History is in the past: Mitchell
Some 129 men have played test cricket for New Zealand against Australia over the past 78 years, from Sir Richard Hadlee with 23 appearances all the way down to 33 different players with one.
But just 46 men have won a test match for New Zealand against Australia, from Hadlee and John Wright who have been involved in six, to the 29 who have only been involved in one.
Daryl Mitchell will join the first group on Thursday, when the first of two tests starts at the Basin Reserve, having declared himself “ready to go” after a recent spell resting an injured foot.
Five other members of the Black Caps’ current 14-strong squad are also chasing membership in that club – Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who are both under injury clouds, Will Young, Scott Kuggeleijn and Will O’Rourke.
But will any of them join the second club, by being part of a win, whether this week in Wellington or the following week at Hagley Oval in Christchurch? Of the eight squad members who have played Australia before, only captain Tim Southee and star batter Kane Williamson – both playing their 99th tests this week – know what that’s like, having been there in Hobart in 2011, the last time it happened.
Otherwise, those eight players have been part of six consecutive defeats on either side of the Tasman – one that sealed a 2-0 win for Australia at home in 2015, two in New Zealand in 2016 and three in Australia during the 2019-20 summer.
To change the record in 2024, the Black Caps need their newbies to fire, most importantly batters Mitchell, Conway, Ravindra and bowler O’Rourke, who only made his debut earlier this month against a weak South Africa side, but starred by taking nine wickets.
But as far as Mitchell is concerned, what’s happened before doesn’t matter, and the fact that he has no scars from torrid tours in the past won’t help.
“It sounds boring, but I love representing our country. Whatever format it is or wherever we are in the world, it's pretty special to first of all put on that black cap, then to do it.
“Whether I've played Australia or not, I don't think that really matters. You try and be as present as you can and you're trying to do a job for the team and hopefully that means you're helping your country win games of cricket.”
When Mitchell was growing up, trans-Tasman clashes on the rugby field were more front of mind than those in test cricket, as you would expect when his dad John was All Blacks coach from 2001 to 2003.
“Across all sports, New Zealand-Australia is always good fun,” he said. “I've got a photo of the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations cup sitting in my grandparents room, which was a fun memory and hopefully we can do the same with cricket as well.”
There was no news available yesterday on the status of batters Conway and Ravindra, who were both struck by injury during last week’s Twenty20 international series, which Australia won 3-0.