I think the team think-tank decided an "all-out survival" approach was the ideal way to get the team on the right track. I have to agree with them.
Couple of things going into the series:
1. The top order has been horribly out of form.
2. Team morale has been pretty low.
3. There is also a lot of external pressure on the players to perform
4. The NZ team thrives on metronomic effeciency and discipline, rather than flair and devastating aggression.
Our team seems to have chosen (I speculate) the following (refreshingly so) strategy:
1. Forget about risky strokes early in the innings (Ash didn't pull any of the short balls that came his until he had faced a 100 balls or so!).
2. Bid your time and just stay at the wicket, runs will come eventually once you get set in and as the kiwis will slowly but surely start to get tired.
3. Forget about the rr no matter how pathetic it may seem to some. Play a ball on its merit. Err on the side of caution. Given our paucity of batsmen in form we cannot afford the luxury of losing a wicket to an aggressive shot.
4. Focus on partnerships.
5. Bat for time, a very crucial aspect of a test-match if one wants to hang on to a draw.
This test so far is similar to the tests played in the 80s. This is the pace test cricket used to be played at until the Aussies came along and changed the face of test cricket. Ther has been many an English score reading 145-150 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in those days.
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