EDITORIAL
It didn't take long for hopes of a rare Black Caps series win over Australia to come crashing down.
The expectations of a first series win across the ditch since 1987 were warranted. This could be our greatest ever test side. Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson will end their careers as our two top run scorers in whites while Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner currently sit third, fourth and seventh respectively among our highest test wicket takers. BJ Watling is arguably our best wicket-keeper batsman while Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner have all excelled on a regular basis at the test level in the past 12 months. Opening batsman Jeet Raval was the only player to go into the first test in Perth with a question mark over his form, with debutant Lockie Ferguson expected to step in for the injured Boult having proven himself at the Cricket World Cup.
READ MORE:
• Cricket: Black Caps coach Gary Stead says key team changes are possible
• Cricket: Kyle Jamieson named as replacement for Lockie Ferguson in Black Caps squad
• Cricket: Black Caps tactics in first test defeat in Perth raise 'bodyline' comparisons
• Any Given Monday: The reason why the Black Caps can beat Australia - but Perth test could be an ambush
So what happened? They lost the toss, had to bowl in high temperatures for a day and half before being exposed to a brilliant bowling attack with the pink ball under lights - one of the toughest tasks in the game - and lost the test inside four days. Guess what? Beating Australia in Australia is hard. Especially when the opening test is in the day-night format which the Black Caps haven't played in 21 months, while Australia's last pink-ball test before Perth was ... oh look, their last test against Pakistan in Adelaide at the start of the month.