The Kiwis have had a shocking tour abroad to Australia – there is no doubt of that.
Horror injuries to fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Trent Boult have been compounded by the freak virus striking down captain Kane Williamson and others. Combine this with two dismal efforts in Perth and Melbourne, which both resulted in humiliating defeats, and New Zealand cricket is currently in a state of frenzied disarray.
Without the tireless efforts of Neil Wagner and Tom Blundell’s magical MCG ton, there would be no positives to take out of the three-Test Chappell-Hadlee series.
There have been many disappointing parts of their performances. The lack of fight in both the top and middle-order have left them looking weak in the batting department, while their lack of bowling depth has been cruelly exploited in warm Australian conditions.
But what has been New Zealand’s biggest flaw in turns of what has hurt them most in this Test series has been the way they have deployed spin.
Sure, Mitchell Santner is not a world-class Test spin bowler. He is much more effective in limited-overs cricket where his inability to consistently land orthodox balls is obscured, and it takes a fewer amount of overs to frustrate batsmen into incorrect shots.
His two Test matches in Australia weren’t up to scratch – he was expensive and struggled to take wickets. A glint of positivity is that he is definitely not the first foreign spin bowler to come to Australia and be largely unsuccessful. Yasir Shah has a much better Test record yet he experienced the same fate for the second time just over a month ago.
Despite his shortcomings as a frontline Test spinner, the way he was used in Perth and Melbourne barely gave him the opportunity to take wickets and clamp down on the rampant Aussie bats. This has been proven further in Sydney, where the use of Todd Astle and William Somerville have been similarly poor in terms of aggression and belief.
Kane Williamson is a wonderful Test batsman and a formidable captain of a resurgent New Zealand which punched above its weight to reach second on the ICC Test match rankings. But the way he deployed Santner was abysmal.
The young Kiwi offy wasn’t seen until after lunch each time New Zealand bowled in the first innings. Not a prodigious turner of the ball, one must wonder how Williamson and New Zealand management expect Santner to dismiss world-class players of spin such as Steve Smith if their premier spinner doesn’t receive the aid of a new-ish ball?
(Visionhaus)
Unlike the way Australia and other nations introduce their spinners (take South Africa and Keshav Maharaj for example) into the attack as early as the tenth over, New Zealand seem to view Santner and other spinners as a back-up, last resort option for when their pace bowlers can’t make breakthroughs.
Sure, Nathan Lyon is a freakishly good off-spin bowler, but throughout his early years where he was developing his craft he received the trust from an aggressive captain in Michael Clarke. Despite his form, he often received the ball early on and was treated as an attacking weapon who could take a swag of wickets and dominate a Test match.
Santner was never gifted that opportunity. His displays were less than pretty, but how can one expect a young spin bowler with low confidence to spin out some of the world’s best bats at home with an old ball and no trust from their captain?
What Sydney has proven is that this isn’t a mindset solely with Williamson. It is a negative view from New Zealand cricket and its senior figures.
Obliging with the pointless touring party convention of picking two spinners for Sydney, both Astle and Somerville weren’t seen until long after the Kookaburra ball had softened up and lost all of its shine. It’s a serious flaw in tactical nous by New Zealand, and it has been a key contributor to the long hours they’ve spent watching Marnus Labuschagne and co carve up their bowling attack.
As Shane Warne famously said, if a pitch seams and swings then it will always provide sideways movement for spin bowlers. Until New Zealand realise that they won’t produce a spin bowler worthy for the Test arena without going through the hard yards of using them aggressively and introducing them while the ball is new to attack the top order, they won’t be able to compete with the world’s cricket heavyweights consistently.
