‘Not the way we play’: Black Caps to stick with own style against ‘flamboyant’ England

Devon Conway says the Black Caps will stick with their patient batting approach in the second test with England in Wellington, despite being blown away by the uber-aggressive tourists in the series opener in Tauranga.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl, New Zealand were outplayed throughout the pink ball test at Bay Oval as England romped to a 267-run win inside four days courtesy of their now customary belligerent approach with the bat.

The English batters scored freely and quickly, particularly in the second innings, when Joe Root (57 off 62 balls), Harry Brook (54 off 41) and Ben Foakes (51 off 80) all scored brisk half-centuries to set the hosts an imposing 394 to win.

They didn’t get close, Stuart Broad ripping through the Black Caps’ top order under the lights before England completed the job in the Mount Maunganui sunshine the next day to claim their first win on New Zealand soil since 2008 and 10th in 11 tests with Brendon McCullum at the helm.

The contrast in the way the two side’s respective batting units went about their work was striking, with New Zealand’s top six much more risk averse at the crease, albeit in the face of some inspired bowling from Broad and Jimmy Anderson.

But only South African-born opener Conway (a studious 77 from 151) and centurion Tom Blundell (138 from 181) impressed with the willow as the home side’s batters struggled to keep pace with the swashbuckling visitors.

Even so, Conway doesn’t believe it’s time for the Black Caps to adjust their methods or replicate the ‘Bazball’ strategy of their opponents, despite a wretched run of seven tests without a win.

“I think we just need to build up on those partnerships. We didn’t have many significant partnerships in the middle,” Conway said of the Black Caps’ batting struggles ahead of Friday’s series decider in the capital.

“That’s one thing we always pride ourselves on – batting well in pairs out there and really taking the bowlers down in the later part of the innings. If we can do that, I think us as a batting group will reap those rewards.

“We can’t really match what they do with their batting – that’s not the way we play. What we can do is control what makes us good and hope it’s good enough on the day.”

That was something of an understatement given that Tom Latham (16), Kane Williamson (6) and Henry Nicholls (11) only contributed a miserable 33 runs between them across two innings.

Yet Conway was bullish about the Black Caps’ chances of turning their fortunes around at a venue where they’ve won four of their past five tests by an innings.

He dismissed suggestions that they might need to bat more aggressively than usual to avoid the ignominy of back-to-back series defeats to England with rain forecast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“Naturally we do play a positive brand of cricket, but probably not as flamboyant as some of the English batters at this point. But you know, we just try and stick to what we do best,” Conway said.

“That’s each to their own – some guys are slightly more positive than others. And they’ve just got to back that process and keep doing that for long periods of time. That’s what’s going to work well for us as a batting group.

“Certainly we can bat longer periods. We can grind them for longer in the field, not give them easy options like we did in that first test. Some of us got in, and then got out, myself in particular got to 70 and then got out.

“If we’re going to make significant marks on the game, we’ve got to take those opportunities with both hands and cash in and make big scores. If we can do that in the second test, I’ve no doubt that the result will change.”

Conway felt the return of experienced seamer Matt Henry – who missed the first test while wife Holly gave birth to their daughter – would provide a welcome boost (“he adds that control”) though he wouldn’t be drawn on any changes to batting lineup, amid calls in some quarters for Will Young to replace the out-of-form Nicholls.

“All the batters we have in the setup are well equipped to do the goods so I’m not sure what way they are going to go in terms of selection,” Conway said.

And what of playing his first test match at the Basin, the scene of plenty of success with the Firebirds in domestic cricket?

“I just love the history of the Basin Reserve, it’s been around a long time, there’s obviously some special innings that have happened at this ground,” Conway said.

“If you look at Brendon McCullum’s 300 that he got here against India. It’s obviously one of those that will be in my memory for a very long time.

“I love that, I enjoy batting on this surface. It’s generally a good pace, a good bounce here. Hopefully that’s the case this week.”