Captain Kane must learn to share load
The Black Caps skipper was let down in the field, reports Mark Geenty.
Captain Kane Williamson will take the Australian series whitewash hard but must learn to share the burden, says New Zealand cricket coach Mike Hesson.
The wounded and weary New Zealanders caught the early flight out of Melbourne yesterday and most will rejoin their domestic Twenty20 sides before they reassemble in Christchurch on December 23 to prepare for the Bangladesh one-day series opener on Boxing Day.
For Williamson the pain of this 3-0 whitewash, with a closest losing margin of 68 runs in Sydney, will linger for a while. Touring Australia can find out even the best captains – Brendon McCullum struggled too and went winless – and Hesson had some advice when asked what lessons his skipper learned.
‘‘You can’t do it all yourself. Kane tried everything he could on this tour,’’ Hesson said.
‘‘Over here you’ve got to keep attacking and keep taking wickets and that’s something that does take a little bit of confidence, and confidence in your players to do that.’’
That was a tough ask when Williamson was let down in the field and by his death bowlers in Sydney and Canberra as Australia racked up big totals.
At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Williamson made an impact as he mixed it up with his field settings with small clusters in the square leg or point regions, and the bowlers responded. Steve Smith’s wicket for a duck, caught behind square, was a cracking plan that came off.
Then David Warner took over for an outstanding 156 off 128 balls and none of the New Zealand batsmen got anywhere near matching him as they collapsed for 147 against Mitchell Starc and Australia’s gun pace attack.
Williamson was trapped lbw 13 by James Faulkner angling for in, and his decision review system challenge was struck down, leaving him averaging 34 for the series.
Williamson gave lengthy explanations for his side’s shortcomings without really taking aim at anyone. No doubt he was frustrated and clearly hurt by the result where his side failed to fire in all three disciplines at once.
Keeping the skipper fresh is now a priority as the Black Caps eye 11 ODIs, four T20 internationals and five tests between Boxing Day and the end of March, against Bangladesh, Australia and South Africa.
He’ll potentially miss the three T20 internationals against Bangladesh in early January before the first test. Hesson confirmed rest breaks were being formulated for all the top players, giving them 7-9 days out of the team environment to freshen up after the four winter tests in Africa and a long tour of India.
Senior man Ross Taylor – both for his batting and support for Williamson – was sorely missed in Australia as he recovers from eye surgery. His return is up in the air but the initial target is the first Bangladesh test on January 12.
Left-armer Mitchell McClenaghan and Corey Anderson will also return to the selection frame for Bangladesh, with McClenaghan’s death bowling missed in Australia.
Jimmy Neesham stepped up to No4 and played a fine hand of 74 in Canberra, copping a nasty hit to the arm from Mitchell Starc which ruled him out of Melbourne.
Neesham, Colin Munro and Anderson would all vie for the five and six spots in the ODI team with Taylor back, Hesson said.
‘‘The thing we got shown up on is the guys who got starts. A 40 or 50 or 60 is not match-changing. We need players who are going to change games,’’ Hesson said.