Cricket: Man-of-the-match snub shocks cricket fraternity

Doug Bracewell. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand cricket identities reacted with disbelief that bowling sensation Doug Bracewell was overlooked as man-of-the-match in favour of Australian David Warner.

The Aussie opener scored an unbeaten 123 and carried his team to within eight runs of a famous victory. But it was Bracewell who won the game when he bowled Nathan Lyon - taking six wickets for 40 runs in the second innings and nine for 60 in the match.

And for the first time in test cricket, the award for best player was decided by the public who could vote by mobile phone in Australia.

Unsurprisingly, Warner received 60 per cent of the vote - Bracewell just 25 per cent. A panel of experts normally picks the most valuable player.

Former Black Caps Iain O'Brien and Andre Adams took to Twitter to voice their frustrations.

"MOM to the losing side ... makes sense. I suppose Doug's spell of 6-26 off 9 didn't have any impact," wrote Adams.

O'Brien added: "A ton in a losing side vs a 6fa in a winning side ... Ummmmm. Sure runs were tough, but that's just ridiculous."

The test series was drawn 1-1.

Meanwhile, Martin Crowe was a happy captain last time New Zealand beat Australia in a test.

As the ball sped to the fine-leg boundary via batsman Tony Blain to seal a five-wicket win at Eden Park in 1993, Crowe never imagined it would take another 18 years to win another.

"Not at all," Crowe said. "After that Australia did everything right in their administration, everything right in their domestic cricket.

"We didn't. We floundered through the '90s and then started to get it right for four or five years under Stephen Fleming and Steve Rixon.

"Then, of course, [John] Bracewell took over and a Bracewell has taken over again. Dougie's got us back on track."

Bracewell's 6-40 sealed the game for New Zealand, but Crowe was even more pleased for Ross Taylor.

The two are good friends and the former skipper sent the incumbent a text on Sunday night congratulating him on his gritty 56 in the second innings.

"Everyone hoped when they went over there that if they knuckled down they would put Australia under pressure. Then at the Gabba they got ahead of themselves.

"They applied the basics pretty well in this test. Most of the guys worked really hard on respecting the ball and playing what they had to."