Hamilton, Nov 9 — New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi has welcomed the bowler-friendly conditions in the ongoing ODI series against India, describing the challenging surfaces as a refreshing departure from the high-scoring pitches that have become commonplace in one-day cricket.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the third ODI, Ronchi said the assistance available to fast bowlers had offered both teams valuable preparation for the upcoming Test assignment, while also forcing batters to rethink their approach and adapt to conditions where runs have been harder to come by.
Asked if the conditions in the two concluded ODIs favoured the Test players to prepare for the two red-ball games, Ronchi said, “Technically, they will. That’s traditionally what we have here for Test cricket, it’s a lot greener surfaces, so in reality that Wellington surface was more of a Test type of surface.
“So it’s (about) grasping hold of that and realising that, and it will help both teams and I think it’s quite cool. The bowlers have actually got the upper hand - there’s nothing wrong with that. Like traditionally, you go around the world, especially in India, if teams don’t make 400 (in an ODI), you’re in trouble, so it’s just ridiculous, so (it’s good) to see the bowlers have an opportunity and get some (helpful) conditions, because you still have to bowl well on it and both teams have been doing that, so I think that’s a cool thing to see as well.”
The contrast has been particularly evident in the second ODI at Hamilton’s Seddon Park, where New Zealand’s batters had to contend with a surface that did not lend itself to the usual aggressive scoring patterns. Ronchi believed a total of around 200 would have been a substantial score, but said recognising that early enough and conveying the assessment across the batting line-up remained a key challenge for the side batting first.
“That’s the difficult nature of batting first and understanding, and that’s where communication comes into it,” he said. “The batters that are out there at the moment, you can tell quite quickly if a surface is quicker, if it’s slower, if it’s moving, and that’s the communication those batters pass back to the next guy’s batting or if we lose an early wicket then there’s communication there, so it’s making sure that that’s going strongly.
“I think if you stay quiet at that stage, that’s where you get yourself into more trouble, so it’s a skill in itself.”
With scoring rates continuing to rise across formats, Ronchi acknowledged that batters accustomed to targeting totals of 300 or more could find it difficult to adjust their expectations when conditions demanded patience. He stressed that teams needed to recognise when to rein in their attacking instincts, preserve wickets and look for opportunities to accelerate later in the innings.
“Very much, and it’s not just one day - I think it’s in any cricket at the moment, scoring rates are going up. So when it’s not that, it’s (about) realising, okay, we can pull back here, we don’t need to be going at eight an over from ball one, three an over for the moment could be (fine), and then you can score more at the back end of any innings, once they have five (fielders) out (on the boundary) and those sorts of things, and the longer you bat, the easier hopefully it should become,” Ronchi said.
“But again, there’s not many batters from either side that have really made it look easy, especially the last game. Obviously Virat (Kohli) in that first game did that (he scored 74 in 51 balls), but again it’s those moments in games that make a difference, to say, well how can we (approach this).
“(Like) Daryl Mitchell (did in Wellington), how can you bat a hundred balls if you got 50-odd or whatever it was (55 in 104 balls), in that moment it’s actually a really important innings, and if you can bat around that, but it’s a hard thing to. It’s a hard thing to trust when you’re used to scoring (fast and when) 300’s your par, and then all of a sudden you’re taking 100 runs off that, it’s a big difference,” he added.