Old Greybeard
Roar Rookie
Warne is just a windbag as a commentator. However, one point about Australia is that most of our wickets don't turn that much so bounce is a factor and the old ball does not bounce well. It was not until Mark Taylor become captain that spin was well understood by our leadership group so we have not always been at our best here. The reason why a number of sub continent tweakers have done poorly is they expected and were used to much more turn, bounce was not a factor. However I wonder how that niggling bugger Daniel Vettori would have gone in Sydney? I remember my dad talking about watching Grimmett and saying he was amazed how much height he gave the ball, he was not usually considered a big turner so bounce again?
dungerBob
Roar Rookie
I'd say the reason Williamson is reluctant to bowl Santner early is because he knows he'll just release any pressure the new ball bowlers have managed to stack up. I think the salient point here is that Santner just isn't very good in Aussie conditions and no amount of faith shown by his captain is going to change that. The two new guys bowled pretty well towards the end of the Aussie innings and they may get thrown the ball quite early tomorrow, day 4. They showed something so they may get rewarded. Santner, nah, don't think so.
Sean Mortell
Roar Guru
Completely agree. South Africa has changed their mindset on spin on the back of Maharaj's emergence. Considering the changing of the guard occurring in their fast bowling department, his consistency and potency is a godsend.
Sean Mortell
Roar Guru
I agree, hence why another problem is them selecting the two spinners in the first place. They were relying very heavily on being able to bowl last and somehow spin through, but that's hard to do when you chuck two bowlers in and don't give them the ball until the 30-40th over.
Sean Mortell
Roar Guru
69 overs over four innings where they've averaged over 100 overs per innings? That's less than 20 overs an innings. Think how much Wagner and Southee bowl per innings (at least 30 overs in most occasions). Then look at how many Lyon bowls when Australia bowl less overs throughout the entire series by a long way. The stats definitely show he didn't get much of a chance. In regards to tactics, I would definitely use him early against the likes of Burns, Labuschagne and Smith. Set one fielder out (perhaps on the point boundary if he is dragging down) and then see how willing the bats are to take him on when he bowls fuller. He's definitely a better bowler than Raval, just needed a lot more chance to attack, rather than always being treated as a last-ditch resort when the Australian top order had already settled and were seeing them like beach balls. I don't think any spinner would hold their own against the likes of Labuschagne when he's on 100 already...
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Actually the confidence shown by South Africa in Maharaj is a very new thing and a real feather in his cap and he has earned that. SA always backed the seamers with spin being seen as an afterthought. It’s been a weak point in our cricket for decades. . Maharaj is an emerging star in the world of tweakers. Shane Warne seeing him bowl for the first time made the comment… ” what’s there not to like”.
Paul
Roar Guru
Barely used? He bowled 69 overs for a return of 1 for 250. He went at more than 3.5 runs an over so he was not only not getting wickets, he was leaking lots of runs. Tell me what sort of field you set & tactics you use for a spinner who is contributing nothing? Give him a hard, newish ball? If there was any sort of hope he'd make use of it, by all means but when he's outbowled by Raval, a part timer, no tactics or field settings are going to make much difference. The only thing that's on Williamson, is his agreeing to Santner's selection. That was a big mistake.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
You may be right about it being an ill-advised selection. Probably only going to work if NZ bats first. But the stats show that spinners have performed terribly in the first innings of matches at the SCG over the last decade, so it would have been optimistic to think these two would have done much better, whatever the tactics.
Sean Mortell
Roar Guru
But I have clearly stated the problem isn't just with Santner. Somerville and Astle, despite their superior FC records, both barely got a bowl at the SCG and were largely ineffective until the back end of the wickets. What's the point of picking two spinners if you don't use them until after lunch? Either it's a poor selection choice to include both of them or it is poor use of spin bowling, as they were never once used as an attacking option.
Sean Mortell
Roar Guru
The reality is that regardless of Santner's record, they picked him. Williamson, like all modern captains, would be privy to selection discussions. Therefore, if Santner is picked, why would you then hide him and barely use him? You can't expect Santner to improve his record or develop as a player if he barely gets a chance to be exposed to tough conditions. It definitely is on New Zealand's leadership and their tactics regarding spin.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Not true that most Test teams bring on spinners early outside the sub-continent. Most want to maximise use of the new ball by the quicks first. And Warne is wrong about it always spinning when it seams. It might do it for big tweakers like Warne but not for finger spinners who hardly turn like Santner. The problem with Santner is that he shouldn’t be in the team anyway. He has a first class bowling average of 46 to go along with his Test average of 44, which makes Marnus Labuschagne look like Clarrie Grimmett. And that’s NZ first class, which is a step below Sheffield Shield (thanks to NZ ‘s small population). Whereas Astle has an FC average of 32 and Somerville’s is 27. It should have been a no-brainer to pick one of them ahead of Santner. Astle bowled pretty well in this match and deserved a couple of wickets.
