EASYBEAT KIWIS ON CUSP OF GREATNESS
AUSTRALIAN cricket fans are beyond being shocked this summer but this one still jolts: New Zealand is poised to become the No. 1 Test side.
That’s the same New Zealand that has won one of its 31 Tests against Australia in the past 27 years.
New Zealand will take the coveted mantle if, as expected, it seals a series win against Pakistan with victory in the second Test in Christchurch.
Australia will move back to the top of the list if it can win the Border- Gavaskar Trophy by a margin of one or more Tests. India could get it if it wins the last two Tests against Australia.
To explain how the Kiwis — fine team that they are — stand on the cusp of their greatest achievement, it is necessary to explain there are, essentially, two of them.
There’s New Zealand when it plays Australia and New Zealand when it plays the rest of the world.
New Zealand versus Australia in cricket, as proven last summer when Australia won a home series 3- 0, is the opposite of New Zealand versus Australia in rugby union.
One side has “got’’ the other where it matters most — in the head.
Australia has not won the Bledisloe Cup in rugby for almost two decades and while every year contains familiar tough talk about revolutions and form reversals, the bottom line is that deep down you know the Australian players just don’t expect to win.
In cricket the reverse is true. The worst thing that happened to Kane Williamson’s team when it visited Australia last season was that it was given a chance of beating Australia. The more the Kiwis were talked up, the worse they played.
New Zealand’s Test team has lost just one of its past 11 series. Eight of them have been at home, where the Kiwis play so well. They are a plucky team admired the world over.
But the next truly great cricketing achievement will be provided by the next team that beats India in India.