Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, ahead of the Chappell-Hadlee series later this month, suggested the hosts play around with the slip cordon in order to keep New Zealand captain Kane Williamson quiet.
Australia face off against New Zealand in the first Test at Perth on December 12. With both teams in good form, the series is expected to be a well-contested one, especially with Test Championship points at stake.
Australia recently crushed Pakistan at home while New Zealand sealed a series win against England. Ponting warned his mates that Williamson, like batting ace Steve Smith, will be hard to dismiss once settled at the crease. “He has been talked about being one of the best players for the last four-five years,” Ponting said.
He added: “He is more like Smithy [Steve Smith] in the sense that he’s regimented in the way he plays; plays the ball late and doesn’t take a big stride forward, and it is very hard to get him out. I am looking forward to the battle between him and our quicks.”
Ponting suggested bringing one of the slip fielders closer to the stumps, a tactic that was deployed when Smith was the captain almost four years ago.
“I think you’ll have to bowl a fourth or a fifth stump line and bowl full,” the 45-year-old said. “What he [Williamson] often does is drop it to third man so your third slip can up be up close to him. What I’d suggest is for Australia to keep playing with the slip cordon around a bit. He looks like one of those players, like Smithy, who likes to get into a bubble – once they get there you can’t get them out.”
Putting the captain’s hat on, Ponting observed that having an odd field placement can play on the mind of a batsman early into his innings.
He said: “You need to try to unsettle him in the beginning and sometimes what can work is a strange field placement, put someone in a different spot and the batsman starts to think ‘what is he doing here? What are they going to bowl at me?’ That way, you can be a step ahead of him.”
The two-time World Cup-winning captain, though, admitted that his first impression of Williamson wasn’t the best and is surprised by the 29-year-old’s evolution as one of the top batsmen in the world.
“He is a very good player. I remember one of my last series here [in 2011]. It was one of his first. At the time, [Former New Zealand captain] Brendon McCullum told me that ‘this kid will be one of the best players in the world.’”
“I thought ‘really?’ He was pretty loose outside off-stump and goes hard at the ball. Compare that to what is happening now and what he has developed into: He plays the ball later than anybody, he makes big runs and he scores them consistently.”