Testing time for Williamson
Black Caps coach Gary Stead will wait for skipper Kane Williamson’s action to be retested in Brisbane before they consider their next move on his international bowling future.
Williamson leads New Zealand into the second and final test against Sri Lanka in Colombo today (4.30pm NZT) with his parttime offspin under a cloud for a second time in five years.
He and Sri Lanka’s offspinner Akila Dananjaya were both reported by match officials for ‘‘suspect bowling actions’’ after the first test in Galle, won by the hosts by six wickets on Sunday.
Both are free to bowl at P Sara Stadium over the next five days but then must undergo independent testing before September 1 to check if they are within the permitted 15 degrees of elbow flexion. If so they can continue bowling; if not they will be stood down and required to undergo remedial work.
Williamson was banned in 2014 for what’s known as ‘chucking’ and then returned to bowling with a more side-on action, while Dananjaya was banned as recently as December before he was cleared to return in March. The Sri Lankan – who was his side’s best in Galle with 6-164 off 62 overs – faces one year on the sidelines after his second report within 24 months.
‘‘Kane bowled three overs at the end and there were three or four balls they looked at that they thought may need more scrutinising from a bending of What: Second cricket test, New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Where: P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo
When: 4.30pm today (day one of five)
TAB odds: NZ $2.55, SL $2.55, draw $3
the elbow point of view,’’ Stead said.
‘‘Kane will go home after the test series – which was planned anyway – and he’ll get retested, probably in Brisbane, and from there we’ll know the process of a) rectifying an action or b) carry on as it is. Until we get the numbers we won’t know for sure.’’
Any ban for Williamson would be nuisance value for New Zealand rather than a major setback, given his reluctance to bowl in recent years.
Williamson aside, spin will be a major focus again as New Zealand seek to repeat their 2012 feat of recovering from 1-0 down in Galle to level the series at P Sara.
Back then, in what was Ross Taylor’s final test of his captaincy stint, the big four stood up for New Zealand with Taylor and Williamson scoring first innings centuries and swing duo Trent Boult and Tim Southee snaring 15 wickets between them.
While the spotlight will be on Taylor and Williamson after cheap second innings dismissals in Galle, Stead thought spin would again dominate in Colombo where the temperature was noticeably warmer.
He felt New Zealand were 5-10 per cent off the pace in all facets in Galle, coming off minimal match practice in the heat and humidity, and were taught a lesson in patience by Sri Lanka’s captain and centurymaker Dimuth Karunaratne.
‘‘For us it’s about starting against spin and being clear on our plans against them, and from a bowling point of view understanding when they go hard at us how we’re going to defend ourselves and make Sri Lanka take some tough options.
‘‘I don’t imagine there’s going to be too many changes from what we saw at Galle.’’
Stead reported 15 fit players in his squad and didn’t rule out personnel changes.
If the Black Caps play three spinners again, Todd Astle puts a strong case to replace Mitchell Former Black Caps coach Mike Hesson has turned down two chances to return to the international coaching ranks after missing out on the India job.
Both Pakistan and Bangladesh’s cricket boards chased Hesson for their vacant head coach roles, Stuff understands, but he declined and didn’t officially apply to enter either race.
South African Russell Domingo was announced last week as Bangladesh’s new coach, succeeding Englishman Steve Rhodes, while former captain Misbah-ul-haq is the favourite to take over from Mickey Arthur in charge of Pakistan.
Santner at the scene of his test debut in 2012, while Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner are in the mix too if there’s a bowling reshuffle.
‘‘We only played the two pace bowlers in the last game so we’ll see how they’ve scrubbed up. The likes of Neil Wagner in the wings and he’s champing at the bit and we’ve got other spin options with Todd Astle so we’ll consider all options.’’
Another close contest beckons, so close that the TAB couldn’t split the sides yesterday: both priced at $2.55 to win the test.