The new Black Caps: Made in Sharjah
Misbah-ul-Haq reached for a wide delivery from Tim Southee, nicked it and was well caught by a tumbling BJ Watling.
Usually, under the hot Sharjah sun trying to prise out wickets on a flat pitch, the Black Caps would be rapturous at the then-Pakistan captain’s dismissal in a test match.
Nothing. Not a single celebration or even a smile as Southee trotted through grimfaced and the New Zealanders gathered in silence, on day two of the third test in November 2014.
Twenty-four hours earlier the Black Caps had discussed abandoning the match after hearing of the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, struck behind the ear by a short-pitched delivery in Sydney. There were tears, and a rest day was called.
‘‘Playing a game was not really what a lot of the guys wanted to do. A number of the guys knew Phillip personally and being part of the cricket family. It touched guys in a number of ways and it was a very emotional group,’’ Southee recalled on the eve of the Black Caps’ return to the UAE.
‘‘It hit everyone that was there and we weren’t sure whether the test was going to go ahead. We had a rest day on the second day then we had to get our heads around the game going ahead.’’
So they did, even if it didn’t look like they even wanted to be there. Nor did Pakistan.
Two days later they shook hands for one of New Zealand’s more remarkable test victories, by an innings and 80 runs. Brendon McCullum’s 202, Kane Williamson’s 192 and then a 10-wicket haul from spinner Mark Craig helped level the three-test series from nowhere.
‘‘To win it, not bowling bouncers, not really talking in the field, it was quite a surreal test match. Guys went out with freedom with the bat, Brendon smashed 200 and Kane got a brilliant hundred and we hit the most sixes in a test innings [22, half of those off McCullum’s bat].
‘‘The mentality of the guys was there’s more to life than a game of cricket, and they went out and played with freedom. It was a great win to be part of.’’
Southee and seven others from that Sharjah XI are back in the UAE for their series against Pakistan, which began with the first Twenty20 international in Abu Dhabi this morning.
Since that tour New Zealand further enhanced their reputation as the good guys of world cricket. Player behaviour remains a hot topic as Australia’s captain Tim Paine revealed their new players’ pact this week, amid the damning review into Cricket Australia’s culture.
As recently as March, in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal that saw Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft banned, then-coach Darren Lehmann said: ‘‘The thing for me would be if we take a leaf out of someone like, say, New Zealand’s book in the way they play and respect the opposition.’’
It wasn’t always that way, and Southee was among the more confrontational Black Caps on the field. Then, starting with the embarrassing 2013 demolition in South Africa, McCullum led a change of thinking to encourage the country to have more pride in them.
‘‘We tried to play the game a little bit like the Australians, we tried to play like the English or like various teams around the world,’’ Southee said.
‘‘What sits well with us is playing like Kiwis and that’s been portrayed over the last few years, we’ve played how we want to be represented not only as players but also how New Zealand as a country wants to be perceived on the cricketing stage.
‘‘That sits comfortably with us, just going out and expressing ourselves as New Zealanders.’’
That continued under Williamson who leads them into the series of three T20s, three ODIs and three tests against Pakistan. The memory of four years ago will serve them well, not only for a reminder of what can be achieved in tough desert climes, but how cricket is just a game and you don’t need to snarl to succeed.
‘‘What sits well with us is playing like Kiwis and that’s been portrayed over the last few years.’’ Tim Southee