Slack Chaps have something to smile about

Well cricket followers in NZ don´t normally have much to smile about in test cricket. We don´t have any superstars in our squad. We consistently surprise in the shorter form because often the sum of our collective parts is much more formidable than what it should be.

In the long version of the game, however, our deficiencies are normally ruthlessly exposed. More often than not, our main deficiencies are with the bat. Indeed, this test was no exception. No one really stood out with the bat. The Black Caps simply don´t know how to build an innings. McCullum opening sends the wrong message to the rest of the team. Adam Gilchrist he is certainly not. Sure he´s good for a few highlight package shots but invariably he gets found out. The problem is, we don´t have openers in NZ. We never have. The best I can think of is a tail-ender off-spinner who became a born-again-batsman in a moment of profoundness one day. And even then Mark Richardson was often first drop. Often in the shorter version of the game we can rely on a few cameos to get us a reasonable total. In test cricket it doesn´t work that way. You need someone to anchor the innings and bat out overs. Then depending on who is in, you can rotate strike and find ways to score runs. Too often we try to force the play, sell our wicket cheaply and then dig an even deeper hole for us by getting out cheaply again.

What pleased me, and generally is our strength in ODIs, is that we have a lot of confidence fielding and bowling. Goodness knows why as we lack superstar bowlers as well. Bracewell was a villain in Brisbane as he had far too many no balls and could have got wickets to make the no balls even worse. What was frustrating for me is that we had chances to apply pressure to Australia in the Brisbane match. Again our batting let us down but a few more runs in that first innings and Australia would´ve been in a different mindset. Test cricket is all about applying pressure and capitalising on the opposition´s doubts. When the pressure is on, you make mistakes you don´t normally make.

That was ably demonstrated today in the fourth day. Australia were coasting along quite comfortably. Taylor makes the big mistake of not contesting the umpire when there was a clear hand-in-the-cookie-jar look from the Australian opener and he doesn´t act on it. When a player looks behind at the wicketkeeper and then at the umpire, he´s not trying to avoid the eye of a streaker on the ground. It´s because he´s clearly but unwittingly showing you he knows he´s out. Daniel Vettori was a big loss to NZ at the start of the test. His batting would´ve been welcome for one thing but also his captaincy. For all our deficiencies, we usually have a very good captain. I guess somebody has to hold this rabble together! That said, Taylor has some important mistakes to learn from. At least his mistake didn´t come back to haunt him.

Southee and Bracewell won´t be in any greatest bowlers lists on these boards. But they can do a job for NZ that often we haven´t had. They don´t have electric pace but they are a cut above our standard medium paced bowlers we so cherish on our low and slow wickets. Get a bit of swing in the air and these bowlers suddenly don´t seem so much like journeymen. Too often we rely on one strike bowler to do the damage. If we can have bowlers operating well at both ends we can apply a lot more pressure.

There is much to ridicule about this side. But breaking a 26-year drought in Australia is a big achievement for NZ. There is still a long way to go for us. This was by no means a convincing display from us. The usual batting frailties were all too apparent to see. We need to dominate with bat as well as ball to win consistently at test level. But so far we haven´t demonstrated the correct temperament or accuracy with the bat to do so. Just because we overperform at ODIs doesn´t mean we can translate that to test cricket. It´s been a perennial problem ever since I first followed the game as a nipper.

Yet when you´re not used to winning, these are sweet moments that you have to savour. Then again, I think this is the downfall of the Black Caps. Annoyingly they find themselves in positions to dominate proceedings in a test match. Instead of thinking that 1 in a 100 games they can turn it on, they should find ways to be more consistent.

So well done NZ. Now you face Zimbabwe so you never know a back-to-back test win is not implausible. But facing SA in March, I´d love for us to punch above our weight for once in test cricket on a more consistent basis. We don´t have any right to the way we play but like the ODI performances at the World Cup, that´s not to say it can´t happen.

Very well done to NZ, and wholly unexpected at the close of play yesterday.

Excellent from Bracewell, and equally poor from Australia's experienced batsmen.

I can't see NZ challenging for the top spot any time soon, but there is at least now a glimmer of hope that they'll be competitive in each series they play. The batting though, as you rightly say, needs a lot more grit about it if this is to be the case.