Honours just about even.

New Zealand might disagree and bemoan the rain which ruined a likely march to victory over Pakistan yesterday - and their first significant series victory since beating the West Indies three years ago - but a one-all draw was a reasonable outcome.

Put it this way: New Zealand won a thriller at Dunedin which could have gone either way; Pakistan walked the second at the Basin Reserve against a wretched batting display; and New Zealand had a clear edge in the decider but ran out of time on a pitch which, despite confident predictions that it would be perkier than usual for the bowlers, proved to be another examination of their spirit and perseverance.

There wasn’t much between the teams and that added to the intrigue. Some of the cricket was of pretty poor quality - from both teams.

Pakistan spilt a barely believable 17 catches over the three tests; New Zealand had the batting horrors over the first two matches; but both had bowlers with penetration and skill.

The final test threw up a bright newcomer in debutant opener BJ Watling, who turned on a dazzling little cameo, slipping into one-day mode in the vain chase for victory; and an unexpected bonus in Martin Guptill’s offspin which - and don’t snigger here - might yet turn into a handy backup option on a hot day for the specialists.

Neither team was good enough to get and maintain dominance, and so there could be few complaints at a drawn series.

Pakistan’s best? Teenager Umar Akmal - top scorer in the series on debut with 379 runs at 63.16 - and new ball champion Mohammad Asif, whose 19 wickets at a terrific 19.78 apiece was comfortably the finest return of the bowlers.

As for New Zealand, the batting needs more work.

Even at McLean Park, the best batting surface in the country, there were those among the top six who missed out. Hard questions need to be asked and Daniel Flynn may have used Read more…

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Given it’s the time of year for messages to the North Pole under the heading “Dear Santa”, maybe the Black Caps’ list should start with the urgent need for an off-field boss.

With the 32-run win over Pakistan, the first in more than a year, the team are on the cusp of returning to a semblance of success on the stage all good sides are measured - test matches.

The return of Shane Bond’s venom, the wilyness of Chris Martin, the crisp strokes of Ross Taylor and the all-round cunning of Daniel Vettori mean the team have incumbent talent. Vettori was delighted with the victory and with good reason.

But, even though the win was a good one, with character and doggedness, let’s wait before we give ourselves totally over to the illusion of a rosy future.

There are severe deficiencies, particularly in the batting. Can Daniel Flynn make it as a No3, averaging 21.50 in the position since his promising start of 95 against the West Indies a year ago?

Will New Zealand be able to return to an era where Flynn doesn’t have to think about striding out to bat when the ball is still brand new - having only touched the pitch, the stumps or the edge of a bat and a member of the slip cordon’s hands - due to a lapse in an opener’s concentration? Is Jesse Ryder, a man blessed with sensational hand-eye co-ordination, capable of a prolonged career or will a lack of fitness or discipline get the better of him?

There was enough in the dismissals of batsmen like Flynn, Grant Elliott, Peter Fulton, and even Taylor and Vettori himself to suggest that more help would not go amiss.

In Vettori’s era as skipper, with coaches John Bracewell and Andy Moles, there have been 22 tests with five wins - three against Bangladesh, one against England and yesterday’s Read more…

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If I could place my order for anything in the second test against Sri Lanka starting today, it would be preceded by an entree of 5-wicket bags, but the main course would have to be a smorgasbord of batting partnerships and high scores.

I’m not thoroughly obsessed with winning but if New Zealand can consistently score 450-plus that should stop us losing matches, even if the Ws do not begin to belch forth in the result column.

In the past 12 months of Test cricket, the record of Kiwi batting partnerships is dire. Only eight times have our pairings made it past 100 and then only one passed the 200-run threshold (Taylor & Ryder’s 271 in 60 overs vs India at Napier).

It is Big Ol’ Jesse Ryder who stands out as our player most likely to feature in a decent partnership - of the eight returning a century or more, he features in five of them: Taylor, Vettori, McIntosh, McCullum and Franklin are there twice, and Daniel Flynn put on 118 with Timmy Mac against the West Indies at the Fruit Bowl.

Another indictment on the top order is that the bulk of our best partnerships are clustered around the 4th, 5th and, disappointingly, the 7th wicket. None of the top six collaborations have been from “the top” of the batting order with our best opening partnership a paltry 55 (the two discards How and Redmond vs Bangladesh at Chittagong), for the 2nd wicket the Flynn-McIntosh effort above was the best, while the highest for the third wicket is an even more Read more…

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New Zealand’s test cricket novices have been warned against being so preoccupied with Sri Lanka’s spin wizardry they disregard a maturing new ball attack that initiated a historic test series victory over Pakistan last month.

New Zealand Cricket has gone to extraordinary lengths to nurse a talented though inexperienced batting unit of Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Daniel Flynn, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder through their first confrontation with Muttiah Muralitharan on the test wicket world record holder’s domains here and in Colombo.

Ajantha Mendis, anointed to assume Muralitharan’s mantle when he retires from tests in 2011, prompted more concern by taking three for nine in 18 generally unreadable balls during his debut against New Zealand at the ICC World Twenty20 in June.

Former Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and anonymous English teenager Maurice Holmes formed NZC’s contingency plan and were flown to Colombo to mirror the deliveries of Sri Lanka’s dynamic duo before today’s first test at Galle International Stadium (4.30pm NZT). Read more…

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