Would've been a good five test series. Shame NZ took till day two in Perth to really get into the series.
It was mentioned last night (which I noticed because I said similar to dad at dinner) that sides don't come in prepared for overseas tours, and usually they're behind after game one and the series is pretty much done. This was a classic case of that. Boult didn't start to look himself to this test. Southee broke down in game one. Bracewell was underdone and wasn't until game two that he started to bowl with consistency. Their batsmen weren't prepared (outside Williamson). It's hard enough touring overseas, but sides don't give themselves a chance with shit preparation (in part the crap pitch at Blacktown hurt, but why they played a one dayer then a two dayer in Canberra I don't know. Should've had two 3-4 day games, one in canberra, one in brisbane).
Still a bit to like about the NZ test side. Latham looks good, just needs to kick on with the innings, but the other opening spot is a black hole. Taylor finding some form is great for them. Shame McCullem was off the pace, and as JJ mentioned Watling had his worst series in some time. The quicks are good, especially if Milne/Henry kick on, and Santner looked a decent bat (not sure about his bowling, action is so...jerky).
One of the Nein guys said something else about Craig - if you aren't a particularly threatening spinner you have to at least be a reasonable defensive bowler - look at Vettori, who didn't really run through sides at test level but he was accurate, tight, kept pressure on and had a few little variations. Craig couldn't land two balls in the same spot.
I also thought the way they cranked up the pressure on Aus late in the game with a more defensive field, giving little to no easy runs around, was something they should've gone to a bit earlier. Aus goes to water with a bit of pressure, generally.
Some positives and a few questions for Australia. Warner batted really well the first two tests, ditto Khawja - questions for him though will arise when he actually comes into the game at 1/2 rather than well over 100. Burns was solid but isn't exactly cemented just yet. Smith wasn't at his best, but he's a 26 year old captain, it's a bit of an adjustment he's going through. Voges is playing his role reasonably well. Nevill's keeping was such an improvement on Haddin, and his batting when it was actually needed came through.
The Marsh's have a fair bit to prove, I think Mitch's bowling is getting better and better but his batting is poor (sounds like he'll be swapped with Nev next game which is a reasonable move). Hazlewood was awesome in game three which was good (bowled well without reward in brisbane also). Starc looked his best in test cricket but got injured, and Siddle looks as bad as he did last Aus summer. Lyon continued to do his job.
Exciting time for Aus cricket really, a lot of newer guys establishing themselves. Looking forward to Haze and Patto charging in next test. I also reckon the next test series in NZ in Feb could easily go the other way
