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Speaker 2: Now it's Rick, it is out. The test is over.
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Speaker 1: The Bold on the Front Foot with Brian Wabble and
Speaker 1: Jeremy Cody, powered by News Talks head B at iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2: Hello, nice to have you back on the front footfullness
Speaker 2: once more. This week the new faces in the Black
Speaker 2: Cats touring team will be five's Good Options for the
Speaker 2: tests against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. Michael Bracewell is back
Speaker 2: in the squad and remember this returns to a milestone
Speaker 2: sixty years ago. I'm sure one that will strike a
Speaker 2: chord with most peop that coming up shortly so to
Speaker 2: Michael Brachwell joins us with an assessment of the challenge
Speaker 2: ahead as he sees it. But the team. Firstly, Gary
Speaker 2: Stead on the return of Rachel to the test squad
Speaker 2: and the other issues they faced selecting the fifteen man squad.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean obviously three tests in Asia that we've
Speaker 3: named the squad for and Michael hasn't played for eighteen
Speaker 3: months he had that serious achilles injury, but it's great
Speaker 3: to see him back and he had promising spells I
Speaker 3: think at the end of the season there for Wellington
Speaker 3: when he was making his way back into the team.
Speaker 3: So he'll provides some experience and being in agent conditions,
Speaker 3: He's played over there before, so it's nice to be
Speaker 3: able to welcome him back into the squad.
Speaker 4: Although Ben says what will this experience be like for them?
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, I mean it's their first time on away tours.
Speaker 3: Have had some success here at home, but they are
Speaker 3: new into their international careers. But we're excited with both
Speaker 3: of them, and I guess they're different points of difference
Speaker 3: that they do bring to the squad as well. So
Speaker 3: it gives us the opportunity, I think, to look at
Speaker 3: our pace bowling stops and keep planning ahead for the
Speaker 3: future to make sure that they're strong as possible.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3: I mean we've selected them because we think that and
Speaker 3: they're exciting players. So look, I think it's unlikely that
Speaker 3: our pace bowlers will play all. We've got nine tests
Speaker 3: coming up in the next three months, so there may
Speaker 3: be the opportunity for those guys to be in the
Speaker 3: starting elevens at different times as well, and that's something
Speaker 3: we'll manage when we're over there. Well, they're not a
Speaker 3: team that's played a lot of Test match cricket, but
Speaker 3: I guess for us leading into the World Test Championship,
Speaker 3: it's great for us to be able to get a
Speaker 3: live game as such that we get to put our
Speaker 3: players in the roles of our game play and get
Speaker 3: out there and compete with them. They're obviously a strong
Speaker 3: spin based team as well and have some real strengths
Speaker 3: in those areas. So again great, great preparation for what's
Speaker 3: ahead of us, and I've got very very skillful players, say,
Speaker 3: I mean, I don't manage Afghanistan, but but I'm sure
Speaker 3: that they are a team that can play test make
Speaker 3: it in the future.
Speaker 2: Gary Stair, New Zealand coach, Well, our chance to assess
Speaker 2: what they face and the team to me in India
Speaker 2: and Sri Lanka against quality opposition, we can't underestimate the
Speaker 2: task ahead. We've invited former Test player John Parker to
Speaker 2: join Jerry and I. Yeah, the old team back together.
Speaker 5: I think when it comes to.
Speaker 2: What I see in front of me, which you are
Speaker 2: fortunate enough listeners not to have to see. But Jerry,
Speaker 2: we've talked about this series during the last few programs.
Speaker 2: Your initial assessment is this our best team available to
Speaker 2: cover all the bases.
Speaker 6: I think there's one position might change, but betting predictable.
Speaker 6: I think as expected Lathan, con Way, Williamson, Mitchell, Revendra, Phillipson,
Speaker 6: Blundele you would expect of perhaps if they were all
Speaker 6: available with their contracts that they've just gone through. That's
Speaker 6: pretty much as predicted. I think so some of us.
Speaker 6: Whether the number that goes beside those people you might change,
Speaker 6: maybe Mitchell and Revendra around that's some of you know,
Speaker 6: either of you two may feel a bit more strongly
Speaker 6: about that, whether you want the left right combination, or
Speaker 6: whether you want someone coming at the ball like Mitchell
Speaker 6: to go with somebody who hangs back a little bit
Speaker 6: more so you get variety and force the bowlers to
Speaker 6: bowl at different links. They're both shot makers, Revendra and Mitchell.
Speaker 6: Mitchell alters by going at the bowl or a bit more.
Speaker 6: Revendra hangs back in the crew a bit more. But
Speaker 6: you know that's pretty predictable, wouldn't you say, Fellers about
Speaker 6: the batting component of this group.
Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much. I think they've picked a side that
Speaker 2: will do the job and ecquit themselves. Well, John Parker,
Speaker 2: you've had a chance to watch New Zealand over the years.
Speaker 2: You might not have seen much of them in recent times.
Speaker 2: None of us have. But really the top order is
Speaker 2: one that have got players capable of delivering the runs
Speaker 2: New Zealand needs in a tough assignment like this.
Speaker 7: Certainly some imaginative batters, there's no doubt about that. What
Speaker 7: I find a little bit confusing is the fact that
Speaker 7: because boundaries are shorter, grounds are smaller, more strokes aren't employed,
Speaker 7: and that you don't have to edit so fair you
Speaker 7: don't have to do it ninety any longer to get
Speaker 7: a boundary. That it doesn't really matter left or right handed.
Speaker 7: That they should be able to play all the strivics.
Speaker 7: Some obviously love to charge down the wicket to attack
Speaker 7: the bowler, but because of the boundary of the ground
Speaker 7: sizes that you would think that all the shots become
Speaker 7: options and that the different batsmen can fulfill different roles.
