The upcoming series will be won by the whichever team’s batting and bowling group holds up better, not by whichever team comes up with the best sledge. For the first time in Australia in 30 years, that team might well be New Zealand
Brydon Coverdale in Brisbane04-Nov-20155:15
Coverdale: Lot of pressure on Smith and Warner
“New Zealand will always be the little brother. Population and proximity to the rest of the world will determine that.”So said Brendon McCullum on the eve of this Test series, when asked if the traditional trans-Tasman roles had reversed. The big brothers and little brothers across the ditch, a classic cliché of Australia-New Zealand relations. But you know what? Sometimes the little brother turns out to be better. You would rather be Mark Wahlberg than Donnie. And in this series, New Zealand might play the funky bunch to Australia’s new kids on the block.Led by McCullum, New Zealand have their best chance in living memory – the living memory of these young players, at least – of winning a Test series in Australia for the first time since 1985. The series is starting at the so-called Gabbatoir, where Australia have not lost a Test since before new captain Steven Smith was born, but make no mistake, his new-look side is vulnerable.For one thing, New Zealand have far more Test experience: 384 matches to Australia’s 253. Most notably, Australia’s batting order is thin on Test know-how. Of the top seven, only David Warner and Steven Smith have more than 10 Tests to their name. They will shoulder a heavy burden against a high-class swing attack of Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Doug Bracewell.New Zealand by comparison have only one man in their entire line-up – allrounder Jimmy Neesham – with less than 10 Tests of experience. And he has two Test centuries to his name already. Nathan Lyon has a far superior record to New Zealand’s spinner Mark Craig, but the pace attacks, as outstanding as they both may be, are difficult to separate. On paper, New Zealand’s XI looks stronger.They have also achieved feats in the past 12 months that Australia have failed to match. In the UAE last year, New Zealand won a Test and drew a series with Pakistan; Australia were crushed 2-0. In England this year, New Zealand drew their Test series with Alastair Cook’s men; Australia gave up the Ashes in a 3-2 result.Of course, at home Australia are a different proposition, and they annihilated India 4-0 in 2011-12. But the last time they hosted New Zealand, it was not quite that easy: the series was drawn 1-1 when New Zealand triumphed in the Hobart Test. It is a fascinating series to look back on: the captains have changed, the coaches have changed, but some of the personnel is the same.It was in that series that Boult and Mitchell Starc both made their Test debuts, and they are now two of the most feared left-arm swing bowlers in the world. New Zealand stuck with Boult, who has missed only three Tests since his debut; Starc has been in and out, and has featured in less than half of the 45 Tests Australia have played since his debut.It is also worth considering the paths taken by the current No.3s. Kane Williamson and Usman Khawaja, who both struggled in that 2011 campaign. New Zealand stuck with Williamson, who made a hundred on Test debut a year earlier. He now has 10 tons and is on the way to being New Zealand’s finest Test batsman of all time. Khawaja does not have a Test hundred, and is under pressure to make a go of his third crack at Test cricket.David Warner was another new Test cricketer in that series, and is Australia’s great success story from that summer. He debuted at the Gabba along with Starc and James Pattinson and it was a trio that oozed promise – Pattinson was Man of the Match on debut but injuries have kept him to 13 Tests. Warner has flourished and become Australia’s vice-captain.He has also become their attack dog. In typical big brother style he has led the verbal assault on New Zealand this week, aiming to keep little brother in its place. He called out McCullum for a newspaper column that criticised Smith, and promised that Australia knew where the mythical “line” of acceptable behaviour stood, but that they would head-butt the line in this series.In fact, the build-up to this Test over the past week has been dominated by talk of sledging Aussies, pious Kiwis, differences in attitude and ethos. The Australians have referred to McCullum’s “Mr Nice Guy Act”. He insists it is no act, but the approach has developed organically. “It’s not forced upon anyone,” McCullum says, and there are no team fines if a New Zealander sledges.
Forget all the build-up of rivalries, ultimately you’ve got cricketers trying to do the same thing: represent their country to the best of their ability and afterwards sit down and have a beerBrendon McCullum
Whatever the case, McCullum has certainly discovered what works for his team. By putting aside the so-called on-field banter, they focus on their skills. The challenge for Smith in his first series as full-time captain is to find out what works for his side, a side that features several new faces. Warner will chat, so will Mitchell Johnson, but others like Peter Nevill prefer to keep quiet.Smith and McCullum caught up on Tuesday to lay a commemorative ANZAC wreath, remembering the fact that it is 100 years since the country’s young men fought alongside each other at Gallipoli. Smith extended an olive branch, asking McCullum’s boys into the Australian rooms after this Test for a beer.”We like having a beer after the game so we’ll be in there,” McCullum said. “The way things work now with international cricket now, there’s guys who share dressing rooms with some of the Australian players in the IPL and you build friendships. Forget all the build-up of rivalries, ultimately you’ve got cricketers trying to do the same thing: represent their country to the best of their ability and afterwards sit down and have a beer.”So after all that, they’re all friends again? Anyway, that’s all guff compared to the cricket, and the cricket between these two teams in recent years has been engrossing. In Brisbane and Hobart in 2011, and in the World Cup this year, it was cricket dominated by high-quality, high-speed swing bowling, and again that should be the case in this series.It is a series that will be won by whichever team’s batting group holds up better, not by whichever team comes up with the best barb, or keeps its traps shut. Whichever team’s fast bowlers find just that little extra edge over their rivals will win the Trans-Tasman Trophy. For the first time in Australia in 30 years, that might well be New Zealand.Richard Hadlee took 15 wickets at the Gabba to set up that historic New Zealand series win. On Wednesday, he was back at the ground and reflected on his achievement by saying he found sledging a distraction; he let his bowling do the talking. And as Barry and Dayle Hadlee discovered, sometimes the little brother simply turns out to be better.
