KEY POINTS:
Isn't it great how things suddenly turn around - in the public's mind at least.
The Black Caps were dog tucker last week. Now they are World Cup contenders.
No one has ever said they are not a good cricket side or up to international standard. They have
the players and game to beat everyone except Australia, which is a bit of a compliment to them.
Over the past three or four years, the Black Caps have not been too far off achieving what they should, but the important statistic is that they have won just two of their last 21 outings against Australia. People are claiming it's happy days, but they are no closer to beating Australia than they were last week, last year or two years ago.
We have just beaten an appalling England side, which we should. And we've just lost to Australia again. So what is there to suddenly cheer about?
Despite Jacob Oram's batting, we were always going to lose this latest game. Oram's innings has masked a few of the issues.You don't beat Australia with big scores at No 6 - you win when your openers or No 3 get a great score.
And that's why I continue to support the idea of pushing Brendon McCullum back up the order. Reading the papers, you would have thought it was the second coming after McCullum scored 19 off about 15 balls in support of Oram. But you could get Daniel Vettori to do that.
McCullum has the ability to bat normally and get big scores, at a good rate, at the top of the order. Playing him at seven is helping us to almost win games but it is not making maximum use of his talent.
I played in at least 30 matches over 10 years against all nations similar to the one in Perth the other night and guess what - we lost them all. The top order would fail and Dion Nash or Cairnsy or I would get a score and we'd still lose. You need to get out in front, not play catch-up all the time.
That said, it's great seeing the way Oram is playing. Some of the sixes he and McCullum have hit are remarkable, and it's not happening by accident. They have worked very hard and figured that the best way to hit the ball in the final overs is off the back foot and by setting themselves up in good positions. They know just where their hitting arcs are and have become fantastic exponents of a power-hitting technique pioneered by Roger Twose.
Oram has always had potential but he's performing beyond expectations. That said, if the asking rate is 14 or 15 an over and you are blasting away getting 10 or 12 an over, then it's not much use if the name of the game is to win matches. We need to lead from the front.
According to Lou Vincent, the Aussies have been leading from the lip - which isn't anything that anyone doesn't already know. It's called sledging but the Aussies aren't usually outright abusive. They just want to create an environment that is very uncomfortable to bat in.
The Black Caps should follow suit, and we used to. The team that knocked Aussie out of the last World Series included Cairnsy, me, Nash and Craig McMillan and we hunted as a pack.
It comes down to personalities really. I think McCullum is in that mould, Scotty Styris certainly is, and Vincent is very aggressive in the field.
Australia let you know there are no free runs out there, that they are the best in the world, and that if you don't play really well you'll get creamed.
It's a constant commentary on your form, your ability, your position in world cricket, the state of the game and the strength of their side, mixed with a few expletives and a bit of humour.
If you've been involved in a couple of run outs, they will let you know that your mate is a bit nervous at the other end and that no one is talking to you in the dressing room. They pounce on weaknesses - if you've made a selfish not out or been a bit slow or are out of nick, you'll hear all about it.
The answer is to create the same environment for them and, let's face it, the competition among their batters is far higher than ours - miss out three times in a row and you get to spend two years playing state cricket while you wait for another chance.
