Cricket: Scotty - one out of the box

By RICHARD BOOCK

The skills of Scott Styris were being hailed long after the dust had settled on his match-turning feats during the second test at Auckland.

The man who announced himself to the world with a century in his first test helped create more history at Eden Park when he not so much rebuilt New Zealand's first innings, as constructed a giant, impenetrable fortress.

His counter-attacking 170 carried his side from the verge of disaster to the cusp of their first home win over South Africa.

And it evoked the memory of Stan McCabe in its construction and the perilous circumstances in which it was scored.

McCabe, the brilliant pre-war Australian, is remembered for three famous counter-attacking innings - 187 not out in the first test of the Bodyline series, an unbeaten 189 at Johannesburg in 1935, and 232 not out against England at Trent Bridge in 1938.

The 1938 innings was the one that prompted Don Bradman to walk into his team's dressing room and say to his players: "Come and watch this, you may never see the likes of it again."

Styris' monumental effort on Saturday and the early stages of Sunday rates as one of New Zealand's bravest centuries.

It came after the right-hander found himself at the crease with the score at 12 for two and the South African attack closing in for the kill.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said afterwards that he had never seen a finer innings, and coach John Bracewell said Styris was one of the game's most adaptable players, and a classic back-street navigator.

"He has street nous, he's savvy, he understands the back streets of the game," said Bracewell.

"He can work out what needs to be done as opposed to following the textbook.

He knows his way around the game, and he has a street-fighter mentality, rather than the Queensbury Rules approach."

Bracewell said Styris' sense of duty was shown by the way he went about batting in the first test at Hamilton, as opposed to his aggressive approach at Eden Park on Saturday.

Confronted by much different conditions in Hamilton, Styris opted for survival, grafting more than four hours for a valuable 74, and helping to wear the down a South African attack that had enjoyed some early success.

"That's why I think the greatness of that 170 isn't truly appreciated until you consider what happened in the first test, when he went out there and thought, 'what I need to do here is stick around and hold the game up for a while'," Bracewell said.

"Scotty's able to read situations and understand what's required, as opposed to some people who continually follow the textbook."

Bracewell gave an intriguing insight into Styris' make-up, saying that the No 4 batsman was always looking to exploit loopholes and find shortcuts to discover the most direct route to a pot of gold.

"He has incredible game sense," Bracewell said.

"If we invent a new warm-up drill or game, Scotty is the guy who'll force us to change the rules.

"He'll investigate it to the nth degree to find a edge, and you need those kind of guys in your team. They challenge you.

"You would struggle to deal with a team full of them, but you do need them because they come at you from different angles."