Kane Williamson leads his team onto the field. Photo / Photosport
Kane Williamson leads his team onto the field. Photo / Photosport
When it comes to Zen and the Art of Cricket-Team Maintenance, you could do worse than take a leaf out of Kane Williamson's book.
At a time when New Zealand's dominance at home has left barely a whisper of mystery, it is the job of the hack, the spruiker andthe salesman to latch on to any intrigue.
Which brings us to the New Zealand team for the first test against Pakistan at Mt Maunganui; a team not exactly burdened by the pressure of having to win to have a chance of appearing at Lord's for the World Test Championship final.
That is an outcome, not a process, but nevertheless it's a pleasing outcome to ponder and gives rise to the question: what is the best team to win this first test, a Boxing Day festival at Bay Oval?
Even that is stretching the point. We know who 10 of the playing personnel will be.
The 11th, finally getting to the point, will be a battle to the death between spin-bowling all-rounder Mitchell Santner, and seam-bowling all-rounder Daryl Mitchell.
If you close your eyes long enough you might be able to picture it: the two of them going hammer and tongs in the nets trying to embarrass each other with subtle changes of pace and an array of scoops and sweeps; taking cups of tea to Gary Stead's room; and making subtle references in team meetings as to how dry/green the wicket looks.
And Williamson will be quite happy for you to live out that fantasy, knowing the "battle" is nothing but a construct.
"That's an outside view and yes, the reality is you're going to pick eleven, but we do think within our side that it's very important that you do as much as you can for each other," he said on the day before his first Christmas at home in heaven knows how many years and his first Yuletide as a father.
"The eleven that are out there are the one's looking to do the job but that's never a slight on anyone else. It's a balance thing and how you're looking to target it and all the guys are big enough and ugly enough to understand that and know that whatever decisions are made are in the best interests of the team."
Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner. Photo / Photosport
Of course they are, but only one can play. So it must be Santner, right? He played the inaugural test at Mt Maunganui and scored big runs and took second-innings wickets?
"It's still difficult two days out without knowing what the pitch will look like but as we did see last year, spin did come into it, however the wicket did age. There's a number of factors to look at when making that decision but [he's] under consideration certainly."
Well that settles it then, maybe, until you think that Mitchell has made a habit of making telling interventions whenever he's been asked.
"I think he's a brilliant cricketer. Obviously he offers in all areas of the game but he has a brilliant attitude. He always comes in and tries to fulfil a role for the team."
Now would be a good time to mention it could be immaterial.
New Zealand's four-man seam attack has been irresistible this season and although Pakistan will be expected to offer more staunch resistance than the West Indies, they are seriously depleted with the absence of Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam, allied to the non-selection of experienced campaigners Asad Shafiq and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
If the prospect of facing Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson on a lively wicket without your best batsman and captain sounds daunting, stand-in skipper Mohammad Rizwan was giving little away.
"It's a big loss for Pakistan, Babar is a world-class player … but inshallah it's a big opportunity for the young guys. We are looking forward to these guys stepping up," Rizwan said.
"It's always difficult conditions for the overseas guys, coming to New Zealand and Australia."
Rizwan pointed out that domestic cricket in Pakistan is played under a vast array of conditions. Some areas are noted for dry, turning pitches the sort we usually associate with the subcontinent, while other areas are greener and faster.
"It doesn't matter if [the Bay Oval pitch] has grass on it. The grass is the same for us as it is for the New Zealand side. It all depends on hard work. Whoever does the hard work is going to get the result."
That is an idea straight from the Williamson playbook. He'll leave it up to others to publicly debate the Mitchell-Santner conundrum (for what it's worth, I'm leaning slightly towards Santner), and to get excited about the prospect of a trip to Lord's in June.
"Our focus as it was in the last couple of tests is to start again and adapt to the conditions we're going to have. We've got different surfaces, different opposition. We know how good Pakistan are and we're going to have to be at our best starting from that first day.
"We want to make sure we're really clear on how we want to operate. It's coming back to those basics for us," he said.
"Any time you play Pakistan you know the depth of talent that they have … you always know that they're a huge threat. The skill level is so high."
