Cricket: Batting and bowling on a par - both terrible

By RICHARD BOOCK in Brisbane

As if New Zealand's batting woes weren't bad enough, they also have a major headache with their bowling.

A surprising combination when initially announced, New Zealand's first-test attack at the Gabba proved about as sharp as a hornless cow and was eventually mauled by not only the Australian middle-order but also the most famous bunny in the game.

The only slight consolation for the touring bowlers yesterday was that they were able to dismiss No 11 Glenn McGrath for 61, seven runs short of the world-record 68 not out posted by former New Zealand paceman Richard Collinge.

But by that stage even Jason Gillespie had raised his maiden test 50 and the New Zealand attack had been laid bare, the pacemen in particular exposed as a collection of honest toilers who were unable to sustain their initial promise.

As well as Michael Clarke played for his 141, the first test man-of-the-match was helped by a New Zealand attack that persisted in bowling two lengths, often dropping short enough to feed his signature hook and pull shots, or over-tossing for the drive.

New Zealand coach John Bracewell was hoping that Kyle Mills' swing bowling might prove a factor in the Brisbane climate.

But apart from a handy spell early on the third day, he struggled to contain the home side's batsmen, and appeared to drop in pace throughout the day.

Bracewell said he was generally pleased with the efforts of Chris Martin and Daniel Vettori, who he thought bowled superbly at the weekend and did everything they could against a side who were deserved world champions.

"I think losing James [Franklin] at the beginning of this match could have made a little bit of a difference, but I think Chris Martin bowled magnificently for long periods, and showed good discipline," Bracewell said.

"I also thought Dan bowled beautifully.

"When you're playing against class acts - and some of these guys aren't just good, they're treading a path towards greatness - there are very small windows of opportunity for the bowlers.

"I reckon Dan followed the plan very well but in the end ran out of steam."

Bracewell, who watched his team slump to their sixth test loss since he took over the reins last summer, said his bowlers tried to change their length but struggled to sustain the alteration, and as a consequence came off second best.

"We adjusted our length and tried different things but we didn't execute as well as we wanted to, and suffered because of it."

As for the second test at Adelaide, starting on Friday, he said the only question mark in terms of fitness involved Franklin's groin strain.

"We've got a full squad and everyone but James is fit at this stage to play," he said.

"It's a different surface at Adelaide and we'll be wanting to have a good look at it before we have any discussions about the possible attack."

Asked if he wished that he had picked Ian Butler, Bracewell said: "Why? So he could have bowled shorter? I don't know about that. Kyle swung the ball early, Chris did well - as did Dan, and Jacob [Oram] at times had no luck."

Stephen Fleming said that it was a deliberate move to bowl shorter against certain batsmen but his bowlers found it hard to adjust their length when required and ran into trouble, especially late on Saturday when McGrath and Gillespie combined in a tenth-wicket stand worth 114.

"We did try to change our length but it didn't work," the captain said, "and we started getting a bit emotional about it all."