NZ worth their weight in a gold mace
Black Caps’ value extends beyond WTC win over India
Arguably, the best case for the anointment of Williamson’s charges with “the greatest” tag comes with how easy they make selling the game to the next generation.
The value which Kane Williamson’s First XI have brought to cricket in New Zealand extends beyond cavorting around a mace on a makeshift stage in Southampton to symbolise their test match supremacy.
Ninety-one years after debuting in the format, these pioneers achieved instant immortality at home when Chief Luteru Taylor whipped a Mohammed Shami delivery off his pads to the square leg boundary to secure the country’s most significant silverware in the sport via an eightwicket victory over India.
The feat will rank among
New Zealand’s finest sporting achievements when tossed into that subjective apples/oranges matrix. You know the one . . . it sits alongside “Who’s in your greatest All Blacks team?” and “Does the America’s Cup deserve more funding?” in the holy trinity of talkback topics reserved for slow news days.
The reason the victory resonated is also more intangible.
Euphoric huddles of fans congregated in workplaces.
This writer observed frenetic conversations in the Herald HQ kitchen, across the lift atrium and within grey semi-partitioned cubicles. Echoes of “Taylor”, “Williamson” or “Jamieson” could be heard in sync with body language that involved a flick of the hands towards an imaginary legside, a late dab towards a mythical gully, and fingers releasing an invisible ball. Some characters you mightn’t have chatted to in weeks, months and — in rare instances — years sidled along to a pop-up confessional booth to disclose their nocturnal activities from the previous six nights.
This crop of Black Caps tease such emotions out of people. Ditto the celebration after the 50-over World Cup semifinal win over South Africa six years ago, or in commiseration after the losses to Australia and England in the respective 2015 and 2019 finals.
The test incumbents have earned global mana by standing on the shoulders of some giant forebears.
They include the meteoric feats of Walter Hadlee’s “49ers”; the combative 1980s combinations who sparkled under the genius of Sir Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe; and the street-wise nous of Stephen Fleming’s sides once he had matured into the captaincy by the turn of the century.
Crikey, even The Knight declared this outfit “the best in our history”. The defence rests, your honour.
Arguably, the best case for the anointment of Williamson’s charges with “the greatest” tag comes with how easy they make selling the game to the next generation.
For starters, you would struggle to find a more selfless cricketer in the New Zealand annals than the skipper.
He has never sacrificed his sincerity or manners at the altar of bravado.
Williamson’s ability to disarm bowlers with his bat and to engage people with his emotional intelligence have been documented since he was a teenager. He’s maintained an inclusive culture rather than a back-of-the-bus mentality since taking the reins as the automatic heir apparent to the revolutionary Brendon McCullum.
Once you have schooled children in the merits of “Kane-ing” life, you can look to attributes brought by the remainder of the team. Don’t search far, try the sixth day of the final.
Tom Latham takes the final catch of India’s second innings, pops down the ball and races for the dressing room followed by Devon Conway on his shoulder to pad up and focus on the next job at hand.
Aside from anchoring the chase
and hitting the winning runs, 37-yearold Taylor lets his muscles go ballistic in a dash from first slip to third man to save a boundary.
Speaking of which, Henry Nicholls channels Usain Bolt by running 38 metres in five seconds back from point to snaffle a catch off the troublesome Rishabh Pant.
BJ Watling dislocates his ring finger on his right hand but soldiers on in his final session of international cricket, eventually passing the baton in serendipitous fashion to successor Tom Blundell to finish the innings.
Colin de Grandhomme patrols the in-field and boundary like a sentinel capable of rifling in throws which threaten the land-speed record and keep scampering batsmen hesitant.
Kyle Jamieson keeps asking questions from a release point of around 2.2 metres on his way to another man-of-the-match gong after dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.
Tim Southee drops Pant at second slip off Jamieson but compartmentalises the glitch to return and mop up the tail.
Trent Boult fights his way back into rhythm by securing three wickets.
Neil Wagner subtly drifts across the crease around the wicket to lure Ravindra Jadeja into a false stroke.
In the interim, reserve squad members Ajaz Patel, Will Young and Matt Henry sit on standby ready to help any team cause.
So what’s next for this Black Caps juggernaut? The story from the hell of Cape Town in 2013 can surely now be shuffled to a dusty corner of the library, alongside the tale about being on the cusp of nirvana at Lord’s in
2019. A fresh chapter can be written on the heaven of Southampton in
2021. Hallelujah!