Paul
Roar Guru
I can't agree with this piece at all. In the first instance, by the authors own admission, Santner is not a world class spinner, certainly not in long form cricket where his best bowling figures in first class cricket are 3 for 27. In FC cricket, he's played 50 matches for 76 wickets and averages 46 with the ball. These are really poor numbers, yet Williamson was expected to give this guy some sort of preferential treatment, ie bowling with a newish ball, etc? And he was supposed to do this ahead of his supposedly world class fast bowling attack? I'm also wondering how many really good finger spinners have crashed and burned in Australian conditions? Murali, Graeme Swan and Ashwin, all struggled in Australia, yet "the main flaw" in the way New Zealand have gone about their bowling rests on Williamson, because he supposedly misused a guy whose hardly good enough to play grade in Sydney, based on his first class figures? The reality is, Santner was chosen as an each way option with bat & ball and proved ineffective in both disciplines. It would have mode no difference what Williamson did, he simply would not have been able to get blood out of a stone. "As Shane Warne famously said, if a pitch seams and swings then it will always provide sideways movement for spin bowlers." The ball moved plenty on the First Day of the Sydney Test for the quicks, but how much turn did the spinners get - virtually none.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Santer is not good enough yet. You need your Stephen Boock and Johnny Bracewell. Artist and professional. Today's verison are Astle and Sommerville. I thought they bowled well today. The main prob for kiwis is they listen to too much crap Aussies say.
Kiwi in East Perth
Guest
Very good and valid points raised in this article. NZ conditions suit seam and swing bowling and are not helpful for spinners. Hence we don't produce or develop them. Vettori being the only one in recent time and he did not Spin the ball a lot. It's common for our main seam / swing bowlers to 4 wickets in a session and spin is only used to rest our main bowlers. This has been exposed in Australian conditions. Overall we have been under prepared and not for enough to compete in this series which has left me completely dissapointed.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Sean...very well said! You are selected. Congratulations. Now let's unleash the beast! Spin bowling is ALL about confidence. Sooner is ALWAYS better than later! There is nothing more satisfying than right arm over bowling offices and ripping a toppie on a good length to a leftie and seeing (and hearing) the crack as it hits the batsmen flush on the chin under the grill...I nearly knocked one bloke out! It was a cracking uppercut! Head snapped back...Yep it's TRUE!
Carlin
Roar Rookie
Yeah mate seems to have had a lot of defensive fields lately. This test would have been good to have spin on early as well as only Wagner is playing from the regular pace trio. On Day 1, one thing that concerned me was that Astle and Sommerville bowled no maidens between them. That does not build pressure. Spinners need to bowl at the same batsmen for a good period.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, Astle actually looked really good with a pretty good wrong'un as well. With attacking fields with guys around the bat, he could be really threatening! Hopefully Latham will treat his spinners better than Williamson, but so far he seems as defensive as Williamson is.
Carlin
Roar Rookie
I only caught the afternoon sessions today but thought Todd Astle was starting to be threatening. Bowled some great variation and was starting to get some good turn.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Yep, the kiwis don't show enough faith and set aggressive fields for the spinners, with close in fielders to try to put pressure on the batsmen. They seem defensive only about trying to limit the runs, which is actually their whole team's philosophy flaw. Wagner's figures might look good but his wickets (and NZ's) aren't in clumps in an hour or one session of a game to put the aussies under enormous pressure. A guy like Hadlee could rip through the batting line up quickly, putting the batting team under enormous pressure. Wagner's successful short ball bodyline 2.0 is all about boring the batsmen out, hoping they all play rash shots.