New Zealand: Best in Tests, what do the numbers tell us?

New Zealand won the first World Test Championship.

You can paint words like Shakespeare, but there is no better way to define what they have done than just read out what they have done.
The name World Test Championship in itself highlights the enormity of their far-from-fluke achievement, hard work, and commitment.

How did New Zealand pull this off? It may be easy to get lost in the whirlwind of propagandists who define this as a meteoric rise after watching cricket for four days and rain for two. Even easier to take this as the Utopian ‘the good guys winning’.

But in the real world, you have to take this New Zealand side for what it is, the best of the best. Or are they?

Be careful while using the word ‘best’ for this New Zealand side though. Purists will hush you even when you tell them that this is the best New Zealand team.

The 1980s will be their point of reference. New Zealand did not lose a single series at home throughout the 1980s. They beat every team at home between 1979/80 and 1991/92. This included a win against the mighty West Indians – the only series the giants lost between 1975/76 and 1994/95.

Being invincible at home versus winning more Tests and losing a few is a debate that has continued from well before the 1980s to now. Winning a series in Australia and the subcontinent (albeit in Sri Lanka, then the babies of Test cricket) though are the big positives for the team of the 1980s.

NZ at home – 1980s vs 2010s

NZ away from home – 1980s vs 2010s

First, let us define what we mean by this New Zealand side. Pundits have termed the Cape Town disaster of 2012/13, when New Zealand were dismissed for 45 in the first innings, as the trigger that was required for the win in 2021.

Since that 0-2 defeat in South Africa, New Zealand have played a total of 30 Test series, home and away. They have won 18, lost 7, and drew 5. A series win percentage of 60.

In the decade before that, they played a total of 35 Test series, winning only 9. A series win percentage of only 25.71.

Even at home, New Zealand’s record in the decade leading up to 45 all out was poor. They managed to win only five-Test series at home in the ten years leading to 2012/13, losing one series each to England, India, South Africa, and twice to Pakistan and Australia. Only five series wins in the total of 16.

In terms of the win/loss ratio at home, New Zealand were above only West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh.

Win-Loss Ratio at Home (15 Jan 2003-15 Jan 2013)

Imagine telling them they would win something called the World Test Championship two decades down the line. You would probably have been exiled to the Misty Mountains and spent the rest of your life hearing, ‘my precious’.

Since January 2013, New Zealand are the third-best team in terms of win/loss ratio at home (4.66). They are behind Behind India (8) and Pakistan, who have only played 5 Tests at home during this time and not lost any of them.

In the evolution to become a successful Test side, becoming unbreachable at home is key. It is clear how New Zealand have progressed in that direction.

Win-Loss Ratio at Home (15 Jan 2013-18 June 2021)

*Pakistan played only five Tests at home and have not lost any of them (4 wins, 1 draw)

You would not be wrong in implying what New Zealand have achieved under Kane Williamson began under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum. On paper, the series win percentage (38.46 under McCullum, 72.22 under Williamson) seems to have nearly doubled, but it cannot be denied that most of the current core started to come to their own during the McCullum era.

As important it is to form an opinion about the team based on their collective data, going through the numbers of the individuals will help form a deeper understanding of where they stand in history.

Devon Conway raising his bat after a century on debut at Lord’s. Image Source: IANS

Kyle Jamieson and Devon Conway debuted during the WTC. They form a small sample size but have once-in-a-century numbers at the respective stages of their Test careers. Kyle Jamieson has 46 wickets to his name, with 5 fifers and an average of 14.17, after eight Tests. Devon Conway scored a double hundred on Test debut, becoming the first to do so at Lord’s. He has 379 runs to his name after his first three Tests, with a 50 plus score in each of them.

Conway’s opening partner Tom Latham is New Zealand’s second-highest run-scoring opener of all time (3,988), only behind John Wright (5,260). He is likely to scale to the top.

There is a soothing calmness about and around the middle-order. Mandating the irrepressible spotlight, even though they do not want it, are the two highest run-getters in New Zealand Test history. Captain Williamson is second in that order, being the only player to have played 50 Tests for his country and currently average more than 50.

While his captaincy has given New Zealand a new shape as a Test side, the role has also brought the best out of Williamson the batter. He took over as captain in March 2016 and has averaged more in Tests since then (61.40). A difference of 12.17 from before he was captain.

