New Zealand cricketing legend Ian Smith has called for the national side to “put a full stop” on their current era, after England took an unassailable 2-nil lead thanks to a thumping 323-run win on Sunday.
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The Kiwis’ incredible plummet in form has incredibly come only just more than a month after their historic 3-nil whitewash of India in India; a feat that is the first of its kind.
Subsequently now out of the running for a second World Test Championship title in Wellington, the 63-Test wicketkeeper left no stone unturned in his search for answers over the baffling results this series.
“It’s just not been good enough from a side that performed wonders, and now starts to feel like miracles in India just that short time ago,” Smith begun by saying on Sport Nation NZ (formerly SENZ).
“They’ve been humbled in their very own backyard to this worse extent.
“They’ve just been far too good … they’re just playing a brand of cricket that New Zealand can’t match at the moment. I think they could match it if they had better use of what skills they’ve got.
“The upshot of this, is changes should be made to this New Zealand side because the World Test Championship is gone. The Crowe-Thorpe trophy, is gone.
An eight-wicket loss in the first Test of the series by itself could have been excused as a blip amid a run of some incredible form in India, but the issues clearly cut far deeper.
Kane Williamson (193 runs) is the only Kiwi to have hit more than 150 runs this series, with the visitor’s having four — spearheaded by superstar Harry Brook (349 runs), who has two hundreds and a fifty from four innings.
8th Brook century rescues dismal England | 01:59
Problems with the ball in hand are also apparent, with the hosts only taking 26 out of a 40 possible wickets from two matches.
And as a result of the two nightmare performances, Smith believes the series loss must trigger an immediate end to the current age of New Zealand cricket.
“Let’s put a full stop on this era, and use this next Test match as the start of a new one,” Smith stated.
“Let’s start the next cycle, and just don’t give away opportunities to people who have given long service; you don’t do that. That’s what you get MBE and OBE’s for, but you don’t get given Test matches and five-day farewells.
“There needs to be a change at the top of the order, (Will) Young has to come in somewhere – and there has to be a change in the bowling department. I’m afraid the player taking the least wickets, being the least effective – and has been for quite some time – has been Tim Southee, and he should go.”
Southee, the side’s current captain, pre-emptively announced his retirement at age 36 with 106 Tests under his belt leading into the series’ third and final match.
The soon-to-be-36-year-old has taken 389 Test wickets, and initially planned on a farewell game in Hamilton starting next Saturday — but with just four wickets so far this series, has evidently not been at his best.
Young, who Smith believes must play next weekend, averaged a tick under 5o during the whitewash on India only a month ago, but was remarkably dropped for veteran star Kane Williamson this summer — despite being the player of the series in the 3-nil victory.
He played five white-ball games for the Kiwis against Sri Lanka immediately after the India tour, getting starts in every match.
