Tactician Tim Paine sets blueprint for Day/Night Test captaincy

We, as fans, are so used to watching conventional Test cricket that this whole new product called “Day/Night Test cricket” throws us off guard multiple times in a single match. And sometimes, in fact, most of the time, we look and hope for D/N Tests to reduplicate it’s red-ball self when clearly, it is neither fabricated nor structured that way. How many times have we, in a pink-ball Test, on Day 1, hoped for the bowlers to dominate proceedings in the 15 overs despite knowing that the first session presents the best conditions for batting? It is not our fault, it’s just that our brains are wired that way; the more we consume the product, the better we’ll get an understanding of it. 

On paper, the 296-run win does seem like a rout, your typical ‘a matter of when more than if’ kind of one-sided affair, but in reality, Tim Paine had a lot to ponder and luckily for Australia, every step he took was the right one. There were two major decisions which he took that, had he not nailed it, could have spelt disaster for the home side. 

Eventually, at stumps, Australia, who’d scored 416 runs in 146.2 overs, reduced New Zealand to 109/5. But in this scenario, say a 530/9 declared in 125 overs could not necessarily have been the ideal of scenarios for the Aussies, despite having 100 more runs on the board, purely due to the fact that it would have given enough time for the Kiwi batsmen to settle before the lottery that is the final session. I’m not quite sure if Paine foresaw the Hazlewood injury, but well, the ‘late’ declaration, in retrospect, did do wonders for his bowlers late on Day 2. 

And then, less than 24 hours later, with a 250-run lead in the kitty, the Aussie captain once again had a big decision to make: whether to go all on aggressive with the bat, declare and then go for the kill with the ball under lights, or to just play the patience game. With the pitch crumbling like a Graeme Smith-led Saffers team chasing in a knockout game, it seemed impossible to resist the temptation of doing the same, but Paine waited. 

But the most impressive and perhaps the most important aspect of the Tasmanian’s captaincy in Perth was the rotation of the bowlers, especially after losing Hazlewood just twenty balls into New Zealand’s first innings; There was emphasis on giving short spells to the quicks, bowling changes were aplenty and every available resource was utilized efficiently. In fact, the part-timers - Head, Wade and Labuschagne - accounted for 14% of the overs bowled in the entire match, meaning that it, in turn, gave leeway to both Starc and Cummins to go for the kill every time they came into bowl. Unlike a conventional Test match, here in D/N Tests, the pacers cannot freeload in the final session of the day, for it’s the most important one for the bowling side.  

With every passing day, or night, should I say, it is getting clearer that the concept of D/N Tests is, in fact, more of a new format, and not just a mere subset of conventional red-ball cricket. If the Perth Test, which has opened up a door of possibilities, is anything to go by, then it is clear that due to the sheer complexity involved, captaincy and decision-making will play an integral part in every single game, if not hold the key to victory. Perth was like a game of chess where Paine, who had the upper hand, could have easily handed his opponent the initiative with one blunder, but he didn’t. What he has done, however, is set a precedent for the rest to follow, for he is now a connoisseur in this world of unknown filled with novices.