Watling: Pink ball swing an enticing sight
BJ Watling knows what it takes to get Tim Southee and Trent Boult excited.
The leaders of the Black Caps’ quick-bowling group will likely be joined by Neil Wagner for the first test against England, which starts on Thursday, and they will be looking forward to getting the pink ball swinging in the historic daynight fixture.
Watling got a good look at how the bowlers were tracking last week, as the team practised at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, and he liked what he saw, heading into the clash at Eden Park in Auckland, where swing should be a big factor.
‘‘They actually bowled really well and got some movement with it,’’ said Watling, who knows his bowlers like it whenever they get the ball hooping around.
‘‘They bowled nicely and they were all looking fresh and ready to go.’’
There have been only eight daynight tests, but the behaviour of the pink balls used in them has become clear, as Watling pointed out.
‘‘The new pink ball swings early, it might flatten out during that day period, and then it sort of livens up again at the end, during the night-time, dusk period,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s just about being aware of the situation and where the game’s going, and making sure we use the right tactics.’’
Watling has returned to the test side at the end of a summer where he has been hindered by an injury to his left hip, which prevented him first from playing at all, then from keeping.
He played as a specialist batsman for Northern Districts in the domestic limited overs competition, before pulling on his gloves again in mid-February against Canterbury in the final match of the Ford Trophy, and has kept in two Plunket Shield four-day matches since.
He is one of six Black Caps set to feature this week who played in the first day-night test, against Australia in Adelaide in November 2015 – a match that was over inside three days.
‘‘That was the first game, so obviously it was a bit of an unknown for everyone,’’ Watling said.
‘‘The crowd was amazing for the three days that we were out there, and the ball did a few different things than the red ball did. It was all new for us and we were all learning, so we will take that on board.’’
The Black Caps had a practice match with the pink ball in the leadup on that occasion, but this time around they opted for open-wicket practice under lights in the Bay of Plenty.
Four batsmen – Tom Latham, Jeet Raval, Henry Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme – took part in a practice match against England at Seddon Park in Hamilton before heading over to the Mount, while Ross Taylor played no part, recovering from the quad injury that ruled him out of the final oneday international nine days ago, but is expected to be good to go on Thursday.
Watling only missed two tests while sidelined with his hip injury, but his replacement Tom Blundell scored a century on debut against the West Indies in December, then had another while playing for a New Zealand XI against England last week.
With Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips taking the gloves this summer in Twenty20 internationals, there are plenty of hopefuls chasing Watling’s test spot, but he said he wasn’t feeling any more pressure than normal.
‘‘I think you feel pressure going into any test. I don’t think it matters who’s behind you or who’s pushing. You get the same old nerves playing test cricket.
‘‘I’m just looking to do as well as I can for these two tests.’’