World Cup hangover still lingers
Coach Gary Stead says the mental hangover from the Cricket World Cup needs further attention as he prescribes rest for his Black Caps before one of their biggest home summers.
New Zealand’s cricketers are on the way home from Sri Lanka after a 2-1
Twenty20 series win and a 1-1 test series draw which saw them register their first 60 points in the new World Test Championship.
From those viewpoints the tour was a success, played in high humidity and spin-friendly conditions so soon after their intense World Cup campaign and an epic final where they lost on boundary countback to England at Lord’s on July 14.
Nine of that World Cup squad backed up in the two-test series in Sri Lanka before captain Kane Williamson and pace spearhead Trent Boult were rested for the
T20s.
Batsmen Martin Guptill and Tom Bruce also suffered injuries and missed the tour finale, a
37-run defeat when the Black Caps were rolled by a stunning Lasith Malinga spell of 5-6 including a double hat-trick.
Colin Munro and Colin de Grandhomme both jet to the West Indies to join Trinbago and St Lucia respectively in the Caribbean Premier League, while the remainder of the squad can put their feet up for a while before the first T20 international against England in Christchurch on November 1.
Said Stead: ‘‘The World Cup took a lot out of everyone, mentally more so than physically, then you’re away for another fivesix weeks at the start of the Test Championship.
‘‘Whilst that brought a new focus it doesn’t necessarily take away the feeling of tiredness and being on the road. It’s important that the guys mentally have a break and get ready for a massive summer.’’
From a New Zealand viewpoint it doesn’t get much bigger.
After five T20s and two tests against England (starting November 21 at Mt Maunganui), they cross the Tasman for three tests against Australia then return to host India in five T20s, three ODIs and two tests.
They also return to Australia for three ODIs in March, then wrap up a big five months with three home T20s against their trans-Tasman rivals.
New Zealand remain second in the test rankings behind India after their series-levelling win in Colombo, and are sixth in the T20 rankings.
The shortest format carries an increasing focus, 13 months out from the T20 World Cup in Australia, and Stead was happy with what he saw in Sri Lanka.
‘‘We learned a lot . . . It was important for us to see different guys in situations.
‘‘We had a number of injuries which was a challenge and we had some tight results. All three could have gone either way and it was good to be on the right side of two of them.’’
Aside from Malinga’s four wickets in four balls which were near unplayable and saw the Black Caps rolled for 88 on Saturday, they chased down targets in the first two matches to seal their third successive T20 series win.