D'Arcy Waldegrave: Let's hope the Black Caps buck the trend

What a day to soil your whites.

Yesterday the Black Caps tried in vain to sabotage the first test against England.

Day one could have been better, New Zealand had an opportunity to gain an upper hand, but let it slip with some rash shots which lead to poor dismissals which in turn drained the momentum from a side that knew they should've done better. The day itself wasn't a disaster, but the players know that at the highest level, opportunities to dominate need to be leapt upon and ridden for all they are worth. Not a bad day, but it could’ve been better. Teams attempting to scale the Everest of their sport, in this case the world test championship, will never be satisfied with doing ok. Ok doesn’t win much.

Roll on day 2. NZ set a respectable total then proceeded to whale into the tourists, heading into lunch having extracted 3 English wickets then a fourth shortly after the resumption of play.

Promising but with the asterisk of grass. Ducket was shelled by Latham in the first session and the ability of the Black Caps to complete the catch haunted them for the rest of the day.

6 chances. A half dozen opportunities to push the dagger in and keep twisting. The English rock, Brook, served up 4 opportunities alone, NZ left them all on the turf.

Day one was acceptable, albeit frustratingly so. Day two wasn’t.

Let's hope the adage of bad things happening in three’s doesn’t bear fruit on day 3. 

For a team making a valiant attempt at home to qualify for the world test championship final, there will be a nagging fog of disappointment in their shed.

It’s a fresh day, hopefully with freshly laundered whites. 

Let's hope the Black Caps buck the trend and don’t brown their pants again...

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Wildegrave from News Talk s B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Seven eight and the All Sport Breakfast. What a day
to soil your whites? Yesterday the Black Caps tried in
vain to sabotage the first Test against England. Like Day
one could have been better, he said. On had an
opportunity to gain an upper hand, but they let it
slip with some some rash shots which led to poor dismissals,
which in turn drain the momentum from a side that

(00:35):
knew they should have done better. The day itself wasn't
a disaster, right, but the players know, they absolutely know
that at the highest level, opportunities to dominate need to
be leaped upon and ridden for all their worth. It
wasn't a bad day, but it could have been a
lot better. Teams that attempt to scale the erest of

(00:57):
their sport, in this case the World Test Championship, they
will never be satisfied with doing okay. Okay doesn't win much,
so let's put that to one side. I'd moved to
Day two. New Zealand said a respectable total in the morning,
then proceeded to wail into the tourists eating into lunch.
Having extracted three English wickets and then a fourth shortly

(01:18):
after the resumption of players is great, promising, but with
the asterisk of grass. Duckett was shelled by Latham in
the first session and the ability of the black Caps
to complete the catch haunted them for the rest of
the day. Six chances, half a dozen opportunities to push
the dagger in and keep twisting. The English rock Brook

(01:41):
served up four opportunities alone and New Zealand left them
all on the turf. Day one was acceptable, albeit frustratingly so.
Day two wasn't. Let's hope the adage of bad things
happening in threes doesn't bear fruit on day three for
a team making a valiant attempt at home to qualify

(02:02):
for the final of the Test Championship. There will be
a nagging fog of disappointment in their shed. But it's
a fresh day and hopefully with freshly launded whites. Let's
hope the All Blacks butck the trend and don't brown
their pants again.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
For more from the All Sport Breakfast with Darcy Watergrave,
listen live to News Talk set Be on Saturday mornings,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio,