December 9, 2024 • 12 mins
The Black Caps have got themselves a bit of a decision to make.
Devon Conway isn't available to play the third test against England, so Will Young will likely be named in the XI.
But should he open the batting?
Former Black Caps opener Bryan Young shared his opinion with Jason Pine on Sportstalk.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildegrave
from News Talk z'b SO.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I wanted to chat tonight about the specialized nature of
opening the batting in Test cricket, because bringing Will Young in,
like I say, and slotting him in the opening position
is an answer to a problem, but is it the
right answer to the problem. Brian Young was one of
our best ever Test openers. Played thirty five Tests, scored
(00:35):
over two thousand runs, two centuries and twelve fifties. He
scored a mass of two hundred and sixty seven not
out in an innings victory against Sri Lanka in Dunedin
at the end of the nineteen ninety six ninety seventh summer,
and famously one hundred and twenty in a successful fourth
innings run chase of three hundred and twenty four for
five against Pakistan in christ Church in nineteen ninety three
(00:58):
ninety four. Brian Young joins us on sports Talk. Thanks
for taking the time, Brian. Let's start with a very
general look at this in general terms. How specialized a
position is opening the batting?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes, well, I would wouldn't I believe that it's very specialized,
but it is it really is. It presents a unique
set of challenges, and the biggest one of all is
the new ball, and fresh bowlers champion at the bit
to get you out. Sometimes they want to potentially hurt you.
(01:36):
I suppose as well. But it is specialized. It takes
a great deal of technical expertise, It takes a particular
mindset in particular, and those are sets of skills that
not everybody possesses. And it is most certainly a specialized position.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So then that would lead on to I guess what
I've got right down here about the main problems asking
somebody who's used to batting at say number four or
five to open the batting. Is it the mindset? Is
it the technique? Is it the experience against the new ball,
which is the main issue when you're asking amid a
lot of batsman to potentially open the batting.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's a little bit of everything, you know, I guess
from myself been a keeper batsman, batting at seven and
playing three hundred and sixty degrees around the park. You know,
people will tell you when I when I was that player,
I was a dasher, I guess, and played all the
shots and was a bit impetuous and was I guess
(02:42):
a reasonably you know, aggressive sort of player. But then
to open the batting against the new ball and to
fulfill your role within the team, and that is to
see off the new ball, to create a platform with
your playing partner as best you possibly can, and blunt
that attack so that yourself and those following you and
(03:07):
the middle order can come in and make hay while
the sunshine. That's the obviously the plan when you go
out to bat. So for a for a middle order
batsman or somebody who hasn't done that job, is it impossible?
Absolutely not. Myself, you know, did an average job of
(03:30):
making that transition. Mark Richardson show that you could do
that transition as well. But I most certainly think it's
a little bit of everything, the mental side of it,
getting your head around the fact of what you're doing,
why you're doing it, and your personal strategy of how
you're going to go about it. Whilst that applies to
all batting positions in the batting order, it's more so
(03:55):
and it's heightened and it's elevated at that level because
of the new ball, and the new ball is hard,
it's swings, it's seams and the bowlers are fresh, so
that presents that challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
When you were reinventing yourself. Because you're right, I remember
watching you as a as a dasher when you kept
working for Northern Districts and particularly in white ball cricket.
You come out and you were You're playing all around
the ground when you reinvented yourself. I'm not saying you
didn't do that as a test opening, but did you?
Was it your mindset, Brian? Mainly that you had to
had to really alter in terms of, you know, not
(04:32):
trying to hit the cover of everything that came your way.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes, there was that I put an off. Personally, everyone
will be a little bit different, but personally I put
an enormous amount of work into technique, into what I
reducing down my shots into certain areas of where I
could play and having the ability to leave the ball.
