Hesson eyes the journey ahead
The World Cup runnersup still have a bright future, writes Fred Woodcock in Melbourne.
NEW ZEALAND’S aggressive brand of cricket is set in stone and the future is rosy, coach Mike Hesson says as he eyes a massive 12 months for the Black Caps.
A full tour to England looms next, in May-June, with other marquee tours in the next year including a limited-overs series in South Africa in August and homeand-away test series against newly minted world one-day champions Australia next summer.
As the dust begins to settle on a successful World Cup campaign that fell at the final hurdle in Sunday’s lopsided seven-wicket loss to Australia in Melbourne, Hesson starts to talk less about the MCG disappointment and more about ‘‘the journey’’.
The World Cup was his team’s first major destination but it does not stop there, and Hesson’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a two-test, five-one-dayers tour to England, which is fast approaching.
‘‘It’s a pretty exciting prospect with a group of players who are playing pretty well,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ll have a week to 10 days off just to freshen up, because the last six weeks have been two years in the making, so we need to recharge the batteries and get back focused for England.’’
There will be changes in the squad. Daniel Vettori is on the way out, as is bowling coach Shane Bond. Kyle Mills may look to retire and there is even talk of Brendon McCullum chucking in one-day cricket to focus on tests.
There is some serious experience and talent there but Hesson is not concerned.
‘‘I think we’ve got a very young, talented group. There’s the odd old-stager who’s added a lot to the group but we’ve got a young crew and a lot of guys aged between 22 and 26 who in four years’ time should be in their prime.’’
He is talking about the likes of Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan and Tom Latham.
Ross Taylor, 31, and McCullum, 33, are no spent force, either, nor is 36-year-old Grant Elliott on the evidence of the past week.
Hesson won’t be twisting anyone’s arm if they don’t want to carry on. He believes the depth is there and that is no better highlighted than by Guptill and Boult.
Guptill was under serious pressure to retain his opening spot a couple of months ago with calls for Latham to be tried as Guptill struggled with his form.
He ended the World Cup as the leading run-scorer at the tournament, with 547 at 68.37.
Boult was a test specialist who had played eight one-day international games till this summer and was not seen as a genuine limited-overs player.
He ended the World Cup as the joint leading wicket-taker with man-of-the-tournament Mitchell Starc, having snared 22 victims at 16.86.
‘‘Guppy was certainly under an awful lot of pressure during the home campaign but he just kept going about his business. He has a lot of self-belief and we have a lot of belief in him as well,’’ Hesson said of Guptill, who has thrust his name forward for test selection against England.
‘‘Trent just gets better and better.
‘‘I’m not sure where he’s ranked in one-day internationals but he’s sixth in the test rankings and I don’t think that’s going to slide anytime quickly.’’
Whatever happens with personnel as they move ahead, the team won’t be changing their attacking brand of cricket with bat, ball and in the field, which has been widely acclaimed around the world.
‘‘You need to define the style you want to play and I guess for us that’s being aggressive with the ball,’’ Hesson said. ‘‘We feel like we have to keep taking wickets, otherwise it doesn’t matter how good you are you’re going to go for plenty at the death.
‘‘For us to win 10 one-day internationals in a row for the first time, playing that style, it’s given us consistency.’’
McCullum agreed, and went further by saying he would like their style to filter down into domestic cricket so that younger players started approaching the game like his team have at this World Cup.