Cricket: Slaughter, and the Butler did it

By RICHARD BOOCK


It's easy to see now why Sir Richard Hadlee was so excited about the prospect of Ian Butler and Shane Bond spearheading New Zealand's future bowling attack.

If New Zealand's greatest fast bowler was beside himself after discovering Bond three years ago, he was almost ready to donate his memorabilia to charity after finding Butler in 2001-02, at which point he predicted happy times ahead for the national team.

And, as always, Sir Richard was right.

Bond burned brightly until his injury this year but Butler carried the baton onwards, announcing his coming of age yesterday when he sacked the Pakistan lower order with the second new ball and ended with career-best figures of six for 46.

It was the third-best performance from a New Zealand bowler against Pakistan, behind Chris Pringle's seven for 52 in 1990-91 and Stephen Boock's seven for 89 in 1984-85, and just ahead of Hadlee's six for 51 in the same season.

More importantly, Butler's incisive performance allowed New Zealand to work their way into a position of authority last night, holding an overall lead of 245 with two days to play.

Several players and a strong team effort have so far underpinned New Zealand's hard-fought ascendancy, notably the batting of Mark Richardson and the all-round talents of Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori - contributions that provided Butler with the stage on which to perform.

The 22-year-old, slightly peroxided fast bowler took full advantage of the support work, blasting through the Pakistani resistance to take five for 12, as the last six wickets tumbled for 28 runs, and the final four for just two.

Operating upwind at the start of the day, apparently a task he relishes, Butler served notice of his intentions with a direct, straight-line approach, and generated enough pace into the breeze to suggest he would be a handful when he turned round.

As it happened, Vettori provided the crucial breakthrough, beating Yousuf Youhana in the air and off the pitch at a time when the Pakistan vice-captain was threatening to "do a Richardson" and play the hosts out of the game.

Say what you like about Richardson's slowness, but Youhana's departure - and the subsequent collapse of the lower order - was a graphic indication of what might have happened to New Zealand on Friday had it not been for Richardson's acute sense of application.

Abdur Razzaq was the first to go with the new ball, playing all round a Butler delivery that shaped back in.

Mohammad Sami parried a short ball into the air and was caught by Robbie Hart, and three balls later Shoaib Akhtar's castle was lying in ruins.

Butler, whose previous best was four for 60 against England at the same ground two summers ago, then found himself on a hat-trick courtesy of an extraordinary catch from Vettori, who ran from mid-off to extra cover and dived to his left to end the defiance of Moin Khan.

It was Butler's first five-wicket bag in tests, and although Danish Kaneria survived the hat-trick ball, he fell to the last delivery of the over - a somewhat dubious lbw decision from a knee-high full-toss.

For all that, it was an excellent return for the Northern Districts' paceman, a slow starter on the competitive scene who only started making his presence felt in his mid-teens, eventually earning selection for his provincial under-17 side.

Butler insists that his late development, and the associated lack of pressure to bowl fast in his earlier years, is the main reason he has been relatively injury-free in adulthood, especially avoiding the fast bowler's main enemy, back complaints.

Compare that with Bond, who suffered three stress-fracture injuries in his back before he was 18.

Butler is also gaining useful international experience, having toured the West Indies, Sri Lanka and India, and looking a certainty for this winter's trip to England.

In India he ran into the peculiar way local commentators pronounced his christian name, most of them calling him "Iron" Butler.

And yet, he can count himself lucky. England all-rounder Ian Botham was nicknamed "tin-arse" for most of his career after the 1981-82 tour of India in which his name was pronounced "Iron Bottom" - to the delight of his team-mates.

Inside Track

Name: Ian Gareth Butler.

Born: November 24, 1981, Auckland.

First-class debut: Northern Districts v Otago, 2001-02.

Test debut: v England, Christchurch, 2001-02.

Tests: 7.

Highest score: 26 v West Indies, Bridgetown, 2001-02.

Best bowling: 6-46 v Pakistan, Wellington, 2003-04.