This
is an account of a test match played little more than a month ago, though it seems
now to have been in another time, so much has happened since. To be able to
watch cricket at all has become a matter for nostalgia. For us in New Zealand,
at least it has come at the end of the season. We lost only a couple of rounds
of the Plunket Shield. Let’s acknowledge that to view all this through a
cricket lens is to get it badly wrong, but as someone who every year counted
down the days until I could first risk April hypothermia on the roof of the
Hammond Room in Bristol or elsewhere, I share the loss that county cricket
watchers will feel right now.
Many
of that group will wonder what county cricket will look like when it returns.
Will it emerge with enough money to sustain 18 counties? Will those who seek to
undermine the county structure, however much they deny it, ensure that it
doesn’t?
For
now, here is an account of four pleasant days at the cricket.
First
day
The
Basin Reserve looked a picture on a sunny morning. For the first time in almost
a decade the Museum Stand was open, having been restored and strengthened
against earthquakes. It has a new, somewhat unimaginative, name—the Old
Pavilion. There is a new pavilion, the players’ area next to the RA Vance
Stand. It might kindly be described as functional, though at least it is
consistent with the architectural style of Wellington’s sports venues. Down the
road, the Cake Tin, here the Bread Bin.
It
has a good name though: the Ewen Chatfield Pavilion. In the UK Chatfield is
best remembered for having his life saved by Bernard Thomas after edging a
Peter Lever delivery onto his temple. Here, he is regarded as the
quintessential New Zealand cricketer, military medium into the wind, setting
the batsmen up for Richard Hadlee at the other end. Chatfield is still seen at
the Basin whenever he can spare the time from driving his taxi. He retired from
club cricket just last year, 51 years after his debut for the same club. He
didn’t tell his Naenae Old Boys teammates until after the game that it was his
last, as he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
New
Zealand won the toss—a novelty of itself at the Basin—and put India in on a
pitch that had the browny-green hue of a stagnant pond. But the customary
first-morning handouts were not on offer, nor did the pitch enter its usual
coma after lunch. This was the best test pitch I have seen at the Basin, “best”
not in the misused sense of being easy to bat on, but providing a balance
between bat and ball. Throughout, there was assistance for the quicker bowlers,
but it required work and skill to find it; there was bounce too, enough to test
the batsmen. Ashwin even found some turn out of the footmarks; whether that
would have developed into anything significant on the last day and a half, we
will never know. It was a thousand times better than the dead tracks on which
the England series was played.
There
were six changes from the XI that I saw beaten in Sydney at the beginning of
January. Williamson, Nicholls and Boult returned from illness and injury. Spinners
Somerville and Astle made way for Ajaz Patel’s slow-left-arm (Sydney turned out
to be Astle’s last first-class appearance—he announced his retirement soon
thereafter). Pace bowler Kyle Jamieson made his test debut after impressing in
the 50-over side. And Tim Southee returned. Southee’s omission from the XI at
Sydney is one of New Zealand cricket’s great mysteries, our version of the
disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926. Watch out for a Dr Who episode
entitled The Mysterious Dropping of Southee in a few years’ time. Neil
Wagner was absent, supporting his wife as their first child was born. Matt
Henry was omitted; he is slipping down the pecking order of New Zealand quick
bowlers.
Prithvi
Shaw and Mayank Agarwal opened for India. Twenty-year-old Shaw could be the next big thing, but may
never be good enough to deal with the sort of delivery that he received from
Southee, which swung very late and hit the top of off.
Kyle
Jamieson becomes New Zealand’s tallest test cricketer at six foot eight, topping
Peter Fulton by a couple of inches. Like Tom Blundell, Jamieson has looked
promising in domestic cricket without demanding an international place, but
when given the opportunity looks as if he belongs there. Few players have pure
talent in such quantity as to guarantee success at the highest level. For most,
it comes down to how well they adapt to the challenges it presents. Jamieson
relishes them. Barring statistical anomalies, have any other bowler’s first two
test victims had a combined test batting average of more than 100?
Jamieson’s
accurate off-stump line and tall-man’s bounce had induced diffidence in Pujara,
and when a full-length ball straightened more sharply it found the edge to be
caught by Watling. Kohli started aggressively, but in Jamieson’s next over
edged another full-length delivery to Taylor at first slip.