(04:57):
Being someone who always liked feeling bat on ball and
being a wicket keeper and always been in the game
and always wanting to cutch and feel the ball, that
was foreign to me. So to actually leave and the
power of the leave for the opener and testing conditions
(05:17):
when it's seeming or swinging. That's that's as equally as
effective as a as a cover drive or or you know,
a clip clip off the hip or or a shot,
you know, a pool shot or anything like that. The
leave is equally as important. And so I put a
lot of effort into reinventing and bringing my focus down
(05:39):
to only a few shots and playing in the V
or playing the U in the U, which was the
old school way of approaching it was, and minimizing that
risk and minim minimizing ways of getting out, because boy
I could, I could invent ways of getting out given
(06:02):
I think I invented the new ones. But that was
that was all mindset it one hundred percent. Yes, there's
there's skill and technique and and all of those things,
but to get your head around for me, it was
very difficult because I wanted to play shots, but I
knew that I couldn't because if I did, I'd be
(06:23):
letting the side down because I would ultimately get out
trying to do that. So best I don't try and
do that. Let me try and do this and actually
get the team off to a solid start as possible.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, and just on that, how much pride did you
take in that and protecting your midl order, even your
number three, if you if you took a whole lot
of shine off that new ball so that they didn't
have to worry about it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well I could jokingly say that there was a bit
of banter in the dressing room, you know, when number
number four, five, six, seven came in and they were
just free wheeling and hitting through the line of the
ball and just having a merry old time later on
in the day, and you're sitting there quietly seething because
you'd gone through the first session of ducking and diving
(07:09):
and leaving and playing and missing and copying a few
only to see your teammates out there in the hot
sun carve it all up. But yes, there was banter
in the dressing room about that. But that was that
was your job. And if you were good enough to
kick on and reap what you sold early on and
(07:32):
actually hang in there and actually turn those nice little
twenties and thirties into into big scores, well you know,
you do. You had earned the right, and often I'd
earned the right but didn't go on and do it
to execute. So there was it was nice because if
(07:54):
if the middle order came in and took charge you could,
You could quietly just sit there. If you've done a
good job at the top of seeing off the new ball,
you were quietly chuffed that you'd done your bit to
allow that to happen.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Brilliant if you kept wicket as well, obviously early in
your career. But I don't think you ever did it
when you were when you were an opening batsman and
red ball cricket. But do you think that's feasible, Brian?
Do you think it's feasible for someone to open the
batting and keep wicket in Test cricket?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Were a few have done it. Alex Stewart from England
did it for a long time and although he flitted
between opening and middle order, he was very versatile and
he did it. Not many others. Gil Chris did it
certainly in one day cricket Test match cricket. I can
(08:49):
only really think of it. I could be way wrong here.
I'm sure the train spotters will correct us. I can
only really think of Alex Stewart. I don't know if
McCullum opened and only one day is yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I guess the reason I ask is because there's a
I guess one. Tom Blundell for example, has opened the batting,
but as a batter, could could Tom Blundele open the
batting and tease match and keep wicket?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
There's no reason why he couldn't. It would be very taxing,
that's for sure, from a concentration perspective and just a
responsibility perspective. You can imagine those instances. We're been in
the field for a day and a half and then
the other captain declares and puts the openers in for
that curly little thirty five forty minutes before the end
(09:41):
of play. And whilst you would say, well, Tom's the
best person to go out and bat because he's got
the he's got the the bounce and the conditions down.
Paddy's been keeping to it for the last however many hours,
but mentally very tiring, that's for sure. Impossible, Absolutely not.
Alex Jewett did it and did it very effectively for
(10:03):
a long period of time. Like I said, he also
was in the middle lord for a long period of time.
Then he went up to opening. So it can be done,
but it would be very taxing, that's.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
For sure, all right, and just to finish and this
isn't specific to opening the batting, but batting in general,
when things aren't going well, when you're in a bit
of a trot, what is the best way to get
out of it?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Trust, do the work. Someone said to me, Well, because
you know, I came back more times in Ali. But
someone said to me one day when because a lot
of self doubt kicks into athletes, whether you're an Olympic runner,
or a hockey player or a cricket player, you know,
(10:45):
professional rugby player, tiddley wings player, it doesn't matter. Every
athlete has self doubt creeps in from time to time.
There's no doubt about that. Someone said to me one day, Brian,
No one came down last night while you're asleep and
took your talent away. And I'll never forget that day
because it was like and so you're right. So it's
(11:09):
really about peeling the onion back, going right back to
basics and fundamentals, doing the hard work. You know that
the training, putting the work in, putting the right work in,
because it's all very well putting the work in. If
it's the wrong work, then that's not going to work either.
(11:31):
But being going back to basics and keeping it as
simple as possible. You hear that all over the world
and all sorts of sports, and I really do believe
it's true. And if you go back to that, when
you walk over the white line in your mind you
know that you've done the work, you've done the preparation,
and you are in good shape. Then at that point
(11:54):
you just go out and play. And because everything's instinctive,
you know you've got a ball coming at you anywhere
between one hundred and thirty five and one hundred and
fifty clicks, and now you've got you know, fourteeninth of
a second to make all sorts of decisions where you
don't make those decisions you actually just play on instinct.
And if you've put the work in instinctively, you will
(12:17):
just go and play. So for those of us who
have been through lean trots and terrible times when you
felt you didn't know where the next run was coming from,
if you peel the onion back and actually clear all
the clutter and actually go back to basics, do the
hard work, you'll certainly come out of it and then
go on to be successful again. Because as that person
(12:41):
said to me, no one comes down in the middle
of the night and takes your talent away.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Great to get your inside. Brian really really appreciate your time.