Speaker 7: I still enjoy watching India play that. If things look
Speaker 7: a bit shaky at the start, they just push the
Speaker 7: ball around in twenty twenty terms for fifteen overs and
Speaker 7: then expect to go at fifteen, sixteen or seventeen runs
Speaker 7: and over in the last five. So they still believe
Speaker 7: that wickets in hand are important. And I enjoy sort
Speaker 7: of watching all of that, sort of say poly he's
Speaker 7: still we and he goes at about one hundred and twenty
Speaker 7: when he's going well, and sometimes Bets is not out
Speaker 7: of the end at a run and ball, and they
Speaker 7: still seem to win games. So their focus is on
Speaker 7: winning games. I'm not sure that ours is always on
Speaker 7: winning games. It all seems to be strategies and strike
Speaker 7: rates and all those to things. But certainly our batsmen
Speaker 7: have proven themselves and over the years they're imaginative, they're skillful,
Speaker 7: they're athletic and very competent.
Speaker 6: I think we go from their dag to the interesting ward.
Speaker 6: I find them slightly more interesting component about this group,
Speaker 6: you know, once you get down to seven, it's then
Speaker 6: eight nineteen eleven, and you start to look at balancing
Speaker 6: the side. When you go to a place like India
Speaker 6: or Sri Lanka both equally, you know, have pictures that
Speaker 6: still generally turn more than certainly in New Zealand and
Speaker 6: that number eight position you are required to score runs nowadays.
Speaker 6: I think that's that's pretty fair. I mean, you look
Speaker 6: at Australia, it's Cummings or Stark and they're averaging twenty
Speaker 6: odd unless Carey goes down to eight with the's a
Speaker 6: night watchman going. He's got an average of thirty and
Speaker 6: that's test averages. England have got ben folks who have
Speaker 6: been there recently and even more recently Chris Wokes. They're averaging,
Speaker 6: you know, high twenties, twenty nine, thirty. And then you
Speaker 6: go to India and you get people like Ashwyn averaging
Speaker 6: twenty six. And there's a guy the keeper there, new keeper.
Speaker 6: He's only played three tests, Drew durrell As I say,
Speaker 6: three tests, but he's averaging sixty three. So you need
Speaker 6: runs now. If you look at our number potential number eights,
Speaker 6: I personally think going to Asia you need to have
Speaker 6: a spinner. You've got to have a spinner in there
Speaker 6: if you can. And the only two or there are
Speaker 6: three main spinners. Wad said five. But I'm a sure
Speaker 6: it's quite nice that we've been handy. We've got two
Speaker 6: half spinners who bat in the top six. But I'm
Speaker 6: thinking Bracewell, Santner and Patel have been listed in this
Speaker 6: particular sk squad, and I suppose of those two, Betel
Speaker 6: would fall out of the batting option, and so it
Speaker 6: becomes one between Bracewoolen Sanner to bat that number seven position. Oh, sorry,
Speaker 6: eight position. What do you think?
Speaker 7: I think the issue for New Zealand with the spinners
Speaker 7: is that they're different to the spinning combinations of every
Speaker 7: of most other countries, well every other country, and that
Speaker 7: the basis the foundations of the spin attack for other
Speaker 7: countries is a league spinner, right arm leg spinner who
Speaker 7: bowls at sort of ninety five k's an hour, can
Speaker 7: drop it slower, can bowl it a bit quicker, but
Speaker 7: can also get the ball to loop and to spin,
Speaker 7: and that's a pretty good combination really, And when twenty
Speaker 7: twenty came in, they thought spinners, that was the end
Speaker 7: of league spinners. Well, of course, the knowing people knew
Speaker 7: that it wouldn't be the case. It would be the
Speaker 7: rise of league spinners, and so it's turned out to
Speaker 7: be New Zealand doesn't seem to have mastered that or
Speaker 7: I'm not sure, of course, what they're doing behind the scenes.
Speaker 7: Hopefully they're going around the country. You're trying to spot
Speaker 7: young league spinners who can bowl at that sort of
Speaker 7: speed and with those sort of skills. And the other
Speaker 7: issue is that the finger spinners and other countries all
Speaker 7: have great boundaries of deceit.
Speaker 5: They can do lots of things.
Speaker 7: Even as a finger spinner, which was the great skill
Speaker 7: of Vittori, Vittori had a lot of deception, had a
Speaker 7: lot of options, a lot of variations. And you look
Speaker 7: at Ashwyn, he doesn't sort of bother too much about
Speaker 7: the fielding. He can bat, but he just bowls and
Speaker 7: his deception is quite extraordinary. And I'm not sure that
Speaker 7: our finger spinners have that same sort of deception. So
Speaker 7: I think our makeup of our spinners is different to
Speaker 7: most countries and I think that's where we struggle. And
Speaker 7: because of that, I don't think we manage a spinners
Speaker 7: very well. Think we understand how spinners operate, how they think,
Speaker 7: how they need to think, and how other country spinners
Speaker 7: think and operate. I'm not sure we've come to grips
Speaker 7: with the management of them.
Speaker 6: It's interesting, isn't it that you've got braceful who kind
Speaker 6: of put gets the ball up and then down. He's
Speaker 6: that type of spinner. Center isn't quite so much, even
Speaker 6: though he's developing. I think he's changed as a spinner
Speaker 6: over the years. He's getting on now. I mean he's
Speaker 6: thirty thirty two, thirty three is around there. In fact,
Speaker 6: most of them are about that age nowadays in the
Speaker 6: New Zealand side. But he's he's he's more interested in
Speaker 6: wickets than he is which is an odd things to say,
Speaker 6: isn't it. But he didn't used to. He used to
Speaker 6: be interested in made and yet in bowling maidens, and
Speaker 6: that's how he was used for New Zealand. Now I
Speaker 6: see him tossing the ball up slightly, why trying and
Speaker 6: then skidding one through an arm actually an armball coming
Speaker 6: back in. You don't hear about the armball too much
Speaker 6: nowadays from spinners. But Bracewell is quite a big turner
Speaker 6: of the ball goes through a few more runs. Hasn't
Speaker 6: played much Test cricket, only eight Tests. He's getting three
Speaker 6: a Test At the moment. It sounds from you, daggy,
Speaker 6: you would like to have Sody in the side. I
Speaker 6: don't know from what your comments about legs spin, But
Speaker 6: I find him personally when he gets hit, he loses it.