Agarwal
and Rahane took the innings well past luncheon (as I will continue to call it
in tribute to John Woodcock), showing that the pitch was not combustable. It
was misjudgement rather than movement that ended the partnership when Agarwal
top-edged a pull to be caught at fine leg off Boult. Vihari became the third
victim of Jamieson’s probing off-stump line. Progress was slow, with only 43
runs added in 27 overs during the afternoon session.
Rain
came during the interval. Visiting crews in next year’s America’s Cup contest
could usefully acclimatise themselves to New Zealand’s vigorous winds by doing
a spell on the groundstaff at the Basin, some of whom might have been swept up
over Mount Victoria while clinging onto the large groundsheet that serves as
the primary covers. There was no further play; India finished the day on 122
for five.
Second
day
The
start of play each day was at 11 30, just as it used to be when I was a lad.
However, unlike then, play here did not end at 6 30, giving us time to march
briskly down the Old Dover Road to catch the 6 45 bus home. It sprawled on, not
knowing quite how to end, like the Hobbit films made by Peter Jackson at the
studios just down the road. The time lost yesterday was added on at the end of
the day, rather than to the beginning, as was the case in the England series.
This is because Indian TV wants it that way. There should be no complaint about
this; the rights to this series will go a long way to keeping New Zealand
cricket going for the next few years. The T20s had begun at 8pm, and that at
the Cake Tin didn’t finish until gone midnight, after the losing super over
that now seems obligatory for New Zealand. Some people who went didn’t get home
until past 1 30am, yet were still in their seats for the first ball of the
domestic one-day game at the Basin the following morning. Heroes.
Rishabh
Pant resumed for India. He had been unusually subdued on the first day, but
today he put the fourth ball of the morning in the food court next to the main
stand.
Ajaz
Patel was the bowler, on just to allow Southee to change ends. It was his third
over, and last of the innings. He bowled the same number in the second innings,
a reflection of how well the quicker bowlers bowled here. He was dropped for the
second test, thanks partly to the poor record of spinners at Hagley Park. Also,
de Grandhomme performs the holding and control role that is usually that of the
spinner. The all-rounder’s 11 overs on the first day had cost only 12 runs.
However,
Patel’s influence on events was not at an end. Rahane pushed a ball from
Southee into the offside and set off for a sharp single. Pant took three paces
down the pitch, then stopped. Rahane hesitated, but carried on. Patel, moving
square from cover point, should have thrown the ball to Watling who was
sprinting towards the stumps with plenty of time to take the bails off before
Pant got there. Instead, Patel went for glory, and hit the one stump he had to
aim at.
Pant’s
selection as keeper was criticised by Harsha Bhogle as taking India down the
well-trodden road of going for the better batsmen over the artisan keeper,
Wriddhiman Saha in this case. Farokh Engineer agreed that Saha is the better
gloveman but thought that the selectors were right to go for Pant as a package,
the same reasoning having accounted for a good proportion of his own 46 test
caps. Pant kept wicket well here.
Ashwin’s
dismissal by Southee, was to a ball every bit as good as the one that dismissed
Shaw. It was Ashwin’s first ball, but if it had been his two hundredth he would
have stood no more chance of keeping it out.
Southee
and Jamieson finished the innings off efficiently, both ending with four
wickets. India’s total was 165 and would have been less but for Shami’s
late-order slogging.
Now
for something that I have been looking forward to for a few years: the chance
to watch Jasprit Bumrah bowl. Bumrah’s run up resembles that of your aunty on
her annual spell on the sands at Skegness, before turning into something
wonderful as he passes the umpire. Like Lasith Malinga, Bumrah would never have
survived a regimented academy system; he is a celebration of dissidence.
Tom
Blundell continues to impress in his surprise role as a test opener, which he
approached so seriously here that he did not get off the mark until the seventh
over. There were a few false shots, and he was a little fortunate that balls
that might have been caught landed in space, but he remained unfazed, an attribute
for a batsman at the top of the order. He was still in when the spinner came
on, always a sign (in New Zealand, at least) that the opener has done his job. The
opening stand had reached 26 when Latham was dismissed somewhat softly, caught
behind off a legside flick just after lunch.
Williamson’s
first ball bounced steeply and took him on the gloves. That was just about the
only false shot he played. He looked in prime touch from then on.