Thanks for joining us tonight.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Brian Young, former test opener there with some fairly incisive
thoughts on opening the batting and getting out of a trot.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
For more from Sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talk
sa'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Wildegrave
from News Talk z'b SO.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
I wanted to chat tonight about the specialized nature of
opening the batting in Test cricket, because bringing Will Young in,
like I say, and slotting him in the opening position
is an answer to a problem, but is it the
right answer to the problem. Brian Young was one of
our best ever Test openers. Played thirty five Tests, scored
(00:35):
over two thousand runs, two centuries and twelve fifties. He
scored a mass of two hundred and sixty seven not
out in an innings victory against Sri Lanka in Dunedin
at the end of the nineteen ninety six ninety seventh summer,
and famously one hundred and twenty in a successful fourth
innings run chase of three hundred and twenty four for
five against Pakistan in christ Church in nineteen ninety three
(00:58):
ninety four. Brian Young joins us on sports Talk. Thanks
for taking the time, Brian. Let's start with a very
general look at this in general terms. How specialized a
position is opening the batting?
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Yes, well, I would wouldn't I believe that it's very specialized,
but it is it really is. It presents a unique
set of challenges, and the biggest one of all is
the new ball, and fresh bowlers champion at the bit
to get you out. Sometimes they want to potentially hurt you.
(01:36):
I suppose as well. But it is specialized. It takes
a great deal of technical expertise, It takes a particular
mindset in particular, and those are sets of skills that
not everybody possesses. And it is most certainly a specialized position.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So then that would lead on to I guess what
I've got right down here about the main problems asking
somebody who's used to batting at say number four or
five to open the batting. Is it the mindset? Is
it the technique? Is it the experience against the new ball,
which is the main issue when you're asking amid a
lot of batsman to potentially open the batting.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
It's a little bit of everything, you know, I guess
from myself been a keeper batsman, batting at seven and
playing three hundred and sixty degrees around the park. You know,
people will tell you when I when I was that player,
I was a dasher, I guess, and played all the
shots and was a bit impetuous and was I guess
(02:42):
a reasonably you know, aggressive sort of player. But then
to open the batting against the new ball and to
fulfill your role within the team, and that is to
see off the new ball, to create a platform with
your playing partner as best you possibly can, and blunt
that attack so that yourself and those following you and
(03:07):
the middle order can come in and make hay while
the sunshine. That's the obviously the plan when you go
out to bat. So for a for a middle order
batsman or somebody who hasn't done that job, is it impossible?
Absolutely not. Myself, you know, did an average job of
(03:30):
making that transition. Mark Richardson show that you could do
that transition as well. But I most certainly think it's
a little bit of everything, the mental side of it,
getting your head around the fact of what you're doing,
why you're doing it, and your personal strategy of how
you're going to go about it. Whilst that applies to
all batting positions in the batting order, it's more so
(03:55):
and it's heightened and it's elevated at that level because
of the new ball, and the new ball is hard,
it's swings, it's seams and the bowlers are fresh, so
that presents that challenge.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
When you were reinventing yourself. Because you're right, I remember
watching you as a as a dasher when you kept
working for Northern Districts and particularly in white ball cricket.
You come out and you were You're playing all around
the ground when you reinvented yourself. I'm not saying you
didn't do that as a test opening, but did you?
Was it your mindset, Brian? Mainly that you had to
had to really alter in terms of, you know, not
(04:32):
trying to hit the cover of everything that came your way.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yes, there was that I put an off. Personally, everyone
will be a little bit different, but personally I put
an enormous amount of work into technique, into what I
reducing down my shots into certain areas of where I
could play and having the ability to leave the ball.
(04:57):
Being someone who always liked feeling bat on ball and
being a wicket keeper and always been in the game
and always wanting to cutch and feel the ball, that
was foreign to me. So to actually leave and the
power of the leave for the opener and testing conditions
(05:17):
when it's seeming or swinging. That's that's as equally as
effective as a as a cover drive or or you know,
a clip clip off the hip or or a shot,
you know, a pool shot or anything like that. The
leave is equally as important. And so I put a
lot of effort into reinventing and bringing my focus down
(05:39):
to only a few shots and playing in the V
or playing the U in the U, which was the
old school way of approaching it was, and minimizing that
risk and minim minimizing ways of getting out, because boy
I could, I could invent ways of getting out given
(06:02):
I think I invented the new ones. But that was
that was all mindset it one hundred percent. Yes, there's
there's skill and technique and and all of those things,
but to get your head around for me, it was
very difficult because I wanted to play shots, but I
knew that I couldn't because if I did, I'd be
(06:23):
letting the side down because I would ultimately get out
trying to do that. So best I don't try and
do that. Let me try and do this and actually
get the team off to a solid start as possible.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, and just on that, how much pride did you
take in that and protecting your midl order, even your
number three, if you if you took a whole lot
of shine off that new ball so that they didn't
have to worry about it.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Well I could jokingly say that there was a bit
of banter in the dressing room, you know, when number
number four, five, six, seven came in and they were
just free wheeling and hitting through the line of the
ball and just having a merry old time later on
in the day, and you're sitting there quietly seething because
you'd gone through the first session of ducking and diving
(07:09):
and leaving and playing and missing and copying a few
only to see your teammates out there in the hot
sun carve it all up. But yes, there was banter
in the dressing room about that. But that was that
was your job. And if you were good enough to
kick on and reap what you sold early on and
(07:32):
actually hang in there and actually turn those nice little
twenties and thirties into into big scores, well you know,
you do. You had earned the right, and often I'd
earned the right but didn't go on and do it
to execute. So there was it was nice because if
(07:54):
if the middle order came in and took charge you could,
You could quietly just sit there. If you've done a
good job at the top of seeing off the new ball,
you were quietly chuffed that you'd done your bit to
allow that to happen.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Brilliant if you kept wicket as well, obviously early in
your career. But I don't think you ever did it
when you were when you were an opening batsman and
red ball cricket. But do you think that's feasible, Brian?
