AUS Vs NZ | Perth Day 4 Talking Points - Jeet's place in jeopardy and Matthew Wade goes to war

ByAnirudh Suresh, SportsCafe Editor

12/15/2019

It was not just the Perth weather that turned up the heat on Sunday as Tim Paine and his men were at their clinical best as they thrashed their Trans-Tasman neighbours to go 1-0 up in the series. While BJ Watling showed resistance for the visitors, they just weren't able to cope with Starc's pace.

‘Jeet’ Raval not winning enough away from home

Martin Guptill, Aaron Redmond, Rob Nicol, Hamish Rutherford, Tim McIntosh: the list of unsuccessful New Zealand Test openers in the last decade goes on and on and on. Now, in Tom Latham, the Kiwis have one solid prospect and in the form of Jeet Raval, they have found an able partner who can compliment him. Or that’s what they think. Raval’s withering numbers in Test cricket say otherwise and his form and performances away from home are concerning, if not alarming.

In fact, in his Test career, in 6 Tests away from home - in UAE, Sri Lanka and now Australia - the left-hander has averaged a dismal 15.45, passing the fifty-run mark zero times. Forget away matches, so far this year, after starting the year with a 132 versus Bangladesh, he has scored just 66 runs in the following 9 innings: his last 7 scores read 1, 1, 0, 5, 19, 0, 4. Here in Perth, he’s not lasted long enough to even face the spinners and when he’s coming up against the quicks - be it Starc, Hazlewood or Cummins - he’s looked like a dead duck.

Unlike Australia, New Zealand are not a team that’s spoiled with options, hence it’s understandable why they’ve given little thought to potential axing Raval from the team. However, if the Kiwis are to move to the next level, they would need more than just batsmen who are mere pushovers away from home and at this point in time, Raval is an epitome of the same.

If not the batsman, Australia need Matthew Wade the warrior

Matthew Wade is arguably the most ‘Australian’ Australian in this line-up: he is aggressive, loves to pick a fight and for the opposition, is one irky presence on the field. He’s broken into this team by working hard, scoring runs, making sacrifices - he gave up the gloves in Tasmania to concentrate on his batting - and he’s transitioned into this new-look Aussie side ceaselessly. He’s not quite scored the number of runs he’d have liked to, but he’s been an integral part of the team; not because of his batting, but purely because of what he’s brought to the table: mettle.

Now 31, Wade is one of the more experienced members in the side and be it in the Ashes earlier this year or even in this game against New Zealand, when the chips have been down, he’s dug in, taken the fight to the opposition and shown his teammates the way. His battle against Wagner in the second innings kind of depicts the kind of cricketer Wade is: a warrior, fighter and leader who’s willing to go to any extent, cop how many ever blows on the body it takes, to fend the opposition off.

Sure Wade’s behavior, at times, might not fall into Langer and Paine’s “cultural” protocol, but the added element of aggression he’s added to this group has been invaluable and is perhaps is what’s pushing them to the next level. Matthew Wade the batsman might not yet have set the stage alight, but Wade the Warrior has arrived and he’s here to stay.

Tim Paine’s captaincy masterclass seals the deal for the Aussies

Mitchell Starc and Marnus Labuschagne might have set up the win for the Aussies, but the orchestrator in chief, albeit a silent one, was none other than captain Tim Paine. Right from the moment when he won the toss, Paine didn’t put a foot wrong; Hell, he even managed to review and successfully overturn two decisions. Firstly, on Day 2, Paine had a tricky decision to make, that of when to declare, and whilst many criticized the Aussies for their dull and slow approach, in the end, their Pujara-esque approach turned out to be perfect as they removed 5 New Zealand batters courtesy Starc and the flashy floodlights.

Then, despite losing Hazlewood after just three overs, Paine rotated the rest of the bowlers in an almost-perfect manner to ensure that no one was burdened or overloaded with overs. And whilst in the second innings Australia were expected to declare their innings overnight, Paine ensured that he gave an hour to the Kiwis in the scorching Perth heat on the morning of Day 4 to both physically and mentally exhaust them a wee more. And perhaps the icing on the cake was Lyon - a bowling change against the script from Paine - taking the final wicket to win Australia the match.

In a time where there are zillions giving their opinions on who should captain Australia next, Paine proved why he is ‘The Man’ for Australia at the moment and asserted his authority in his very own way. And whilst he was at it, he ensured that he did not take the limelight away from the usual suspects. Australia are now ‘Tim Paine’s Men’, not just by words, but also by actions.