Extreme heat in Melbourne sees New Zealand warm-up match postponed
With temperatures forecast to reach 43C, New Zealand coach Gary Stead has pulled the pin on Friday’s sessions of a warm-up match against a Victorian XI ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
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The cancellation of Friday’s bowling day in a Boxing Day warm-up match could be a blessing in disguise for New Zealand players still recovering from a huge workload in the opening Test.
A forecast of 43C was enough for Black Caps coach Gary Stead to pull the pin on plans to pit his bowlers, who sent down 215 overs in the heat last week, against a Victorian XI.
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They will instead get the overs they need in a Saturday session at the MCG which Stead said could work in their favour with many still feeling the effects of the first Test.
“It’s hard to underestimate the effect the Perth Test had on us,” Stead said.
“It was temperatures around 40 degrees every day, the travel from Perth to Melbourne is pretty gruelling as well and the guys are still struggling to get their sleep patterns right.
“Having that extra day off shouldn’t do any harm at all.”
Stead said there was also a “danger element” involved in playing on Friday, but his batsmen will get their chance to play on Sunday when the game resumes as per the original plan.
Pace spearhead Trent Boult looks a certainty to play on Boxing Day after impressing the coach with his work during a lengthy net session on Friday.
“He looked like something close to his best and was really comfortable running in so that’s pleasing to see,” Stead said.
“He is certainly on track to be available for the Boxing Day Test.”
New Zealand hasn’t played a Boxing Day Test since 1987 and said there would be an “inner determination” to bounce back from the opening loss in Perth on such a big stage.
“We want to put up a really strong fight, take the game long and deep and be in a position where we can put pressure on Australia,” he said.
“There’s a real buzz around … it will be pretty special.”
KIWIS OUT FOR MCG REVENGE
Payback should be a driving force for New Zealand players in the first Boxing Day Test for the Kiwis since a 1987 draw former wicketkeeper Ian Smith says his team should have won.
The Black Caps haven’t been invited back to the MCG for a Test match since that dramatic finish when Australian tailenders Mike Whitney and Craig McDermott blocked out the final overs to deny the tourists a famous win.
Smith said to this day he was still “bitter” about the result because of a controversial not out decision when Kiwi quick Danny Morrison looked to have McDermott out LBW with just eight balls left in the match.
It was a result that came in the years after the infamous underarm delivery from Trevor Chappell in a one-day game and continued a relationship with the MCG which Smith said was “not that flash”.
“I’d thought we’d won it. Television replays will perhaps show we should have as well,” Smith, in Australia as a Fox Sports commentator said of the 1987 result.
“I think we were done there, so there’s a bit of bitterness there.
“New Zealand cricket’s relationship with the MCG has not been that flash if you go back even before that through the ’80s, the underarm game of course, that Boxing Day Test match.
“We’ve got a bit of payback coming, hopefully, this time around.”
None of the current New Zealand side have ever played a Test on the MCG and Smith said the players would have to get over the “wow factor”.
A massive crowd is expected on Boxing Day with thousands of Kiwis set to flock to Melbourne for the match.
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“I have never known in my life a level of interest in one game, in New Zealand, as this Boxing Day Test is going to being,” Smith said.
“Thousands upon Thousands of Kiwis are coming over.
“None of these guys have played Test cricket on any of the venues this series. That’s very rare. The wow factor is something they are going to have to get over very quicks … it can be overpowering.”
But Smith said despite the first Test loss in Perth, and with the expected inclusion of pace spearhead Trent Boult, this New Zealand side was as prepared as any could be to take down the Australians.
“I think they are prepared to take Australia on and fight fire with fire,” he said.