Blundell
played around a Sharma inswinger to be bowled for 30 from a self-denying 80
deliveries. This brought in Ross Taylor in his hundredth test match, only the
fourth New Zealander to achieve this after Fleming, Vettori and McCullum.
What’s more, he became the first cricketer anywhere to notch up a century of
international appearances in all three forms. I first came across him when he
was a member of the New Zealand Under-19 squad in 2000/1 when I covered part of
their series against South Africa for CricInfo. Just 16-years-old, he
had scored a half century in each of the first two games, but only managed six
when I saw him at New Plymouth and did not much better in the subsequent
one-day series. The CricInfo scorer knew Ross quite well so he spent a
bit of time with us. He came across as a modest but self-possessed young man,
confident enough of his ability not to need to draw attention to it. The
level-headedness has enabled him to make the most of the ability, and could be
felt in the warmth of his welcome to the field as he came out to bat.
Seven-thousand runs also helps, of course.
Two
of his trademark shots came out straightaway. The not-quite-falling-over-push
through the legside got him off the mark, then everybody’s favourite, the
slog-sweep, nowadays generally reserved for the encore, but on this special day
the opening number, putting Ashwin onto the terraces while still in single
figures. To show that that he is down there with the kids, Taylor later ramped
a boundary off the back of his bat.
The
Williamson–Taylor partnership took New Zealand past India’s total for the loss
of just two wickets, which was massively therapeutic for those of us who had
been in Australia. But without addition Taylor was surprised by Sharma’s pace
and gloved a catch to Pujara at backward short leg for 44.
Williamson
continued give a reasonable impression of an angel at the crease. Two offside
boundaries from one Bumrah over after he had been in for half an hour had the
RA Vance Stand purring like a cattery at dinnertime. He was Shakespeare knocking
off a sonnet, Rutherford splitting an atom. A century appeared inevitable, but
on 89 he got a cover drive slightly wrong and substitute Jadeja took a good
diving catch.
Henry
Nicholls took 50 deliveries to reach double figures and was out to Ashwin,
edging to gully a ball that turned quite sharply. Three of the other wickets
fell to Sharma, who bowled splendidly. He has always been quick enough to
bother good players but now has added guile. He exploited the extra bounce in
this Basin pitch magnificently.
New
Zealand were 51 ahead with five wickets standing when the sun disappeared
behind the Old Pavilion to bring play to a close 20 minutes early.
Third
day
Some test-match
traditions are immutable. Picnics in the Harris Memorial Garden at Lord’s; beer
snakes at Headingley; the band at Port Elizabeth; Chickie’s disco at the
Recreation Ground, Antigua; that on one day of every test match played at the
Basin Reserve there will be a southerly that could blast freeze molten lead.
Today was that day.
Perhaps
the wind had a chilling effect on BJ Watling’s judgement. He followed the first
ball of the day from Bumrah—one that he could have been relied upon to leave 99
times out of 100—to be caught by Pant.
With
the lead far from decisive and wickets falling fast, home supporters were in
need of reassurance. In these circumstances the appearance of Tim Southee is as
comforting as setting sail only to discover that the captain is wearing an
eyepatch and brandishing a cutlass.
Sure
enough, a couple of overs later he glanced a Sharma delivery that was well wide
of leg stump straight to Shami at fine leg, possibly leaving the field as a
test No 8 for the last time, given the fine performance by Kyle Jamieson that followed.
Not many batsmen have hit a six before they are out of double figures in their
debut innings as he did. Three more followed, as he showed equal relish for
pace and spin. He was caught at long on going for a fifth six that would have
taken him to a half century, having written his name on the New Zealand
teamsheet in indelible ink.
Jamieson
out de Grandhommed de Grandhomme, who was content to take the supporting role
and to have the rare experience of watching himself bat. He was out soon after,
feathering a legside catch off the glove to the keeper off Ashwin.
I am
not generally a fan of music during play, but it would be quite reasonable if the
Benny Hill theme were to ring out throughout every Trent Boult innings. He bats
as if he hasn’t noticed that the library has given him the tennis coaching book
rather than that for cricket. But what an eye he has. The most astonishing shot
from a strong field of contenders was a full toss from Shami on middle stump
that he clipped to the cover boundary while in retreat towards square leg.
Boult made 38 from 24 balls including five fours and a six. New Zealand’s lead was
183.