In terms of average as captains (minimum of 20 Tests), he is only next to Don Bradman (101.57) and Steven Smith at 70.36. McCullum, the next New Zealand captain on the list, is at the 35th, with an average of 45.28.

Some people would argue that captains become more cautious, which is partly true, and hence score more. But with Williamson, even his strike rate has increased since he took over as captain from 49 to 57. He’s 18th in the all-time list in Test cricket (minimum 20 matches).

There is only one New Zealand player with more runs to his name in cricket’s longest format. Ross Taylor has been there for some time now. He made his debut in November 2007. Since then only James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, and Hashim Amla have played more Test matches than him.

In terms of runs scored over this period, Taylor (7,564) is only behind Cook (10,814), Root (8,714), and Amla (8,568). Of his 189 Test innings, he has batted at No. 4 in 168. Not only does he have the most runs as No. 4 (6,912 runs), but he is also sixth in the all-time list. Only Sachin Tendulkar (13,492), Mahela Jayawardene (9,509), Jacques Kallis (9,033), Brian Lara (7,535), and Javed Miandad (6,925) have more.

Along with Henry Nicholls, the trio is the first 3, 4, and 5 in New Zealand cricket history, all of whom average 40 or more. At home, Williamson averages 65.31, Taylor 54.37, and Nicholls 50.03. Nicholls is one of the only eight Test New Zealand cricketers to average more than 40 after 30 Test matches. He is the sixth-best in that respect, with an average of 43.40.

For any side, to have a fire-extinguisher kind of player, especially given the volatility of the game in the third decade of the 21st century, is a gift. Not many wicketkeepers do justice to that tag better than BJ Watling.

Watling finished with 3,790 runs from 75 Test matches at 37.52. He was good enough to play nine Test matches as a specialist batter. As a wicketkeeper, his average rises to 39.05, the seventh-best for a wicketkeeper (minimum 30 Tests). With 266 dismissals, he is New Zealand’s most successful Test wicketkeeper. His rate of 2.08 dismissals per innings is the eighth-best in Test cricket.

Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner posing with the WTC mace.

New Zealand’s ‘OG’ pace trio (along with Kyle Jamieson) has the larger say in expressing the team’s aggression. In Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Neil Wagner, they have assembled arguably their greatest bowling trio ever. There is little point in arguing as far as numbers are concerned.

Only Richard Hadlee (431) and Daniel Vettori (361) have taken more Test wickets for New Zealand than Southee (314) and then Boult (292), while Wagner (229) is at sixth place.

After playing 79, 73, and 54 Tests respectively, all three average under 30 (28.22, 27.67, 26.40). In terms of wickets in the last decade (January 2011-June 2021), all three feature in the top 10. No other team has three players in the top 10 tally.

We at CricketNews never miss an opportunity to mention Tim Southee’s batting strike rate stat. With a 1,000-run cut-off, his strike rate is the second in history. He is next to only Shahid Afridi.

A little below him on the list is a Colin de Grandhomme, blistering with the bat, handy with the ball, and dashing in a mullet. New Zealand picked him for the big final in the swing-friendly conditions of Southampton. He was not their only option, which is an even bigger statement for Test Cricket in New Zealand right now.

Matt Henry, who had troubled India with a different-colored cricket ball two summers ago in England, was also part of the 15-member squad. In the Edgbaston Test against England a week before the final, Henry took six wickets, the joint-highest in the game.

Another positive from the series against England was Will Young, who, just like Devon Conway in his first Test innings, made for a superb advertisement of New Zealand’s depth.

For the ‘spin-friendly conditions’, had there been any, the eventual World Test Champions had Ajaz Patel. They preferred him over Mitchell Santner for the final 15.

For some time now, cricket’s Men in Black had introduced some of the top white-ball talents in the game. That being replicated in cricket’s longest format is a mouth-watering phenomenon.

Three and a half decades ago, New Zealand won Test series in Australia and England. The criterion then for choosing the best team in Test cricket used to be subjective. Had there been a WTC back then, New Zealand would probably have met West Indies in the final. But these are mere speculations. Now, after all these years, New Zealand’s excellence has been validated by a trophy.

Winning overseas will remain the big challenge in Test cricket for many years to come, but cricket has found a reason for teams to do so in the first place. For Test cricket’s first world champions, being the best should not be a hard task.