Speaker 6: He can't come back quite so well. He's a bit vulnerable,
Speaker 6: could I say put it that way. And he doesn't
Speaker 6: field nowadays and doesn't give us much with the bat either,
Speaker 6: and when has he won us a test? So I
Speaker 6: just he hasn't made this group. He's one of the
Speaker 6: few who's been left out with Duffy and Jamison to
Speaker 6: make this group.
Speaker 7: I think the treatment of so is an example of
Speaker 7: what I was saying, a young fellow many years ago
Speaker 7: who showed talent and should have been nursed through and encouraged.
Speaker 7: And I think there are issues with his action. I
Speaker 7: don't think it's the best that it could be. But
Speaker 7: even accepting that that a lot of other bowlers bowl
Speaker 7: very well with unusual actions, which adds to their variation
Speaker 7: and their deception. But I don't think he's been managed
Speaker 7: very well. So I'm not sure that he's the answer now.
Speaker 7: But you just need that type of league spin bowler
Speaker 7: that bowls that quickly, can still turn it a bit
Speaker 7: and can get the ball to to.
Speaker 5: Have an arc to arc.
Speaker 7: But it's still at that ninety five ninety seven CA's
Speaker 7: in our mark. And of course everybody that bowls has
Speaker 7: to bat these days, and everybody that's bats and can ball,
Speaker 7: you know, might be asked to bowling over here and
Speaker 7: over there. So it's certainly those all around skills are important.
Speaker 7: But again I think Sody is the example that I'm
Speaker 7: not sure we understand spinners very well and never have
Speaker 7: to be fair.
Speaker 2: When the under nineteens were at the World Cup, they
Speaker 2: had some developing spinners. I know that's a little early
Speaker 2: on for some of these players, but you know, what
Speaker 2: you say is correct. But I think the other important
Speaker 2: thing you may is you now, even at Test match level,
Speaker 2: have to be able to deliver runs and the athletic
Speaker 2: and valuable in the field. New Zealand's fielding in recent
Speaker 2: times has slipped away. You know, when Steve Rixon was
Speaker 2: the coach of the side, he was hard on the players.
Speaker 2: He made them work pretty hard. And Jeremy, you've spoken
Speaker 2: in the past about times when you've been overseas and
Speaker 2: you've had to work over time at your fielding practice
Speaker 2: to get ready, and it's something that New Zealand doesn't
Speaker 2: do so well. Now take the catches as regularly as
Speaker 2: they did. And the ground fielding too has slipped to
Speaker 2: my mind, and they need to be able to do
Speaker 2: that in places like India and Sri Lanka where they're
Speaker 2: going to be.
Speaker 6: I don't think there's anything any doubt about that, Brian.
Speaker 6: The New Zealand fielding that I've seen in the last
Speaker 6: year or so has definitely dropped away. And we haven't
Speaker 6: got bowlers now as they age slightly, that particularly our
Speaker 6: seemers and particularly in New Zealand, that are not creating
Speaker 6: quite so many chances as they used to. Know. Jamison
Speaker 6: bowling there now and Bolt gone, so we're not getting
Speaker 6: a as many chances to catch the ball and when
Speaker 6: we do, they therefore become more important. And particularly in
Speaker 6: this series of we're playing in Sri Lanka. We've got
Speaker 6: tests there and then playing three Tests against India which
Speaker 6: Dag also played as well in seventy six. So we
Speaker 6: are going to need close in fieldsmen to our spinners.
Speaker 6: We are going to have to somehow, you know, get
Speaker 6: our spinners bowling well enough that we eight chances off
Speaker 6: defensive shots and we need to have those shot those
Speaker 6: catches taken. And I couldn't I couldn't tell you. Perhaps
Speaker 6: Latham is fielded there a bit, but we need two
Speaker 6: or three of them who can actually field and close
Speaker 6: and take catches, being low, being ready, being quick and
Speaker 6: having good you know, athletic responses, anticipating the catch. You
Speaker 6: know the difference between fielding and close in the first
Speaker 6: innings where the picture is slightly better as it is
Speaker 6: in the second innings. Are you are you were half
Speaker 6: a pace back? You know who this batsman does? He
Speaker 6: go at the ball at bit more? Do I follow
Speaker 6: him down the pitch? Loads of things that are close
Speaker 6: in fielder has to be able to do. I've seen
Speaker 6: New Zealand fielders stay where they are on the the
Speaker 6: batsmen go past them, they are effectively out of the game.
Speaker 6: You've got to move along the pitch with them to
Speaker 6: stay relative to yourself where you've started. So look, that's
Speaker 6: just a minor asset of you know, of the game,
Speaker 6: an aspect of the game. But we don't I don't
Speaker 6: get the feeling we really practice it that much.
Speaker 5: I wonder whether the demands on.
Speaker 7: The player these days so as such that we don't
Speaker 7: have the time available to spend doing those sorts of things.
Speaker 7: They seem to be coming from all over the world
Speaker 7: to play a Test match and then disappearing and then
Speaker 7: coming back and then disappear, and I just wonder whether
Speaker 7: the coach has actually got the clear air to actually,
Speaker 7: you know, spend time doing these things. The other point
Speaker 7: that I think is is relevant still is running between wickets.
Speaker 5: You look at.
