Before the series started, New Zealand Herald columnist Chris Rattue wrote an incredibly provocative piece claiming you can smell the fear emanating out of the Aussie camp.
New Zealand had just won the Chappell-Hadlee series 2-1, and Rattue was pumped up about the Kiwis chances or, more accurately, was convinced about Australias fallibility.
He said the Aussies had found themselves in a lions den without many big rocks to throw at the beast and were operating on thin resources with a relatively inexperienced captain.
In a crazy turnaround it is the Kiwis who have the scary fast bowlers, he wrote.
Australian cricket teams dont lie down, but this might be shaping as the worst team theyve sent here. Turn a few screws, and it could turn to disarray.
Incendiary stuff.
After being proven so wrong in such humiliating fashion, Rattue turned his sights on the Kiwis.
How convenient. A couple of Aussies lose the plot and, hey presto, its a handy smokescreen for a dire New Zealand performance over five Tests against Australia, he wrote.
Im p@##$% off all right, but not at bad-mannered Josh Hazlewood or Steve Smith. The Black Caps were a Test disaster, and maybe even distracted by the Brendon McCullum celebrity tour.
Sure, the Aussies take their competitive attitude too far sometimes, but a lot of our blokes havent taken it far enough.
A potentially great cricket Test series, which could have been a landmark, turned into a dud. McCullum is a great Kiwi sports character, but save all the pats on the back until after the series. There was a job to be done, a contest to get into, and New Zealand failed miserably.
The vaunted new ball attack of Tim Southee and Trent Boult was rubbish. The spin bowling situation is embarrassing.
Australia are No. 1 and New Zealand a long, long way from that.
