“Now is not the time for sprinklers” declared one of the billboards on the drive into Mount Maunganui on Sunday and although it was not the weather that the local authorities had in mind here, the sentiment was still applicable.
Heavy rain and strong winds were already hitting The Bay of Plenty despite Cyclone Gabrielle being yet to truly arrive on New Zealand’s North Island. Local residents were advised to get in ample food supplies for the next 48 hours and have sandbags at the ready. Disruption felt inevitable.
Brendon McCullum urged his England team to “run towards the danger” before their rollicking pursuit of 299 at Trent Bridge last summer, but this time they stopped off for a barbecue at his home in Matamata during the 90-minute trip up from Hamilton. Upon departure, the head coach joked he would “find a way” to overcome soggy sausages.
More pressingly, preparations for the first Test at Bay Oval were expected to be affected by the incoming tropical storm. But Ollie Robinson, among the intended attack to take on Tim Southee’s hosts from Thursday, was confident that he and his teammates would be ready regardless of any washed-out training days.
Robinson was less convinced about the pink Kookaburra ball being used for the series opener, however, and the concept of day-night Test cricket more broadly. During last week’s two-day warm-up at Seddon Park there was no swing to speak of, something the 29-year-old previously used to great effect when he and Jimmy Anderson transcended the docile pitches of Pakistan and shared 17 wickets in the 3-0 win.
“I’m not a massive fan of it, no,” said Robinson, before the team set off towards the coast. “We’ve been trying to get them to swing this last week and they’re very inconsistent and the seam is a bit grippier in the surface. They’re just not a traditional cricket ball. Jimmy [Anderson]’s not happy about it.
“Traditional Test cricket … there’s nothing wrong with it. I don’t think we need to play these pink-ball games. [They are] a bit gimmicky. They’re trying to get crowds and change the game a little bit but the way England are playing at the moment, I don’t think that needs to happen. We’re entertaining people as we are.”
That last point underlines just how evangelical this England team are about their cricket these days, even if it possibly risks getting backs up in some quarters. Robinson’s personal record in first-class day-nighters is none-too-shabby, as it happens, the 6ft 5in right-armer having claimed 16 wickets at 21.06 from his four outings.
It may be down to bad memories of his last pink-ball Test in Hobart just over a year ago, when after two early wickets he became a passenger due to back spasms; it may be a reflection of England having lost their last five under lights. To be fair, bar prime-time hours for the television audience, the format does feel unnecessary.
One tweak Robinson does endorse, however, is the introduction of the red Kookaburra ball for two rounds of this year’s County Championship. “When you first use it, you have to be so much more precise in everything that you do,” he said. “It doesn’t swing as much, it doesn’t seam as much. I think for county bowlers it might be a bit of an eye-opener into how tough it can be to use that ball in England and overseas.”
Robinson is also ready to welcome Steve Smith as a teammate at Hove this summer, Australia’s middle-order master having signed a three-match deal with Sussex as a pre-Ashes tune-up. It caused some disquiet when announced last month but the Englishman is among those seeing an upside here.
“Hopefully I can learn a bit more about him,” said Robinson. “I have found him awkward to bowl at times – as many have – so it will be good to watch him a bit closer, learn more about his batting and ways to get him out. Any sort of hints or pointers I can get from him could be valuable to us.”
Less relevant is how Australia are faring in India currently, even if England’s players were still closely following their innings and 132-run pasting in Nagpur after being hit by the twin threats of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
“You try to pick up a few bits but it’s hard when the pitch is like that. It’s always good to see the Aussies lose,” Robinson added.