Speaker 7: Phillips and the other athletes, and most of our guys
Speaker 7: are pretty good athletes. In your you have to be
Speaker 7: these days. As you both said, I still believe that
Speaker 7: if two batsmen have got a commitment to run, I
Speaker 7: don't reckon a fielder can ever run them out. I
Speaker 7: reckon a batsman backing up batsman as long as you
Speaker 7: when you hit it and when you aim to hit
Speaker 7: it in the covers, you actually hit it inunder the
Speaker 7: covers and don't get a thick edge back to the bottler.
Speaker 7: But if you hit it where you want to, I
Speaker 7: don't I still believe that a fielder can't run them
Speaker 7: out because if you hit it and run, like Jeff
Speaker 7: Howff used to and others just you know, knock it
Speaker 7: somewhere and run, I think it's very difficult to be
Speaker 7: run out. So running between wickets, I think is an
Speaker 7: absolute priority and athletes. You know, Phillips gets some runs
Speaker 7: that others probably wouldn't contemplate. But I think if they
Speaker 7: worked on partnerships and understanding, just as Jerry said about
Speaker 7: the field is understanding what's what they're all at the
Speaker 7: angles and the mechanics and what your job is when you're.
Speaker 5: Fielding in close. Yeah, same with running between wickets.
Speaker 7: If that was practiced and understood and talked about and
Speaker 7: rehearsed and all of those things, I still believe that
Speaker 7: it's incredibly difficult to run anybody out. So all those
Speaker 7: sort of things are now under a microscope in the
Speaker 7: modern game, and I think that's fantastic.
Speaker 5: It's skill related.
Speaker 7: They're athletic all of those things, but I'm not convinced
Speaker 7: they have the time to practice all these things.
Speaker 2: Jerry. Obviously spinner is an important part of talking about
Speaker 2: the subcontinent. But for New Zealand, it's a new era
Speaker 2: in seam bowling, isn't it. Many of the top players
Speaker 2: that we've had in the past have retired. Henry and
Speaker 2: the sow they continue to tour away with the New
Speaker 2: Zealand side, But what of the seam bowling component, Because
Speaker 2: that's going to be an important part as well.
Speaker 6: It is, Brian. It always has been for New Zealanders,
Speaker 6: hasn't it. They always play an important role with the ball.
Speaker 6: They've picked four seemers in this squad, Sears and O'Rourke.
Speaker 6: Please to see them there. They are the future and
Speaker 6: we need to develop and supply some games and experience
Speaker 6: to them. Hopefully they can get the odd success over there.
Speaker 6: Not quite so easy of course, with less grass on
Speaker 6: the surfaces, but if they can somehow learn maybe to
Speaker 6: start to reverse swing the ball so they get a
Speaker 6: chance to use the new ball with conventional swing, and
Speaker 6: then later as the ball gets older, they can still
Speaker 6: come into the innings for New Zealand. So one of
Speaker 6: those I would think would play in each Test. I
Speaker 6: would hope so, and they will develop from there. Henry
Speaker 6: is our most consistent bowler. He's the most used. He
Speaker 6: bowls the overs and gets most batsmen out and if not,
Speaker 6: if that's not the case, you can set a field
Speaker 6: because he's accurate, you can defend with him as well.
Speaker 6: So that leaves Saudi. Saudi will be probably fighting for
Speaker 6: a position in his side with Henry's Actually he's not
Speaker 6: the kind of bowl that you would expect to take
Speaker 6: the place of Sears or O'Rourke. The only time I
Speaker 6: can see Soudi playing and the subcontinent is when perhaps
Speaker 6: the pitch is expected to be up and down or
Speaker 6: holding a lot or variable and bounce. If you get
Speaker 6: patchy pictures of grass here and then lots of sort
Speaker 6: of bear dirt around it and so on, those kinds
Speaker 6: of pictures, that might bring Soudi into the side. But
Speaker 6: other than that, I can't really see him planning. I
Speaker 6: can understand stead saying he may not play all the
Speaker 6: Test matches over there and kind of in preparation for
Speaker 6: that sort of thing actually occurring. So that's the side
Speaker 6: I don't I think we'll probably play two. We may
Speaker 6: play three, depending on conditions of sea. So that might
Speaker 6: be the possibility of playing two of the three spinners
Speaker 6: we've talked about earlier.
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, and I suppose the likes of seas and
Speaker 2: are or have to learn somewhere. I mean, it's not
Speaker 2: the ideal place to learn the Test arena, but you know,
Speaker 2: they don't get many other opportunities at the top level.
Speaker 2: So they've shown last year that they have the capacity
Speaker 2: to stand up at Test match level. This will be
Speaker 2: a real test for them, won't.
Speaker 5: Yes, it will be, but it's.
Speaker 6: Not easy for them. They'll work hard. They perhaps might
Speaker 6: not be if it's hot, they might not bold quite
Speaker 6: so many overs in a spell, but they'll still be
Speaker 6: expected to come back and do their part and do
Speaker 6: their bit in the bowling order. So it's a good
Speaker 6: tour for them to go away. No one holds high
Speaker 6: expectations of them, but they can still learn a great deal.
Speaker 6: So yeah, important tour for those two new fast bowlers.
Speaker 2: The other thing though, parts that to me of interest
Speaker 2: as we talk about spin and the requirements of spin
Speaker 2: in the subcontinent and being able to bowl spin, but
Speaker 2: what about playing spin as a batsman. Do we have
Speaker 2: players who are capable of playing spin? I think we've
Speaker 2: seen Ravendra is one who has developed the talent. Mitchell
Speaker 2: does like to get down the pitch a little bit.
Speaker 2: Do our batsmen play spin as well as they could do?
Speaker 2: They've been under pressure at times even in New Zealand.
Speaker 2: Nathan Lyomhen he came out to New Zealand put a
Speaker 2: lot of pressure on our batsmen. Any special techniques you
Speaker 2: have to apply in the subcontinent.
