These are some of the reasons anyway why Matt Henry has never played more than four Tests in a calendar year, some of the alleged factors for the lack of confidence from the New Zealand selection committees to give the 32-year-old a longer run at any stage of his decade-long career. Not to forget his rather spread-out history against Australia, where his appearances against them have always seemed like an afterthought.
Cameron Green the Hard hitting all rounder
Cameron Green can hit the ball harder than anyone else. Cameron Green can go big and ruthlessly pull off major scores. Cameron Green can produce special performances at will. Cameron Green is very tall.
It’s not like Henry hadn’t shown glimpses of how much better he was than what he was perceived to be. Also why the Black Caps have persisted with him for all this while. It’s not like Cameron Green hadn’t shown glimpses of how he could be better than even the lofty expectations already set for him, why the Aussies were always going to invest in him.
Cameron Green magnificent 103* on Day 1 steers Australia’s ship to safety
And on an incredible day of Test cricket, in an incredible setting at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, their fates would meet. Henry would end up with his most impressive spell against the Australians in what could yet be a career-defining performance to give the home team the advantage on the opening day of the series.
Cameron Green, on the other hand, would end up with his best Test knock yet, cementing his much-touted promotion to No 4 in the batting order, to wrest that initiative back from New Zealand and take his team to a position of parity at the end of the first day.
If anything, Henry epitomizes the ethos of New Zealand cricket; low-key, understated, high-spirited without being flashy, and more effective than enigmatic. He’s in many ways the New Zealand of the New Zealand Test team.
And what he did on a pitch with assistance at the Basin was what the right-arm seamer has done throughout his career, and increasingly with more consistency in recent months. He ran in at full tilt all day long, kept finding the best lengths to hit on the surface, kept generating suitable movement and kept being a menace for the Australian batters.
He spent the morning flirting with Usman Khawaja’s outside edge before getting Steve Smith nicked off just before the first session break. Henry then returned to break the back of the Australian middle-order, including an exceptional in-swinger to Khawaja that broke through bat and pad. It was like watching a steady and solid rhythm guitarist pulling off an eye-catching solo on his guitar against the run of play.
He continued to be a problem for Australia, breaking the dangerous partnership between Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh with his first over of the final session, before striking again with the second new ball late in the day.
Henry couldn’t wrap up the Australian innings or pick up his fifth wicket by close on Day 1 though. He might get to do both early on the second day. But the final chapter of the opening day belonged mostly, if not entirely, to Green. And his coming of age.
The towering Western Australian had of course played other important knocks over the course of his previous 26 Tests. The crucial hands in the low-scoring Test wins at Galle and in Indore away from home. A few vital half-centuries when the team was under pressure in the home series. In addition to the maiden Test century in Ahmedabad, even if it did come in lesser challenging conditions.
But this was his biggest test yet. Trying desperately to make No 4 his own and with his team in a big spot of bother, with the New Zealand bowlers continuing to make inroads at the other end. And he grew into his innings with the kind of rhythm and flow that we’ve not seen very often from the 24-year-old. There was the discipline early on to counter Henry and Tim Southee. Then came the period where he grabbed the impetus and pushed the scoring along, especially after the Marsh departure.
While his driving on the up was a sublime feature of the knock, it was his ability to pick the right moments to attack and to withdraw that stood out even more. Like it all clicked in an instant, in terms of the tempo he needs to operate at in Test cricket. He would say later about still not being comfortable with the best way of batting with the lower order, lamenting the fact that he probably exposed Nathan Lyon to Henry a bit too hastily.
But even here, it was his drastic upping of the scoring rate that eventually ensured that he got to his second Test ton in the final over of the day, where he smashed three powerful fours off the impressive William O’Rourke.
It was the perfect stamp of authority from Australia’s potential next megastar in what proved to be a breakthrough performance on a day where Henry broke free from having to constantly fly under the radar and walked off with his head held as high, though not quite literally, as Green.
I didn’t really fee I had the flow- Cameron Green
Australia all-rounder Cameron Green conceded that he didn’t feel completely in control on Day 1 of the ongoing Test against New Zealand in Wellington. Having scored an unbeaten 103 by Stumps, he was happy to have held on to one end for his side.
Green held Australia’s innings together in bowling-friendly conditions at the Basin Reserve with his second Test hundred. The seam-bowling all-rounder strung a partnership of 67 with Mitchell Marsh (40), followed by handy stands with the rest of the batters to lift Australia to 279-9. He reached the three-figure mark in the final over of the day.
Speaking to reporters after Day 1, the right-hander acknowledged that the track was tough to bat on and that he struggled to find the flow. As quoted by Perth Now, he said:
“I just tried to find something out there. I didn’t really feel I had the ebb and flow … it was quite tough when I went out there and even on a flat wicket I still take time to get in. It obviously feels really good. It’s a pretty tough wicket out there. I felt like the boys played pretty well. It was just one of those days, someone needed to bat through, so I was glad it was me,”
Black Caps skipper Tim Southee sent Australia into bat after winning the toss, and openers Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith did a decent job to see off the new-ball threat. However, the visitors suffered a mini-collapse, going from 61-0 to 89-4 before Cameron Green and Marsh joined hands.
Cameron Green on playing in Sheffield Shield before Test series
Green scored a ton against Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield game before the Test series, and the 24-year-old felt it was crucial to the preparation. He added:
“It was really important. I probably struggled to have the red-ball practice leading in, it’s been always one or two net sessions and then thrown into the deep. That’s what international cricket is like at the moment … so it’s always nice to spend some time out in the middle before a Test series.”
With batting likely to get easier over the next couple of days, Australia will need as many runs as possible on the board to stamp their authority over the BlackCaps and Cameron Green post his 100 seems a vital cog in the Australian innings going further.