In their thrilling, ruthless run to the Cricket World Cup Final earlier in 2015, New Zealand’s strengths were obvious. The destructive top order hitting of Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill was sublime; Tim Southee and Trent Boult swung the ball both ways at impressive pace; Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson and Kane Williamson all performed in the middle order; and Daniel Vettori bowled with impressive control, picking up fifteen wickets.
Confidence was high in the Test squad, made up of the same core of players, in the days leading up to the First Test against England, despite having only been with each other for a brief time on account of the IPL commitments of six squad members.
McCullum’s verdict on the World Cup run influencing the Test side before the series was that the Black Caps should make full use of their captivating brand of cricket, saying: “Yes, the results were great but I think it was the manner in which we played the game and the spirit which we played in. That resonated with our public and people around the world, too. It would be silly of us to try not to feed on the back of that momentum.”
However, despite seemingly being in a commanding position at the end of day three, the Kiwis have let their advantage slip thanks to some mediocre change bowling, and two excellent hundreds by England’s Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes. Whilst the excellence of England’s captain and all-rounder should not be denied, it must also be pointed out that the fourth day revealed a serious weakness in the New Zealand side; the lack of a quality spinner is haunting them.
Since Daniel Vettori’s Test career seemed to have ended in 2012, a handful of different spin options have been tried and tested; Todd Astle, Bruce Martin and Ish Sodhi were three such bowlers, but a combined haul of nineteen wickets in eight matches was not enough for any of them to cement a spot in the side.
The current incumbent of the spinner’s role is Mark Craig. The 28-year-old off-spinner has struggled massively at Lord’s this week, with his match figures of 46-5-173-2 at the end of day four demonstrating a lack of control as well as an inability to build pressure and take wickets.
As can be seen from his pitch maps, England were quick to seize on anything too straight or too short, and despite only being hit for fourteen boundaries in 28 second innings overs, he still conceded 3.42 runs per over. The wicket of Stokes, who tried to hack a length ball over mid-wicket, was his only reward.
Craig’s selection may seem bizarre to some fans, in that his stats in all formats of the game are not particularly impressive. Finger-spinners tend to have fairly low economy rates, and exert a level of control, but Craig has not done so in any format of the game at domestic level, and his bowling average is now above 40 in all formats of cricket.
However, the lack of other options is a key reason for his selection. Astle was the leading spinner in New Zealand domestic cricket in 2015, but does not seem to have been in line for selection in the past couple of squad announcements. Auckland’s Tarun Nethula, who played five ODIs in 2012, has also performed consistently, but at 32 he is unlikely to be the next big thing for the Kiwis’ spin department. One other option might be Mitchell Santner, the 23-year-old left-armer. He still has time on his side, but 14 first-class wickets at 56.78 last season does not imply that he will be able to make the national side on his bowling alone.
Sodhi, therefore, may become the only other option for a spot in the side; his leg-spin has been largely ineffective at Test level in his international career to date, but the 22-year-old still has years to develop.
For the rest of this tour, Craig remains the only spinner in the squad, but Santner will join up with the touring party for the ODI series, and may be given the chance to prove his worth with the white ball. However, regardless of the identity of the next Kiwi spinner, it is certainly a worrying trend for the Black Caps that there seem to be few spinners coming through the ranks ready to emulate the success of Daniel Vettori, who had been such a stalwart for the national side.
After Shane Warne’s retirement, Australia struggled to find an international quality spinner for several years before Nathan Lyon came onto the scene; will the dearth of quality in New Zealand’s spin department see a similar phenomenon occur in the post-Vettori era?
