Cricket: Under attack

By DYLAN CLEAVER


If they were given a wicket every time they've been called 'pop-guns', the Black Caps' attack would be shredding the Australians. But wickets don't come cheaply in this part of the world. The Kiwis will have to earn every single scalp.

They have made a reasonably impressive start too. At the SCG, the Black Caps restricted a highly-rated New South Wales to 286 in their first innings on day three of the four-day tour match.

James Franklin, Chris Martin, Ian Butler, Jacob Oram and Paul Wiseman - with help from stand-in skipper Scott Styris and Craig McMillan - had the Blues feeding off scraps in a disciplined performance on Friday.

Franklin and Butler - both candidates for the first test starting in Brisbane on Thursday - were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Jacob Oram and Paul Wiseman took two each.

"It went all right. There were patches where I bowled soft balls, but overall the guys came back quite hard," said Franklin.


There was plenty of talk about how Bangladesh was poor preparation for Australia's hard and fast tracks, so it must have come as a shock for the Black Caps to see a strip which could have been curated in Chittagong.

"Yeah, it's very similar," Franklin said. "It's just been more of the same following on from Bangladesh. The guys worked hard for their wickets."


Franklin must be yearning for a strip which has the ball rising over hip height after starting his season with New Zealand A in South Africa. There, he said, the pitches were also low and slow.

"If selected for the Brisabane test, I might find it's a different kettle of fish, but the batsmen will be a lot tougher to get out."

Franklin's ability to swing the ball away from Australia's powerful left-handers - think Hayden, Langer, Lehmann and Gilchrist - will be useful, though Franklin said he has been struggling to swing the ball in the afternoons "and I'm not too sure why".

He is certain of one thing though: the approach needed to beat the transtasman rivals.

"The thing about playing Australia in Australia is you've got to come at them hard and bring your 'A' game."

Quick bowler Ian Butler rejected the 'pop-gun' label and said the Black Caps are no worse off than any other unit preparing to take on Australia.

"The reality is no other team in the world has 1000 test wickets between two players (Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne have 995). Every team in the world is light on experience against them.

"Our whole attack has had success at one time or another."

Collectively, Butler, James Franklin, Chris Martin and Kyle Mills - the 12th man against New South Wales - boast just 29 tests; the Australian trio of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz tally 185.