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The Black Caps have delved into Ian Chappell's cricket coaching manual and are batting without a front pad as they again struggle to untangle the mesmerising spin of Muttiah Muralitharan ahead of the second test at the Basin Reserve.
Although New Zealand won the opener by five wickets at Jade Stadium last weekend, the rubber-wristed Sri Lankan is still eyed nervously after he continued to cause all sorts of angst on a wicket that did not even offer prodigious turn.
Muralitharan's lackadaisical batting may have stolen the limelight in Christchurch, but another tricky variation to his trademark "doosra" did not escape the Black Caps' notice as he completed a match analysis of seven for 99 off 48 accurate overs.
Sri Lanka's match winner sprung a major surprise when he approached some right handers from around the wicket and the move paid dividends, claiming Craig Cumming, Jamie How, Mathew Sinclair and Nathan Astle (twice).
Five of his dismissal's were to leg before wicket decisions as ultra-cautious batsmen prodded forward to smother spin that never really eventuated.
Black Caps coach John Bracewell today believed his fragile top order were too tentative against the world's second highest test wicket-taker and advocated a more aggressive approach -- albeit within reason.
Batsmen can naturally tend to clam up against Muralitharan, but Bracewell revealed some of his players had adopted a technique pioneered by Chappell, a former Australian captain, to alter their negative mindset.
Muralitharan cannot be imitated by net bowlers, but the Black Caps tried to simulate what they face in the middle by batting on scuffed up practice wickets.
"A number of guys have been doing that with no front pad so they have to commit to using the bat," Bracewell explained.
"It's just to get in the right mindset. If I go out there and say 'I'm going to play him rather than go and kick (the ball away), it can actually shift you that per cent you need."
Bracewell said he picked up the technique, which was not compulsory, when visiting Chappell at the Australian cricket academy.
"That's what they were doing. It's a positive way of playing, he said, asking: "How many times did you get hit on the leg as a kid playing in the backyard? The idea is to hit it."
Inexperienced openers Cumming, who was bowled between his legs and How, crease bound and lbw, were easy pickings for Muralitharan as he advanced to 664 wickets.
Old hands Sinclair and Astle also had plenty of problems, prompting a rapid rethink before Friday's toss.
Astle was trapped plumb in front for two and 24 and the 80-test veteran admitted he was among those who had to get more bat on ball.
"I missed two straight balls, there's no excuse for that. I misread the line on a couple of occasions," Astle said.
Skipper Stephen Fleming, a lefthander, is one Black Cap who has managed to cope with Muralitharan's armoury -- notably in Colombo three years ago though Bracewell said that stunning career-best innings of 274 was slightly deceiving.
"I spoke to Flem about it and he said Murali turned the ball so much in Colombo you could miss him by a long way.
"(In Christchurch) he only turned the ball enough to straighten it and enough to put you under pressure and enough to catch the edge.
"He's actually more dangerous on a good track because he's asking you to play the ball all the time."
Bracewell said like all of Sri Lanka's rivals monitoring Muralitharan, the Black Caps' study was a work in progress.
"We have guys sitting in behind him, looking at the angle of his elbow but the thing is he can bowl at several different paces which makes it even more difficult.
"It was once assumed the height of his doosra (which spins away from right handers) was a clue, now he's practised that and he can bowl it a lot quicker.
"You have to constantly be looking at his strategy. You can't say 'Eureka, I've found it'."
- NZPA
