 overs of either innings.
This Test wasn't a hum-dinger, although the Blackcaps did what they always tend to do under captain Williamson and cruised along. The Blackcaps tried to make it a contest and provide a fun vibe, giving the Lord's faithful more invigorating cricket and less English drama. This Test at England's bastion of cricket not only highlighted how the odds are always stacked in favour of England, India and Australia it also highlighted the crux of this current Blackcaps vibe.
I want to ponder forward to the World Test Championship Final, I really do. I predict Aotearoa glory and shame to the mafia, I really do. To dwell in that space though would involve me doing precisely what I've come to laugh at England about as all their folks care about is the Ashes and below that is the little Test series that will come after Blackcaps WTC glory. England get so caught up in the Ashes that they can't catch the Blackcaps vibe.
Mindful Williamson is all about the present moment. The scarcity of Blackcaps Test cricket makes it something to saviour, every chance to rock that black cap is an honour and you'll never know if you will get another opportunity. Trent Boult's return will force a change to the bowling unit (Aotearoa took 13w in four days without Boulty lol) and maybe the Blackcaps will tinker further; I reckon Williamson and his troops are all about enjoying the present moment though.
What is peak Blackcaps under Williamson's captaincy?
Ross Taylor slugging 33 runs @ 94.28sr in the second innings to put his team in the best position despite being out of form. I love Rossco and any love involves honesty, or in our case keeping things a full steak and cheese. Taylor is battling through a concerning lack of runs, it's tough to watch his frantic GM blade searching for runs and had the Blackcaps been more worried about the future, Taylor may have zoned in for a glorified open wicket training session.
That's not what Aotearoa sport does though and it's definitely not what the Blackcaps do.
In the washing machine of 2021, this Test will be easily forgettable for some. Individual honours for Conway and Southee at Lord's definitely can't be forgotten, yet the whole package will be breezed over by many. Personally, this Test wrapped up everything I love about Williamson's Blackcaps and formed a lovely summary of the state of Test cricket. Test cricket is ruled by three nations and whether it was Conway or Southee's milestones or Taylor epitomising Aotearoa's team-first vibe - any chance for the underdog to say fuck 'em is fabulous.
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