Craig benefits from a break
Mark Craig isn’t worried his preparation for one of cricket’s toughest challenges includes just one competitive match in six months.
One of three specialist spinners in the Black Caps squad starting a three-test series against India in Kanpur on Thursday, Craig could be crucial in conditions where swing and seam take a back seat to turn and trickery.
If New Zealand are to win their first test series on Indian soil, requiring a first test win there in 28 years, one of a combination of the Otago offie, leg-break bowler Ish Sodhi and left-arm orthodox Mitchell Santner will be key.
Few hints have been offered on the Black Caps line-up for the series-opener, but if Craig is picked it won’t be based on recent performance.
Since breaking his hand three games before the end of the domestic season in March, the bearded 29-year-old has only played the warm-up fixture prior to the series in Zimbabwe in late July.
Craig, though, has good reason not to be bothered by that.
‘‘[Breaking my hand] allowed me to step back, freshen up and look at what was going wrong with the bowling,’’ he said. ’’I managed to make a couple of technical changes [on things] that, probably without knowing, had slipped into my game.
‘‘Not playing on that last tour I was able to do a lot of bowling at training to really drum in the changes I’ve made. It is feeling really comfortable and the ball is coming out the best it has for a long time.’’
It is not surprising to hear Craig traces the problems – flat shoulders, long delivery stride and alignment of feet – back to the tour of England last May.
After a strong first six months in test cricket, including eight wickets and man-of-the-match honours on debut in the West Indies in mid2014, the next period was not so fruitful.
Those struggles only got worse in home and away series against Australia last summer, when Craig appeared in four of the six games and conceded 666 runs for only 10 wickets.
He felt the timely injury had afforded him the chance to bed in those adjustments in New Zealand and during the tour of Africa and said it left him ‘‘really happy’’ heading into India.
‘‘It’s gone from a technical change to more tactically. It’s hard playing test cricket and worrying about your technique and also trying to work a batsman out. I’ve only got one thing to worry about now, and it’s how I’m getting this batsmen out..’’
If selected, Craig will be expected to do plenty of that on barren, dusty surfaces that should suit impressive Indian spin trio Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra.
While the Kiwi spinners had watched lots of footage of those players going about their work and had ‘‘definitely been playing around with a few things at training’’, Craig didn’t see that as the biggest barrier to success against the world No 2 test team.
That, Craig said, was simply overcoming that expectation that comes with being a spinner in India. Focusing on what they did well, which he was constantly discussing with Sodhi and Santner, was also viewed as important.
Any time left over was being spent with bat in hand, where he has proved handy during his 14-test career.
But any suggestion his eyepopping average of almost 42 was cause for a promotion from No 8 or 9 was wishful thinking, Craig said.
‘‘I really enjoy every chance to have a bat and making a bit of a pig of myself but I’m pretty happy where I am. The batsmen are doing a pretty good job. Any higher and I think I might get a nose bleed.’’