Do you think it's feasible for someone to open the
batting and keep wicket in Test cricket?
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Were a few have done it. Alex Stewart from England
did it for a long time and although he flitted
between opening and middle order, he was very versatile and
he did it. Not many others. Gil Chris did it
certainly in one day cricket Test match cricket. I can
(08:49):
only really think of it. I could be way wrong here.
I'm sure the train spotters will correct us. I can
only really think of Alex Stewart. I don't know if
McCullum opened and only one day is yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I guess the reason I ask is because there's a
I guess one. Tom Blundell for example, has opened the batting,
but as a batter, could could Tom Blundele open the
batting and tease match and keep wicket?
Speaker 3 (09:17):
There's no reason why he couldn't. It would be very taxing,
that's for sure, from a concentration perspective and just a
responsibility perspective. You can imagine those instances. We're been in
the field for a day and a half and then
the other captain declares and puts the openers in for
that curly little thirty five forty minutes before the end
(09:41):
of play. And whilst you would say, well, Tom's the
best person to go out and bat because he's got
the he's got the the bounce and the conditions down.
Paddy's been keeping to it for the last however many hours,
but mentally very tiring, that's for sure. Impossible, Absolutely not.
Alex Jewett did it and did it very effectively for
(10:03):
a long period of time. Like I said, he also
was in the middle lord for a long period of time.
Then he went up to opening. So it can be done,
but it would be very taxing, that's.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
For sure, all right, and just to finish and this
isn't specific to opening the batting, but batting in general,
when things aren't going well, when you're in a bit
of a trot, what is the best way to get
out of it?
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Trust, do the work. Someone said to me, Well, because
you know, I came back more times in Ali. But
someone said to me one day when because a lot
of self doubt kicks into athletes, whether you're an Olympic runner,
or a hockey player or a cricket player, you know,
(10:45):
professional rugby player, tiddley wings player, it doesn't matter. Every
athlete has self doubt creeps in from time to time.
There's no doubt about that. Someone said to me one day, Brian,
No one came down last night while you're asleep and
took your talent away. And I'll never forget that day
because it was like and so you're right. So it's
(11:09):
really about peeling the onion back, going right back to
basics and fundamentals, doing the hard work. You know that
the training, putting the work in, putting the right work in,
because it's all very well putting the work in. If
it's the wrong work, then that's not going to work either.
(11:31):
But being going back to basics and keeping it as
simple as possible. You hear that all over the world
and all sorts of sports, and I really do believe
it's true. And if you go back to that, when
you walk over the white line in your mind you
know that you've done the work, you've done the preparation,
and you are in good shape. Then at that point
(11:54):
you just go out and play. And because everything's instinctive,
you know you've got a ball coming at you anywhere
between one hundred and thirty five and one hundred and
fifty clicks, and now you've got you know, fourteeninth of
a second to make all sorts of decisions where you
don't make those decisions you actually just play on instinct.
And if you've put the work in instinctively, you will
(12:17):
just go and play. So for those of us who
have been through lean trots and terrible times when you
felt you didn't know where the next run was coming from,
if you peel the onion back and actually clear all
the clutter and actually go back to basics, do the
hard work, you'll certainly come out of it and then
go on to be successful again. Because as that person
(12:41):
said to me, no one comes down in the middle
of the night and takes your talent away.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Great to get your inside. Brian really really appreciate your time.
Thanks for joining us tonight.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
You're welcome.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Brian Young, former test opener there with some fairly incisive
thoughts on opening the batting and getting out of a trot.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
For more from Sports Talk, listen Lived and News Talk
sa'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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