There’ll be no sitting around for the BLACKCAPS as they take a short break before launching into a huge home summer of cricket — starting on 10 December in Dunedin with the first of two ANZ Tests against Sri Lanka.
Brendon McCullum's men were unlucky not to leave Australia with a series draw, following a dramatic and, at times, controversial three days in Adelaide.
As ever, the captain is taking the positive approach and believes his side has taken plenty from the tour and are now primed to entertain home supporters in the coming months.
"It’s not always easy after you lose a Series two-nil, but there are some huge positives there for us and we know that as we head into our Test summer that we’ve got some areas we can work on. But there are some areas that are going pretty good as well,” McCullum said.
Some positives were more obvious than others — such as the batting of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, who collectively scored 833 runs over the three Tests.
Opener Tom Latham got through the first hour of all but one of his six innings, while Doug Bracewell’s all-round efforts also caught the eye. As did BJ Watling’s wicketkeeping, particularly his grabs to remove Steve Smith and Peter Neville in Adelaide.
McCullum further praised his strike bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who battled injury throughout the Series but still led the attack with aplomb.
"We sort of lose sight sometimes that these are still young guys and they’re going to have the odd rough test, but what they’ve shown is that they’re resilient enough to bounce back.
"So I couldn’t be prouder of the way that those two operated, and also Doug Bracewell — he went from strength to strength over the Series."
The historic third Test will also be remembered for Mitchell Santner’s unflappable entrance onto the big stage.
The SKYCITY Northern Knights' spinning allrounder contributed 76 runs with the bat in the low-scoring affair and also claimed a wicket in each innings.
"I thought he was outstanding, he is the most laidback bloke that I have ever seen make his debut," McCullum remarked.
"He’s shown everyone that he has a huge future in this game. We’re incredibly lucky that we’ve got at home two very good allrounders in Corey Anderson and Jimmy Neesham — well, Mitchell Santner’s put his hand up and said don’t forget about me, and for us to have three potentially world-class allrounders is a good problem to have."
With Anderson and Neesham still laid up with injuries, Santner could be seeing more game time in the two-Test ANZ International Series against Sri Lanka.
One man who has been backed to stay in the side is opener Martin Guptill, who despite a hundred in the WACA warm-up, failed to find his best form over the ditch.
"My recommendation would be that the guy is a class act. Yes, he hasn't reached where he and we want him to reach," McCullum said, justifying his faith.
"But there's so many cases now where you see successful short-version players, especially at top of the order, who are able to transition into successful Test players.”
The team have the rest of the week off before reassembling in Dunedin on December 7.
