Mark Richardson: NZ top order need to show greater control

Daniel Vettori saved the New Zealand innings. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

Cricket is a crazy game. The difference between a great shot and what gets labelled as poor shot selection can be a quarter of an inch on the bat or half a yard of placement in the field.

However, when you acknowledge those risks then that half an inch or half a yard tends to go in your favour more often that not.

This is what I feel the much-maligned Black Caps' top order need to acknowledge. They cannot continue to hide behind the excuse that it's the way they play every time they get out to an expansive shot because right now the 'way they play' is not providing the results they could on a consistent enough basis.

Yes, this is a top order who feel more comfortable being the aggressor but there is a difference between being positive and being out of control.

When Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden tore into opposition bowling attacks, they did so with a sense of control. It did not look reckless.

If this expansive top order wants to do test cricket justice, they must pay more than lip service to it and apply more of the proven basics of the game.

Batting on the first morning of a test in conditions when the ball is swinging requires more application and more intent to play with control than what I saw displayed on Thursday.

It's not a huge shift for these players to make, it's just a little shift in mentality and a commitment to stop using 'the way we play' as a means to try and take pressure off themselves.

But let's not forget that was Thursday, the test is far from over and thanks once more to the intelligence of Daniel Vettori and Dean Brownlie's let-off at first slip but subsequent application, it's not game over.

The batsmen can redeem themselves in the second innings but how much of the goodwill that had been built up over the preceding month did they blow in the first session and a bit? The answer to that will be found in the second half of this game and the next at Hobart.

I had heard comment out of the Black Caps in response to Thursday's batting that you shouldn't look at the nature of some of the shots played in isolation and that they were a reflection of the pressure exerted on them.

What pressure?

That Australian bowling attack was not exerting pressure. Yes, they have some pace and swing but I'd hardly rate them as a top test attack.

The pitch had no demons in it either. When the ball is seaming around, sometimes that can cause ugly dismissals to average deliveries but the pitch was placid and the decision to bat was the correct one.

Let's call what we saw on Thursday a false start and be thankful that test cricket is not governed by International Association of Athletics Federations rules. I have not lost faith in this top order yet but, as a cricket supporter, I want to see more this summer from a team that represents me as a New Zealander.