3 minute read

Two Test series are so annoying but that is the deck we are on again as New Zealand chases Australia’s tail again.

Check out the Racing And Sports Preview for the two Tests with a few betting ideas at the end.

NEW ZEALAND v AUSTRALIA

2nd Test

8 March – 12 March 2024 @ Hagley Oval, Christchurch

Once again in a series Australia has jumped out of the boxes like Brett Lee – the greyhound I mean, not the Sydney quickie.

Like the Ashes, like against Pakistan and then the West Indies, early action seems to be their great forte. It gets the opposition off the bit and puts them under pressure, making for bad decisions and poor cricket technically.

And very much at the forefront of thinking out of the Wellington Test was the emergence (or re-emergence) of Cameron Green as a Test player.

In reality it was the announcement of him as a long term Number 4. Consider this – the margin of the game ended up 172 runs and Green made 174 first dig. So both technically and numerically he was the difference.

There were two other scores above 50 in the Test and Nathan Lyon top scored in the Second Innings. That exemplifies just how others struggled to get the drift of the pitch and how to handle the conditions.

Admittedly it was green in colour and yet dry meaning the spinner would enjoy the indentations as the game went along. Makes you really question why New Zealand, at home, failed to pick a specialist.

Green showed application and was prepared to battle it out early. He batted for closing on seven hours and knew what to do with the tail. At 4/89 and then finally 9/267, it was game on. The Kiwis were in the mix despite not fully taking advantage of conditions.

However his early concentration was replaced with flat out attack to reach the hundred before Stumps with three boundaries as he feared the prospect of giving Hazlewood any more than the odd delivery.

Little did we know they'd both still be there at Lunch the following day. 116 for the final wicket was a killer psychologically for the Black Caps and a huge impact on the game.

Green's power was unable to be withheld on those New Zealand grounds even if Wellington is one of the bigger versions. He even miss-hit a few over the picket fence.

Full credit to him for reading the room. The rewards were both immediate for this game and long term and could well be the making of him. Whether No 4 or No 5 is his true spot time will tell.

Being that batting all-rounder, how often does it help gain confidence with the ball too. Australia has not had a pace bowling all-rounder seemingly forever. Benaud, Warne etc were definitely spinning versions.

His health could be the only thing that slightly curtails how much bowling he is able to do.

From the moment 383 was posted, pressure mounted. It was exacerbated at 5/29 including Kane Williamson running himself out. When he scored a total of 9 runs for the Test, it had a huge impact.

What does need to be said is something that has been an issue for a few years. The bowling is very much putting a large band aid over the batting.

Marnus Labuschagne's 111 to save the test at Manchester is his only three figures in his last 37 innings. He has seven completed innings scores under 10 in the last 7 tests he's played. At least he's getting out in funky ways and not by a real technical flaw.

Tack on Travis Head's recent struggles aside from the World Test Championship and World Cup, changes following Warner's departure and the obvious age issue and decisions are imminent.

That Shamar Joseph intervention at the Gabba was a full frontal attack and provided the best form guide if the selectors needed it underpinned.

We move to Hagley Oval in Christchurch which has been very much a result wicket over the years. 12 tests have begun and only once did it end in a draw.

Naturally most of them have gone the way of the home side. The only others were to South Africa two years back and also this current foe back in 2016.

This was the famous Brendon McCullum game where he took on his eponymous form of batting. 145 off 79 balls in two hours of batting. A rather depleted Aussie attack were attacked alright.

And yet hundreds by Burns and Smith meant 201 was the final chase and the visitors did it in good fashion.

Unless injury intervenes (Lyon seemed somewhat curtailed when batting but not bowling), surely no changes apply to the Australians but the New Zealand side has to change.

A spinner, probably Santner, seems inevitable and O'Rourke pulled up a bit scratchy. There is even talk of the shortest retirement in history with Neil Wagner getting one for the road. Steve Smith will adore that!

Even if Christchurch plays somewhat differently to Wellington, why would we hop off the confidence tram that is Cameron Green having found him to score well in the opening gambit.

At worst he'll score a few and at best plenty. And surely Kane Williamson won't run himself out again. He'll have the head down all test.