A week, as former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once quipped, is a long time in politics, though New Zealand captain Ross Taylor and his young team have also discovered that it also applies to Test cricket. Before the first Test against Australia, Taylor’s side were brimful of confidence amid expectations in New Zealand they could win their first match across the Tasman Sea in 26 years, and first Test against Australia since 1993. Four days later they had slunk out of the Gabba after a nine-wicket defeat against an Australian bowling attack that included two pace bowlers making their Test debuts and an off-spinner in his sixth Test who had never set foot on the storied Brisbane ground.
Poor catching, sloppy bowling and a second innings batting collapse in the face of a fiery morning spell from debutant James Pattinson led to a players-only meeting this week where “harsh words were exchanged”, according to pace bowler Tim Southee. Taylor said they were now looking to ensure there would be no repeat at Bellerive Oval when the second and final Test gets underway in Hobart on Friday. “We’re trying to keep it as upbeat as possible,” Taylor told reporters on Thursday. “Obviously we were very disappointed with the performance we put in, for the fans back home, and everyone’s hurting. “As a unit, bowlers bowled well in patches, we’ve just got to be a bit more consistent.
And as a batting unit we need to be able to leave outside the off stump and let them bowl at us. “A lot of the deliveries that the Australians did bowl weren’t hitting the stumps when they got us out. So, me included, just (need to) play a lot tighter than we did in Brisbane.” The New Zealand batting lineup is likely to remain unchanged, with coach John Wright saying earlier in the week that the top six would be given a chance to atone for Brisbane.
