Cricket: Lessons learned from tough tour

Otago Volts spinner Mark Craig trains at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Gregor...
Otago Volts spinner Mark Craig trains at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin yesterday. Photo by Gregor Richardson.

It has been a challenging couple of months for Mark Craig.

The Black Caps spinner had a "tough'' tour of Australia in November, and is now busy trying to help the Volts get their Ford Trophy campaign back on track.

Domestic one-day cricket is a bit foreign to Craig - he has only played 13 games - and admits he is still learning the intricacies of the 50-over format.

He has been doing a lot of learning in recent months, particularly after playing in Australia for the first time.

Australia's batsmen took a liking to Craig's off-spin during the three-match series, especially in the first test in Brisbane.

Craig's 31 wicketless overs in the first innings cost him 156 runs at the Gabba, while he snared three for 78 from his 14 overs in the second dig.

He was also expensive in the second test in Perth and the first innings in the final test in Adelaide, which prompted the Australian media to label him "the worst test spinner to ever tour Australia''.

"There was a couple of things I saw that were quite funny,'' Craig said.

"I saw a picture of me bowling and one was with the cricket ball and one was with a pie. I had a laugh at that one, but I don't really read the media and stuff like that.

"People are allowed to say what they want to say. I knew exactly what I was trying to do, so it doesn't really bother me too much.''

As tough as the tour was for the Albion club cricketer, Craig pointed out other spinners have also struggled across the Tasman.

"Obviously, it was a tough tour personally, but it was still fun at the same time. By no means was it a train smash or anything like that,'' he said.

"There has been far better spinners go over there and do worse than me.''

While Craig was guilty of dragging too many deliveries down for the aggressive Australians to punish, he said the conditions were "very different'' to what he was used to.

"The Australians play it a lot different to how our boys play,'' he said.

"Being able to trust the bounce and pick up the length well. I learnt a lot as to how to bowl and probably the modes in which you're bowling.''

Craig said spinners were better suited to play a holding role in Australian conditions, leaving the seamers to do the bulk of the work in terms of wickets.

The 28-year-old could get another crack at the Australians in more familiar conditions when they cross the ditch for two test matches next month.

However, Craig is not looking too far ahead and is instead focused on the Volts' teetering one-day campaign.

They play the Northern Knights in an almost must-win match in Whangarei tomorrow.

Three losses and a rained off match leaves Otago at the bottom of the competition with four games to play.

It could sneak into the playoffs (top three) with three wins from its last four games, but it will probably need to take out all four.

"The boys are aware of that, but I don't think there is any added pressure on us,'' Craig said.

"I think we have just got to go out there and express ourselves.''

Otago had failed to put a strong batting and bowling performance together in the competition, but when it did, not many teams would be able to match it, Craig said.

While he failed to pick up a wicket in his team's most recent loss to Canterbury in Christchurch on Wednesday, Craig was "happy with the way the ball is coming out''.

"It's just a matter of getting your head around how you want to bowl in one-day cricket and getting better at reading batters,'' he said.

"That can then work into the test stuff, when batsmen are coming at me and being able to find ways to get out of it.''

Coach Nathan King has made one change to the squad for tomorrow's match, with left-arm medium pacer Bradley Scott replacing batsman Brad Wilson.

 

 


Volts v Knights
Whangarei, tomorrow, 11am

Otago Volts: Hamish Rutherford (captain), Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Jimmy Neesham, Anaru Kitchen, Derek de Boorder, Sam Wells, Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Jacob Duffy, Warren Barnes, Bradley Scott.

Northern (probable): Daniel Flynn (captain), Cody Andrews, James Baker, Jonathan Boult, Dean Brownlie, Anton Devcich, Tony Goodin, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, BJ Watling.


 

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