Mark Waugh: Defence is not the answer

COMMENT

New Zealand can beat Australia, but not with the mindset they took into the first test.

The first day of the Gabba test was disappointing, not so much for the number of runs New Zealand scored - or didn't score - but more for their attitude.

You are not going to win tests against Australia by being defensive.

I would much rather they went out in an attacking frame of mind, as Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills showed yesterday, to put some pressure back on the Australians and come up short than go out to play defensively in the hope of a draw.

New Zealand have players such as Scott Styris and Craig McMillan who can play attacking cricket. That is the only way you are likely to beat Australia - take them on at their own game.

That would have spin-offs for New Zealand when they went on to play other teams.

By changing their game plan against the best team in the world and adopting an attacking frame of mind, they would then have the confidence to go out against other teams knowing they can play that kind of cricket.

I would like to see more tests between Australia and New Zealand. I don't know why there are only two tests in this series.

I love watching test cricket. You never know what's around the corner. It is a test of mental strength and attitude. A test of character and more of a challenge than one-day cricket.


Especially in the middle 30 overs, limited-over games can be a wee bit boring.


For New Zealand the more immediate problem has not changed.

To win this, or any test, they need to take 20 wickets and I can't see how they are going to do that.

New Zealand can't match the Australians in that. To be successful any team need good fast bowlers and top spinners. Australia have both. New Zealand don't.

Going back to the days of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Craig McDermott, Bruce Reid and, more recently, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, Australia have had bowlers to exploit the conditions, especially at home, where there is bounce and pace.

Those conditions are tailormade for fast bowlers so it's understandable youngsters in Australia want to bowl fast.

Why would you want to be a fast bowler on the subcontinent or in New Zealand?

Considering the success of the Australian pace bowlers and the leg-spin of Shane Warne, it is not surprising we don't have many players who set out wanting to be medium pacers.

The other big advantages we appear to have over New Zealand is the strength of our club competitions and the part cricket plays in Australia's sporting culture.

Cricket is the No 1 sport in Australia. Everyone wants to play. The kids want to be a Warne, a McGrath or a Matthew Hayden. In New Zealand those same kids probably want to play rugby.

Since Richard Hadlee, New Zealand's only bowlers of genuine pace have been Danny Morrison and Shane Bond. You won't bowl out teams without at least one really fast bowler.

With the number of people playing the game in Australia it is hardly surprising we produce so many good players.

I was still playing club cricket last season. The kind of experience players like myself can bring to the game at that level can only help.

I was down at my Bankstown club this week and there were a lot of kids. It is important for our first class and test cricketers to go back and share their knowledge. I don't know whether that is happening in New Zealand.

Suggestions that a New Zealand team could play in one of our domestic competitions might be a step in the right direction. I'm sure there are many Australians who would like to see a strong New Zealand team come from it.

* Mark Waugh is a former Australian batsman