Could Doug Bracewell be far more lethal with a new ball in his hand?
"He'll have to fight his way back in," Central Districts Stags coach Heinrich Malan said last night after the seamer dug New Zealand out of a hole against Sri Lanka on Saturday in the second testmatch in Wellington.
While Malan was travelling with the Stags and only caught a glimpse of the highlights on TV, he said Bracewell was doing what he had been doing for CD this summer.
"He's fuller in his bowling and shapes that ball away," he said of the Sharpies Driving Range Taradale CC premier allrounder who took three scalps on a greenish top on Saturday but, like other bowlers, found it tougher yesterday as the wicket flattened out to offer the tourists some traction with the bat.
The "world-class performer" provides the Mike Hesson-coached Black Caps with another dimension from opening seamers Tim Southee and left-armer Trent Boult in bending his back to extract extra bounce and pace to unsettle batsmen.
"He provides the Southees and Boults something on the other end," Malan said of the variation, after the 24-year-old shrugged off disciplinary lapses to work his way back into the Black Caps equation on Saturday at the Basin Reserve.
"Dougie always opens for us and is brilliant in the top order," the coach said, emphasising the fast bowler had worked on his run up and batting.
Bracewell caught the international eye when he ran through the Aussie batting line-up and took figures of 6-40 in only his third test at Bellerive Oval, Hobart , in December 2011. He had bowled Nathan Lyon, taking 9-60, to seal the win by seven runs, the first New Zealand victory on Aussie soil in 26 years.
