McCullum’s men are ‘revolutionising’ game
Fast forward to November and hold on to your hats.
New Zealand’s next cricket test isn’t till then, a three-match series in Australia, but it should be worth the wait as two similar styles collide. These Black Caps have ensured test cricket will never be the same again, as authorities give serious thought to four-day matches and floodlit cricket with a pink ball to try and spark interest in the traditional format.
On current evidence very few sparks are required, even if the crowd for day three of the second test against England on a bitterly cold Leeds Sunday didn’t match the entertainment on offer.
Both teams combined to score 435 runs off 95.2 overs, for the loss of 11 wickets. Thanks to some sharp swing from Tim Southee and Trent Boult, safe catching in the cordon, and BJ Watling’s fifth test century with backup from Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, the Black Caps seized control and were poised to set the hosts a chase in the vicinity of 400.
England have never successfully chased more than 332 to win a test.
It was a remarkable turnaround from England being 177-0 in reply to the Black Caps’ 350. New Zealand bore minimal scarring from their last day defeat at Lord’s and were fearless with the bat, going at 4.5 per over, when in past years they’ve folded in the third innings.
Former England skipper and proud Yorkshireman Michael Vaughan was impressed, saying McCullum’s men had revolutionised test cricket.
‘‘It is a really good model for other teams who excel at one-day cricket, particularly with the bat, but struggle in tests. Teams such as West Indies and India should be watching this New Zealand side and taking the hint,’’ Vaughan wrote for London’s Telegraph.
‘‘I think four an over will become the norm in test cricket in a year or two and in five years’ time we could be up to five an over once more teams start playing like New Zealand. It is the saving of test cricket.’’
The only crying shame is that a packed Ashes summer means no third test to decide a remarkable series.
Gloveman Luke Ronchi added another dimension at No 7 on debut, with his 31 off 23 balls breaking England’s bowlers late in the day after his first innings heroics. Watling, unable to keep wicket due to a knee injury, was ideal at six as his test average nudged into the 40s, after Guptill and Taylor added 99 in 14.3 overs for the third wicket.
It seemed New Zealand’s batting onslaughts with controlled hitting, that began in the Sharjah victory against Pakistan last year and continued to the Boxing Day test against Sri Lanka, was now their norm in tests.
‘‘We didn’t say ‘let’s go at five an over’, it just happened. We fed off each other and rotated the strike without too problems,’’ Guptill said.
‘‘It’s not easy when a team is getting away on you, going at over four an over. We found that at Lord’s when Ben Stokes was doing his thing and it’s tough to come back from that.’’
It also took the sting out of England’s pace attack with still five overs left till the second new ball and New Zealand well ahead of the
many game at 338-6. The arrival of the shiny Dukes ball late on day two sparked New Zealand’s pace duo and they got another crack with it early on day three when it swung and bounced. England lost 6-31 between overs 81 and 95, with Southee (4-83) roaring back from a poor finish at Lord’s.
The only question left for McCullum was how long to give his bowlers, and how much Boult and Southee had left in the tank. Each bowled 30 overs in the first innings after Boult (63 overs) and Southee (58) worked overtime in the Lord’s defeat when Corey Anderson injured his back. But with quick runs to play with, the bowlers don’t have to go searching and the skipper can attack at will, with Mark Craig’s spin keeping one end tight when the quicks are resting.