Cricket: South Africa stiffer test of NZ place in rankings

By Richard Boock

There was much to be encouraged by during the New Zealand cricketers' triumphs against India this summer, even if there was a touch of The Emperor's New Clothes about the whole scene.

The test series win was a huge boost for the credibility of New Zealand cricket, not to mention the coffers of New Zealand Cricket, and a hearty boot up the backside for all those critics (including your own correspondent), who rated the chances of success alongside those of an alien landing.

In the interests of fair play, we now acknowledge that Simon Doull is the new Richard Hadlee, that Sachin Tendulkar cannot bat an eyelid, that coach Steve Rixon knew what he was doing all along - and that the past five or six years have just been a temporary glitch.

It was not so long ago that the country was almost launching a parliamentary inquiry into cricket here - not because of corruption or drugs, but because the national team appeared incapable of beating Mrs Mops' Girls XI, let alone Mohammad Azharuddin's tourists.

Any talk of investigators will presumably now cease and Jenny Shipley, in the lead-up to an early election, will be seen at every game instead, shaking hands with Dion Nash and riding the drinks-cart out into the middle. Australia might even want to play us.

After the dross this New Zealand team have dished up over the past few seasons it has been no less bewildering to watch them make such a sudden transformation. The question still to be answered is whether they've become quite useful, or whether India have become quite useless.

It is not in dispute that India brought one of the great batting line-ups to these parts. The bowling, however, was not so much an attack as an invitation to plunder, and the suspicion remains that the New Zealand batsmen have yet to be genuinely tested this summer.

Apart from a couple of fiery spells from Javagal Srinath during the second test, the most intimidating spell of bowling on this tour was served up not by any of the Indian touring party but by a New Zealand Press Association correspondent during a net practice before the third test at Hamilton.

Invited to have a trundle near the end of the session, our man (former New Zealand pace bowler Jonathon Millmow) seldom pitched anything in the batsmen's half of the pitch, and with one snorting, leaping delivery to the unhelmeted Nash, possibly produced the most venemous ball of the series.

The joke doing the rounds at that stage was that India could use Millmow's services immediately, but did they have anyone who could write the match-reports for him?

In the end, the New Zealand batsmen were able to cope reasonably well with the moderate threat of Srinath and Anil Kumble, although the concern must be that they still look vulnerable against anything close to top class.

Only Craig McMillan of the top-order batsmen made anything like the most of his opportunities against India. The second opening position is still up in the air following the failure of Matthew Bell, and if it wasn't for the new-found fighting qualities of players such as Nash and Cairns, New Zealand would not have mustered enough runs to win the series.

On the bowling front, however, New Zealand could lay claim to an attack who would keep most international line-ups honest, and unlike the batting, has players of the quality of Shayne O'Connor and Andrew Penn putting presure on the incumbents.

Doull showed again in Wellington that when fit, he ranks in the very top bracket of swing-bowlers, while Nash's acceptance of the critical third seamer's role lent a balance to the attack that was previously missing.

Nash, New Zealand's caretaker captain, has brought another dimension to the national team, not only through his deeds with the bat and ball, but also in his readiness to accept the responsibility of any given situation - and his ability to respond to it. Cairns also delivered at the batting crease, but struggled for rhythm with the ball, as did left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori at times.

New Zealand will not thank anyone for suggesting it, particularly after their fifth consecutive test win at home and an honourable draw in the one-day series, but doubt still hovers over their ability against anything but the mediocre.

The good thing is that they will soon have a chance to answer the skeptics. South Africa arrive on February 11.