Speaker 7: Well, I think playing spinners anywhere, there are, of course,
Speaker 7: some basic strategies that you need on The first thing
Speaker 7: is is that if you're going to play on the
Speaker 7: back foot, you get on the back foot early, and
Speaker 7: yet you when you play on the front foot, you
Speaker 7: get on the front foot late. So the reason for that,
Speaker 7: of course is if you're committed to the going to
Speaker 7: play on the back foot, you want to get there
Speaker 7: and be prepared because you don't have to be on
Speaker 7: the move on the back foot.
Speaker 5: On the front foot.
Speaker 7: You want your weight going into the ball, and you
Speaker 7: want as long as you possibly can to assess what
Speaker 7: the bull's doing, the loop, the speed, the possible spin,
Speaker 7: where it's going to pitch, whether that's a flat area
Speaker 7: or a scuffed area, all those things. You need as
Speaker 7: much time as you can to assess all those things.
Speaker 7: So going on to the front foot, in general terms,
Speaker 7: you want to do that as late as possible. Going
Speaker 7: down the wicket, of course, the two variations are that
Speaker 7: one is the charge the cavalry and off they go
Speaker 7: before the bulls let go, which they seem to do
Speaker 7: these days, which of course in the woman's game in
Speaker 7: New Zealand, they're very, very poor at that. They charge
Speaker 7: off down the middle and when the ball's wide, that's
Speaker 7: not fair and they get stumped by mile.
Speaker 5: So the charge is something that is.
Speaker 7: Is an interesting and a bit of a desperate thing really,
Speaker 7: because there are so many shots you can play.
Speaker 5: To u spin.
Speaker 7: Another secret of going under the back foot to a spinner,
Speaker 7: I believe is to always go into middle of leg
Speaker 7: when the ball is relatively close to you, even if
Speaker 7: it's outside the off stump, but go into the middle
Speaker 7: of the league and then that opens up all of
Speaker 7: the off side. When we see our players, I think
Speaker 7: more often than not going across to off stump and
Speaker 7: trying to work it onto the on side, which an
Speaker 7: actual fact, you're playing across the line of the ball
Speaker 7: that's outside your off stump. Coming in the line is
Speaker 7: from sort of extra cover to your stumps, and we
Speaker 7: want to get outside the line having our bat coming
Speaker 7: from third slip across the mid on midwicket, so you've
Speaker 7: got a very small area in which you can make
Speaker 7: contact with the ball. When you see the Indian players,
Speaker 7: the very good players of spinners, they're going into midland
Speaker 7: league and hitting that ball on the back foot through
Speaker 7: the covers, which then poses a huge problem for the
Speaker 7: captain with placing the field. Also, if the ball is
Speaker 7: slightly wider and doesn't spin, the late catadon or the
Speaker 7: square cut or or the forty five on the off
Speaker 7: side is all available when you go into Middland League,
Speaker 7: not into middle and off or off stump.
Speaker 6: Yeah, okay, well, I mean the reason I asked Parks
Speaker 6: to come on this one was is because Parks taught me,
Speaker 6: you know, spin one oh one when I was playing
Speaker 6: tests and you know, some of the sort of the
Speaker 6: trucks if you like, in the central matters. I remember
Speaker 6: him sitting me down and saying, let the ball come, Jeremy,
Speaker 6: just wait, just wait a while, you know. And if
Speaker 6: you're going to get forward, as he says, get forward late,
Speaker 6: but get forward quite well, you know, or go back,
Speaker 6: go back well, So you give yourself a chance to
Speaker 6: adjust to the ball and you've got time to see it,
Speaker 6: in other words, and react to it. So that's that
Speaker 6: those with the sort of things that you need any
Speaker 6: other thing about defending part, what about attacking it? The
Speaker 6: general ways of getting them. There are points I think
Speaker 6: with spinners where they're dangerous and they call it the
Speaker 6: interception point nowadays, if you can, if you can get
Speaker 6: a batsman playing when the ball is perhaps two meters
Speaker 6: away from you and you're continually the batsman is continually playing,
Speaker 6: that can be quite a tricky length for you as
Speaker 6: a batsman, and the average of batsmen get dropped quite
Speaker 6: dramatically if they continue to play, giving the ball amount
Speaker 6: of an amount of time to for turn or for
Speaker 6: drift or for whatever. If you are not quite to
Speaker 6: the pitch of the ball where you can smother it,
Speaker 6: so you tend to want to go back to those
Speaker 6: But then it's a bit close and you feel uncomfortable.
Speaker 6: You're good with your hands and your wrists and so on,
Speaker 6: it can slide into your pad and so on. So
Speaker 6: that's the kind of length I'm talking about, an interception point.
Speaker 6: The way to attack that it seems to me, as
Speaker 6: you've described going down the wicket, perhaps not a charge
Speaker 6: or you'll find a lot of the players nowadays will
Speaker 6: sweep because as you sweep, you're doing it from the
Speaker 6: front foot, You've got your hair, arms out straight, and
Speaker 6: with your bat as well the length of your bat,
Speaker 6: you're about.
Speaker 5: A meter closer to the ball.
Speaker 6: Anyway, the trouble is with that you can handle sideways movement,
Speaker 6: you can't handle bounce so much. If there are variations
Speaker 6: and bounce. What are your thoughts about attack as opposed
Speaker 6: to defense the.
Speaker 7: Spin, Well, I think mixing both of those up is
Speaker 7: important so that when they tend to err on the
Speaker 7: back foot these days, and they are very aware of
Speaker 7: where their stumps are and where the balls pitch. So
Speaker 7: a line between where the ball pitched and there's stumps
Speaker 7: is that's the default line that if you're not sure
Speaker 7: what's happening, you imagine that the ball is always going
Speaker 7: to hit your stumps, so you're ready for that.
Speaker 5: And if it's.
