Cricket: Bowlers step up after Bond

Daryl Tuffey has re-established himself. Photo / Getty Images

Chris Martin must have felt the pain more than most.

There he was, the senior statesman of the attack, getting back a star bowling partner who could take off some of the pressure, opening up from the other end during a six-test summer. Bliss.

It worked beautifully, too, in Dunedin. Shane Bond ripped through Pakistan on the way to match figures of 8-153 from 48.5 overs, taking his tally to 87 in 18 tests at an average of 22.09.

Meanwhile, Martin toiled for 5-108 from 37 overs but got a ball to snort on Mohammad Yousuf who gloved it to Brendon McCullum on 41, arguably the key wicket of the second innings.

On Wednesday, Martin will be 35. In recent times, he might have expected a lonelier, more pressure-laden spell at the bowling crease. But this time, the pace bowling stocks are a little fuller.

Like Bond, Daryl Tuffey has established plenty of domestic form since returning from the so-called rebel ICL.

He's taken up the slack in the second test, with figures of 4-64 from 23.2 overs in the first innings, his first appearance in white for New Zealand in five and a half years.

Tim Southee and Brent Arnel are also in the frame but the 'old guard' - Martin, Tuffey and Iain O'Brien - are so far maintaining the bond without Bond.

Former Black Caps all-rounder and selector Dion Nash says one plus from Dunedin was that the bowling unit performed well together.

"It wasn't Shane single-handedly winning the test. Certainly he played an important role but Chris Martin, Iain O'Brien and Daniel Vettori showed a maturity which has sometimes been missing from New Zealand teams in the longer form of the game.

"Shane's speed and ability to knock a guy over from nowhere will be missed but Daryl brings a consistent line and length with a nice outswinger and bounce. Daryl is a loss in terms of pace and perhaps venom but not in experience. So it's not a bad state to be in, provided no one else is injured,"says Nash.

Former New Zealand coach David Trist saw Bond in action at the University Oval. He regrets Vettori's decision to expose him to the bowling crease for 48.5 overs but accepts it is difficult to balance that thought with the desire to win.

"When you have a prizefighter, in this case one of your better fast bowlers who has a litany of injury issues to cope with, it was always going to be difficult to give him an appropriate load. In hindsight it was an error of judgement but Bond would have to take some responsibility for it because he admits he likes to go full on.

"He unsettled the whole Pakistan batting line-up. Having him there to clean up the tail was also something extra psychologically. Even though Pakistan looked fragile, they'll be relieved one of the great fast bowlers we've produced is absent for the series.

"To come back after two years' absence and bowl that well was sensational," said Trist. "He was up around 140km/h the whole time. Not many bowlers can sustain that pace for the time he did."

Trist says Bond's prolonged spells are a minor aberration in Vettori's captaincy which he says has been admirable, given the present coach-less team.

"Getting that win is morale-boosting, especially during a change that seems to have been poorly managed by New Zealand Cricket. The players should be congratulated on the way they've shouldered the responsibility and done the job."

Trist was also impressed by the performance of O'Brien, who last night announced his retirement from international cricket.

"I remember how well O'Brien bowled. In his first spell he held his own into the wind. Then he lost it for a while and became over-anxious. It seems he felt the stress and panicked, having just two other quick bowlers around him.

"But what he's shown on a number of occasions is an ability to regather himself. I thought it was fantastic how he battled back, dislocated finger and all, to get wickets."