And so ends another eminently forgettable test series against the neighbours, with results all too familiar to Kiwis. Not the farewell Bracewell would have wanted as coach, but a clear signal to new coach Andy Moles of the challenges he faces.
Disappointing to see bowler Iain O’Brien sledge Ponting as he dismissed the Oz skipper. When you have the opposition captain as your bunny, words are not needed to send him off – just grin like the Cheshire Cat. More disturbing is the tendency of Vettori to join in his teammates verbal jousts. This shows a lack of respect for opponents, and undermines Vettori’s ability to step in and haul his players into line if they go over the top. Hopefully Moles will sort this quickly.
The good news is NZ may cohost the 2011 cricket world cup if the Indian sub-continent is deemed unsafe, after recent terror attacks.
But the downright bad (or bizarre) has to be O’Brien again, claiming before the NZ second innings that:
he backed his under-fire batsmen to perform today on “a helluva deck to bat on”.
Shame O’Brien evidently failed to inform his teammates of his expectations of them…
Tags: 2011 cricket world cup, Andy Moles, Australia, cohost, cricket, Daniel Vettori, Iain O'Brien, John Bracewell, NZ, Ricky Ponting, test match
December 2, 2008 at 12:22 am |
Yeah, it was a very disappointing performance by the Black Caps. Although I am an Aussie and was hoping for an Aussie win I did hope to see more spirit from the Kiwi batting lineup. However I did respect O’Brien’s guts in bouncing and bouncing Breet Lee. It takes guts to do that IMO knowing that you’ll be batting probably the next day and copping the same treatment at 140kph+.
December 4, 2008 at 1:37 pm |
True Cricket Rules – anyone who bounces Brett Lee is looking for payback in kind
I look forward to the day when NZ can give Oz a decent test, like when we had the 80’s side (Hadless, Lance Cairns, et al).
December 6, 2008 at 2:24 am |
Test cricket does seem a struggle for New Zealand right now. Are there any young lads looking to break through soon?
Excellent site by the way. Would you be able to drop me an email when you get a chance?
Thanks
Thomas