Australia v New Zealand | Boxing Day Test: 3 observations from Day 1

It was an attritional day of Test match cricket at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and New Zealand in the second Test of the three-match series. The Boxing Day Test has been a great tradition and one of the most important events in a sporting calendar and the crowd didn’t disappoint as the attendance crossed 80,000 on day one.

All the talk ahead of the Test was about the 22 yards at the MCG, which has come in for some strong criticisms over the past few years because of its slow nature. The groundsmen made sure that was not the case this time around as they left a lot of live grass with moisture underneath. That along with cloudy skies was good enough for the Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson to send Australia in to bat.

At the end of the first day, it was the home side who are in the driver's seat after scoring 257 for the loss of 4 wickets. Marnus Labuschagne, with 63 off 149, was once again among runs while Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 77. Lets look at the key talking points from the opening day at the G:

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#1 Steve Smith finds a way

Steve Smith found his groove back at the MCG

It was a rare twin failure for one of the modern day greats in the first Test Test at Perth as he was found wanting against short pitched bowling. So everyone were keenly awaiting how Smith would respond to that strategy from the Kiwis. Well, you cannot be averaging 60+ from 70 Tests if you cant find a way to get out of trouble. Steve Smith did exactly that as he cut down on the aggressive option early on against short stuff and was keen to let them all go. When the ball was in his zone, he did drive the ball well and in the process scored yet another 50 at the MCG. Smith averages better than Sir Don Bradman at this famous ground with 4 hundreds and it looks like the record is only going to get better as he approaches yet another hundred.

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#2 Australia’s batting is becoming solid

Australia's Matthew Wade flicks one off the legs

When Australia dominated Test cricket for a good decade, their key to success was the runs they scored in the first innings. The nature of Test cricket has always meant that scoring runs in the second innings becomes difficult because of the wear and tear on the wicket.

In the last few years or so, Australia have been found wanting to score big especially on wickets that are slightly in favour of the bowlers. But today they showed great application against the likes of Trent Boult and Neil Wagner, who were swinging the ball right throughout the day.

Australia ensured they didn’t lose two wickets in quick succession right through out. After Joe Burns went off the very first over, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne added 60 runs for the second wicket when conditions were pretty tough for batting in the morning session. After Warner was dismissed, Australia were well served with two 50 plus partnerships, thereby ensuring a strong finish to the day. This batting order looks more settled and has started to become more consistent.

#3 Kiwis lack a quality spinner

Mitchell Santner struggled on a Day 1 pitch

It’s always been tough for overseas spinners Down Under and this was once again the case for left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner. There was something in the pitch for the spinners but Santner didn’t make use of it as he erred in lines and lengths and was punished by Australia’s batsmen. Even though it was a day one wicket, it is expected from a quality spinner to keep things under control in terms of runs but Santner was expensive. The tweaker didn’t give his skipper Kane Williamson enough confidence as he bowled only 7 overs off the 90 for the day.

The quality of spin bowling options is a big concern for the No.2 Test side in the world. Santner can be a good white ball bowler when batsmen are going after him but it becomes tough for him in this format. The famous cricketing cliches say, ‘Don’t judge the wicket until both sides have batted on it’. So lets wait for Nathan Lyon as to how he goes about with his off-spin on this track.