Cricket: Can Kiwis win the series?

By Richard Boock

If the New Zealand cricketers ever needed someone to get their backs up during this test series against England, then next week is the time.

Initially fuelled by the condescending tones of the home media, the Kiwis have prompted many a reassessment since bouncing back from a first test loss, winning the next test at Lord's before having much the better of the rain-affected draw at Manchester.

With the decisive final test at the Oval starting on Thursday, one of their biggest hurdles now involves their ability to cope with that sometimes vertigo-inducing mind-shift as they swing from no-hopers to favourites in the eyes of the local media.

Their attitude, if not outright brilliance, has converted the English press, which generally accepts that the tourists could - but for one flabbergasting session at Edgbaston and rain at Old Trafford - be leading the series three-nil.

If recent history is any guide, this isn't necessarily good news for the New Zealanders. They are a team who respond well to being written off, who enjoy the chance to ambush complacent opponents and quieten harping critics. They are a tight unit, albeit a shade defensive.

Favouritism, on the other hand, is unfamiliar territory, and recent New Zealand teams have not always retained their poise on the verge of the big moment.

Geoff Howarth's 1994 tourists to South Africa became the first team this century to lose a three-test series after winning the first match, and Rixon's side managed to emulate the feat in Sri Lanka last year.

In fact New Zealand's draw at Old Trafford last week was the first occasion a Kiwi touring side have not crashed to defeat immediately after a win since Jeremy Coney's England expedition in 1986 (and that time the weather came to our assistance).

In between winning that historic series and last week's draw, New Zealand have followed up a test win with a test loss during tours of India, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And the same thing happened on the 1983 tour of England.

The record at home shows a similar trend. Two of New Zealand's most celebrated test milestones, the first win over England (in 1978 at Wellington) and the first over Australia (in 1974 at Christchurch), were followed by sobering losses.

New Zealand have at least broken a dubious record with the third test draw, but the challenge now is for them to carry the same intensity and edge into the final showdown next week - despite the warm compliments being directed their way by a now enlightened English press.

Against the backdrop of a home team which has all summer lurched from recklessness to extreme tentativeness, Fleet Street has begun to hold up the Kiwis' competitive-edge and intensity of attitude as an example England could do worse than follow.

Their honest appraisal is that England have been so-far out-played by a side of honest toilers - none of whom would be considered good enough to grace a World XI but who have pulled together to make the most of their collective resources.

In this respect at least coach Steve Rixon might allow himself a pat on the back. The soon-to-be-departing Sydneysider has won the cooperation of all the players and fostered a sense of unity which has underpinned New Zealand's revival since Edgbaston.

Whether he can help his players produce a strong test performance for a rare third time in succession will doubtless have much to do with how he is remembered in these parts.

If no one else manages to get their backs up next week, then one imagines he's the man for the job.