Shaw
looked in good touch with three offside boundaries in the first eight overs,
before Boult’s extra bounce surprised him, though it needed a spectacular catch
from Latham, stationed at leg gully for precisely that delivery, to complete
the dismissal.
Pujara
seemed just the man to bring India back into the game with a fighting innings.
His defence was solid. De Grandhomme resorted to placing three catching short
covers, to no avail. But Pujara couldn’t score. I was put in mind of the great
CJ Tavaré at Lord’s in ’84 (and in many other places at many other times, to be
fair), existing in a sort of temporal stasis.
Pujara
was out to the last ball before tea, symbolically strokeless, leaving alone a Boult
delivery angled in from wide of the crease that hit off. He made 11 from 81
balls.
In the
final session, 66 runs were scored for the loss of two wickets, which sounds mundane.
It was anything but; the cricket was gripping. The wickets were Agarwal, though
it needed every bit of the DRS’s technology to confirm Aleem Dar’s caught-behind
decision; and, crucially, Kohli, also caught behind, off a thin edge trying to
hook Boult.
I had
mixed feelings about this. It was a large step towards a home victory, but a
cricket fan always wants to see the great players be great. I saw Kohli in his
prime… He made a century last time India played at the Basin, but only when the
game was dead. Given the punishing programme that Indian cricketers face, he
might have been forgiven taking the foot off the pedal on a tour to a quiet
corner of the world, but there has not been a second when Kohli has appeared
anything other than consumed by his team’s interests. He has had a poor series
with the bat, because he cares too much, not too little. The mutual respect and
liking between him and Williamson has made for an excellent spirit between the
two teams.
Fourth
day
The
wind had shifted back to a more social direction and was mostly absent; the sky
was blue. It reminded me of days at Folkestone at the end of August, when
summer had settled into contented, predictable old age.
India
were 39 behind with six wickets standing, a good position for New Zealand, but
there was anxiety among the Basin faithful. We have often seen recovery from an
apparently hopeless position, usually by New Zealand: against India in 2014,
Sri Lanka in 2015 and Bangladesh in 2017. We looked at the Indian team listed
on the scoreboard and were impressed. There were plenty of runs left, more than
that attack might give us.
Such pessimism.
The game was over by lunchtime. That this was so was mainly down to the
excellence of Boult and Southee, both at the point where physical ability and
experience, or science and art, complement each other perfectly. Yesterday,
Boult took three of the four wickets. Two of them were from short deliveries,
testimony of itself to his skill, given that pace is not his chief weapon.
Boult
took his fourth in the third over of the morning. Close enough to off stump to
force Rahane to play, it moved just enough to take the edge of the bat.
Southee
now took over. He began in the next over by working Vihari over a treat. First,
he swung one away. The next one came in, through the gap created between bat
and pad by the previous delivery.
Ashwin
was leg-before, bringing in Sharma to buckle such swashes as remained. He was
dropped twice, by Latham at short leg and Southee at short cover. Neither were
difficult, but it didn’t matter. The latter miss was off de Grandhomme, who got
the wicket he deserved by when he got Sharma leg-before.
Southee
finished off the innings, helped by two brilliant catches, first by Boult at
fine leg to dismiss Pant, then substitute Daryl Mitchell at second slip off
Bumrah.
Southee
finished with five for 61, Boult with four for 39. Richard Hadlee is New
Zealand’s greatest bowler by a street, but these two are the outstanding
bowling combination, one of the finest in cricket history. This was New Zealand’s
100th test victory, and Southee and Boult have bowled in combination in 28 of
them.
Latham
and Blundell completed the ten-wicket win without incident.
New
Zealand took the second test in Christchurch by seven wickets, Southee and
Boult again destroying India’s second innings after even first innings. So New
Zealand took India apart after having the same done to them in Australia. What
does this tell us about the state of world cricket?
The
disadvantage of away teams remains an issue, though India’s preparation was
better than most these days with the players not involved in the one-day series
playing for India A against New Zealand A in four-day games. Perhaps the World
Test Championship should give double points for away wins, though this assumes
that anybody takes any notice of that competition which seems to have taken off
like a hippo trying paragliding.
New
Zealand are back to No 2 in the test rankings, just ahead of Australia and
England. They are not scheduled to play tests again until August so are less
immediately affected by the hiatus than some countries.
Stay
safe, wherever you may be.