Speaker 7: Slightly wider than that, you might be able to guide
Speaker 7: it down for a single or lake cutted or whatever.
Speaker 7: So but I would I think I think sweeping is
Speaker 7: a good option, but the sweep should be as technical
Speaker 7: as other strokes, in that you watch Joe root sweep,
Speaker 7: he sweeps too much for me, but he comes from
Speaker 7: above it and comes down on the ball, so he
Speaker 7: is trying to hit the ball on the ground, or
Speaker 7: if he does try to hit it in the air,
Speaker 7: he tries to hit it for six. And I think
Speaker 7: those are the options which have to be black and
Speaker 7: white in a batsman's mind, and they.
Speaker 5: Should use all options.
Speaker 7: The biggest you with a spinner these days is that
Speaker 7: you've got to put pressure on the spinner.
Speaker 5: Going down the wicket. It's a good idea.
Speaker 7: Knocking it for one, or hitting it hard down the
Speaker 7: ground for one, puts in the spinner's mind.
Speaker 5: That or if any coming down the wicket.
Speaker 7: He could smack me for six, So they have to
Speaker 7: drop it a little bit shorter and then they're on
Speaker 7: the back foot to play all of those shots. And
Speaker 7: with the boundaries being so small generally, then pulling the
Speaker 7: ball for six over midwicket is definitely the option. You
Speaker 7: throw the sweep in there, the sweet well executed, then
Speaker 7: the spinner has a tough time. The secret also with
Speaker 7: the sweep is because the bat has to travel such
Speaker 7: a long way from the pick up area from the
Speaker 7: backlift air right round to the front. You've got to
Speaker 7: get into a sweep early, and most people when they sweep,
Speaker 7: they try and sweep it too hard. When you know
Speaker 7: you're you are changing the line of the ball, you're
Speaker 7: adding a bit of power to it, and in the
Speaker 7: short boundaries and things you'll easily get it away for four,
Speaker 7: and a lot of batsmen think in terms of sixes
Speaker 7: rather than fourth. Six fours in an over still adds
Speaker 7: up to twenty fourth quite a lot, and three fours
Speaker 7: an over still adds up to twelve and that's quite
Speaker 7: a lot too, So that all of these strategies have
Speaker 7: to be clear in batsman's minds and why they are
Speaker 7: doing it, why they have to do it, what impact
Speaker 7: will it have on the game and the bowler.
Speaker 2: For Michael Bracewell, it's a return to the Test match
Speaker 2: arena nine games ahead of him after suffering a serious injury.
Speaker 2: He hasn't played a Test since March twenty twenty three,
Speaker 2: almost eighteen months ago. Michael, congratulations on your record of
Speaker 2: the squad after a long time injury break. But I
Speaker 2: guess you still recall the last Test at the basin.
Speaker 8: Yes, I remember sitting in here after the game. I
Speaker 8: think we made chell and could follow on in that
Speaker 8: Test match. So it was a lot of hard work
Speaker 8: that went into that Test win. And I guess part
Speaker 8: of the fond memories of playing Test cricket are sitting
Speaker 8: in the changing rooms after the after the game with
Speaker 8: the guys and really thinking back on and reflecting on
Speaker 8: five days of really hard work to get a result.
Speaker 8: So yeah, I think those are the things that keep
Speaker 8: driving you forward when when you're injured and thinking about
Speaker 8: those times of being around the guys again, and that
Speaker 8: really motivates me to get back into that Test arena.
Speaker 2: That game I think was watching Henry and Cane back,
Speaker 2: wasn't it for five times?
Speaker 9: Yeah?
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 8: And then in this in the fourth innings, I think
Speaker 8: that it was so windy that the cameras could only
Speaker 8: operate from one end, So yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 8: an interesting Test match. But I think that's the beauty
Speaker 8: of Test cricket. There's lots of different challenges that you
Speaker 8: come up against and you have to try and overcome
Speaker 8: them and overcome the opposition as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, nine of them coming up if you get to
Speaker 2: play all of them, it's pretty tough right ahead for
Speaker 2: any cricketer. So you have to be doing a bit
Speaker 2: of work. And I guess you've you been playing overseas,
Speaker 2: haven't you. You've had contracts overseas.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I've been playing in the US more recently. It's
Speaker 8: been nice to get a little bit of game time. Obviously,
Speaker 8: coming off a long layoff, you you just want to
Speaker 8: play as much as you can. So it was great
Speaker 8: to get the last two games of the Plunket Shield
Speaker 8: and at the end of the season and we're fortunate
Speaker 8: in our fourth Wellington to win the Plunket Shield, which
Speaker 8: is a real bonus. It's one of those trophies that
Speaker 8: is pretty hard to win. So it was great to
Speaker 8: link up with the Firebirds boys again and also contribute
Speaker 8: to the win. You want to be going out there
Speaker 8: and putting your best foot forward and I really felt
Speaker 8: like I did that. So it's really nice to be
Speaker 8: recognized again and be called back into that Test squad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, having played the MLC or played in America, you
Speaker 2: now have to change to the test match format. What
Speaker 2: does it mean for you as a spin ball, Well,
Speaker 2: all round her, I suppose, but more or less your
Speaker 2: spin component of your game, because that's what the Subcontinent
Speaker 2: says normally, doesn't it, spin bowlers.
Speaker 8: Yeah, well yeah, history would suggest that spin will play
Speaker 8: a big part in the Subcontinent and I think for
Speaker 8: me personally, I think in the limited overs formats, you
Speaker 8: you have to rely on your change of your variations,
Speaker 8: You change your pace and your change of line and length,
Speaker 8: whereas in Test cricket you've really got to try and
Speaker 8: nail that that line and length for as long as
Speaker 8: you can and if the wickets offering some assistance, then
Speaker 8: that's great. But you're only effective when you're when you're
Speaker 8: holding in that in that zone for a long period
Speaker 8: of time. So that's the adjustment that we have to
Speaker 8: make as spinners, is really nailing our best ball and
Speaker 8: making sure that we're holding in that area for a
Speaker 8: long period of time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you talk about variations. You look around the world
Speaker 2: now spin ballers are starting to re emerge, aren't they.
Speaker 2: England are going to bring a good group when they
Speaker 2: come out. You've got India who in their own conditions
Speaker 2: love it. You've got to have those variations, I suppose,
Speaker 2: and that is the challenge in itself to most polers
Speaker 2: of it. You can always be an off spinner, but
Speaker 2: you've got to have something else, don't you.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think. I think when twenty twenty in particular
Speaker 8: first came in, I think there was a lot of
Speaker 8: people thinking that it would be the death of spin bowling,
Speaker 8: whereas it's almost been the opposite. Spinners have really found
Speaker 8: a role for themselves, and I think players are still
Speaker 8: trying to catch up a little bit in some areas
Speaker 8: of their game in terms of trying to dominate spin.
Speaker 8: And I think it's great for the game playing these
Speaker 8: different formats, but test cricket's definitely the most pure and
Speaker 8: one that this New Zealand team holds very dearly to
Speaker 8: its heart. So we're excited to go over and have
Speaker 8: a big diet of red bull cricket in a row.
Speaker 8: So yeah, it's exciting to get over there, and as
Speaker 8: a spin group, it's really exciting to be able to
Speaker 8: go out there and potentially try and lead the bowling
Speaker 8: attack for a change. We often play second fidd in
Speaker 8: New Zealand to the seam bowlers, so it'll be cool
Speaker 8: to have a little bit of a role reversal.
Speaker 2: Team's going to have five options, basically, isn't he? But
Speaker 2: the all rounder option is also important because you're batting
Speaker 2: Ratchen who's had a good series in America too, doesn't
Speaker 2: he with the ball? And Glenn Phillips are going to
Speaker 2: be important in terms of providing runs because that all
Speaker 2: round a position is important for any captain to be
Speaker 2: able to support.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think the all rounder plays a huge role,
Speaker 8: whether they're a spin bowling arounder or a seema and
Speaker 8: I think we've got the value of having a lot
Speaker 8: of depth in that position. And there's certainly going to
Speaker 8: be some competition for spots when we get over to
Speaker 8: over to India first of all, and then and then
Speaker 8: on to Sri Lanka, so it'll be great to I
Speaker 8: think that's that's the beauty of having great depth in
Speaker 8: the squad is everyone keeps pushing themselves and really trying
Speaker 8: to I guess we've got a great group where everyone
Speaker 8: feeds off each other and improves, which is ultimately great
Speaker 8: for the team as well.
Speaker 2: Initially, I suppose you were as a batsman who bowled
Speaker 2: a little bit you become more of an all rounder
Speaker 2: as such. Now do you see yourself as a batsman
Speaker 2: who bowls or a bowler who bets or is it
Speaker 2: a matter of doing each bit separately?
Speaker 8: And well, I still probably judge myself on my betting first,
Speaker 8: and I think that probably helps my bowling, to be honest,
Speaker 8: I obviously work really hard on it, but I guess
Speaker 8: through the my formative years I was playing a lot
Speaker 8: as a better so you probably judge yourself a little
Speaker 8: bit more critically on the betting and then the bowling's
Speaker 8: a bit of a bonus. But I obviously take that
Speaker 8: a lot more seriously now the bowling than I ever
Speaker 8: did before, So I would still call myself a betting
Speaker 8: all round it, but I guess my role on the
Speaker 8: side has changed a bit where it'd probably maybe even
Speaker 8: bordering on the bowler first.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just about to head off eight of these chest
Speaker 2: matches for the World Test Championship. So that's a real
Speaker 2: challenge in itself, isn't it, Because New Zealand has got
Speaker 2: a bit of work to do to get above the
Speaker 2: third or fourth place. You shit out at the moment,
Speaker 2: and all the other side to be looking to do
Speaker 2: the same as well.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think that the Test Championship provides great context
Speaker 8: to Test cricket and it's been great for the Test
Speaker 8: game and it's cool to see where you're ranking around
Speaker 8: the world and ultimately try and push for that Test
Speaker 8: Championship final. So yeah, we don't like to look too
Speaker 8: far ahead, but we'll be taking that one game in
Speaker 8: one session at the time, and I guess it's one
Speaker 8: of those things that it provides great context. But if
Speaker 8: you get too caught up with only trying to achieve that,
Speaker 8: then you perhaps lose sight of what's it right in
Speaker 8: front of you. So yeah, we'll be going out to
Speaker 8: that first session and trying to put our best foot
Speaker 8: forward and then see where we end up at the
Speaker 8: end of the nine games, because it'll be I guess
Speaker 8: pretty telling in that Test Championship tally.
Speaker 2: Nice to have one of your willing and teammates been
Speaker 2: is starting to samand a place along with Willow Raw
Speaker 2: as the leaders of a New Zealand bowling attack for
Speaker 2: the future.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's really exciting. Seeing them both play against Australia
Speaker 8: last year was awesome and they bring a lot of
Speaker 8: energy and pace to the bowling attack, which is very exciting.
Speaker 8: I feel like they're wives beyond the years, both of them.
Speaker 8: They work really hard. I've had the pleasure of seeing
Speaker 8: Sez working hard this winter obviously being in Wellington as well,
Speaker 8: and I'm sure Will's doing exactly the same thing in
Speaker 8: christ Church. They're just very exciting young prospects and as
Speaker 8: we saw last year, they're ready to go straight away.
Speaker 8: So it's certainly no token them getting this call up
Speaker 8: and I'm sure when they get called upon they'll be
Speaker 8: ready to go again. It is hugely exciting for New
Speaker 8: Zealand cricket to have two young guys like that coming through,
Speaker 8: and I'm sure we'll see a lot more of them
Speaker 8: in the future. Good luck, thanks so much, Yes, thank you.
Speaker 1: Brian Waddell, Jeremy Cooney on the front foot.
Speaker 2: August nineteen sixty four. Sixty years ago, a five Test
Speaker 2: Ashes series was played in England and needed only one
Speaker 2: game to settle the series. Australia had won the third
Speaker 2: Test at Headingly by seven wickets due to a magnificent
Speaker 2: innings of one hundred and sixty played by Peter Burge.
Speaker 2: The final Test at the Able introduced a new player
Speaker 2: to Test cricket Test into break records. Jeff Boycott had
Speaker 2: another player set a new mark for bowlers and Test
Speaker 2: cricket in his sixty fifth Test. It wasn't you, Parks,
Speaker 2: was it?
Speaker 3: Not?
Speaker 5: That I remember?
Speaker 7: But I've tried to forget most of my dismissal, so
Speaker 7: it could have been.
Speaker 10: Please six seventh for eight fifty five weavers fourteen. HOWF
Speaker 10: Truman had a bit of a scowl at the batsman
Speaker 10: doesn't even look friendly to watch his fieldsman at the
Speaker 10: moment and it's thirty first over, there's two wickets once
Speaker 10: a third. Truman in again oldster Hawk, and Hawk goes
Speaker 10: for in his park.
Speaker 2: There's a three hundreds.
Speaker 4: There was no nice attuch did Truman congratulating Hawk hot
Speaker 4: by Cowdrey.
Speaker 2: Neil.
Speaker 9: Hawk can never have come into the pavilion or a
Speaker 9: greater revation in his life, but they weren't looking at him.
Speaker 9: Fred Truman's three hundred Test wicket, the first man in
Speaker 9: the history of cricket to achieve the figure.
Speaker 2: Now, you wouldn't have played against him too much, would you.
Speaker 5: I played against him.
Speaker 7: In a forty over games, and he was very funny.
Speaker 7: He wasn't very quick by the stage. His voice was
Speaker 7: quicker than his delivery, but an interesting character. He also
Speaker 7: came and spoke at Seddon Park one day not long
Speaker 7: after I got married, and I was a host. I
Speaker 7: was sort of part of the hosting after I'd finished
Speaker 7: at Worcester, of course, but he made it out that
Speaker 7: he was one of my.
Speaker 5: Best friends, and his stories weren't.
Speaker 7: Things that you were telling the church, and he made
Speaker 7: me the brunt of every one of his stories. And
Speaker 7: my new father in law was present. I took him
Speaker 7: along to listen to F. S. Truman and I was
Speaker 7: the brunt of every one of his stories. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 7: no I wasn't.
Speaker 5: I wasn't a victim on the field. Let's say that.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't have played it too often, Jerry.
Speaker 6: I played him once. Brian and a slightly elderly mixed
Speaker 6: English side came out to play a number of teams
Speaker 6: and I played him at Pukikura Park and both of
Speaker 6: them was in the team. Godfrey Evans was in the
Speaker 6: team and I was quite surprised he would have been
Speaker 6: in his perhaps his mid fifties. But he he was
Speaker 6: a quickish medium, if you know what I mean. He
Speaker 6: swung it away and so you could see. And certainly
Speaker 6: I remember talking to Graham Dowling about him when he
Speaker 6: played Test matches against Fred and he said he was
Speaker 6: an outstanding bowler, you know, quickish, really quickish, but that
Speaker 6: movement as well associated with it made it very difficult.
Speaker 6: Tended to bowl pretty full, could bowl the short ball
Speaker 6: as well. So yeah, he was an He would have
Speaker 6: been an interesting guy to play against, no doubt about that.
Speaker 5: But he spent his life.
Speaker 7: FS spenders life campaigning to get a knighthood, with which
Speaker 7: he failed, but he was very keen on getting a
Speaker 7: knighthood FS.
Speaker 2: Yes, he loved the politicians and the political angle. Great character.
Speaker 2: I worked with him in the commentary box and he
Speaker 2: was a wonderful man to work with. Well there. He
Speaker 2: was the first man of three hundred Test wickets back
Speaker 2: in August nineteen sixty four. And one guess who his
Speaker 2: last wicket was in New Zealander A tail ender his
Speaker 2: last Test wicket could you guess Parks.
Speaker 6: Three hundred and seventh wicket? That would be nineteen sixty five. Yeah,
Speaker 6: we went to England.
Speaker 2: He got two wickets in his first and he's of
Speaker 2: the last Test and none of the second. They were
Speaker 2: both bowlers down the order. One of them was Bruce
Speaker 2: Taylor and the other one was.
Speaker 5: Richard J O'Collins.
Speaker 2: Correct pH Collins, yep, that was his last Test wicket,
Speaker 2: Richard Collins. We'll get rock on one day and chat
Speaker 2: with about that.
Speaker 6: The rapier. It would have taken the rapier out. It
Speaker 6: was about five pound too heavy.
Speaker 2: A lot of fun. I'll try and get some of
Speaker 2: the uh bred Truman stories for replay, provided they're clean
Speaker 2: and uh not heard in the church. Previously Parks, Well
Speaker 2: we'll do that on one program.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's very funny, a great character and uh you know,
Speaker 7: a very very strong man, minor, all those sorts of things,
Speaker 7: the old style of sportsman.
Speaker 5: But a great character, good fun Fred.
Speaker 6: Used to go into the opposition side. Didn't you look
Speaker 6: around the team? I got five wickets in here today.
Speaker 2: Parks, thanks for joining us. This wedlerk forward to you
Speaker 2: again of the quickt.
Speaker 7: Issues to have, Thanks you Tom VisiC guys, Thanks exapologisms.
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