John Ward (JW): Al, it must feel good to get the runsflowing in Test cricket again, but I suppose there must bethe disappointment of missing a century today [he scored88]
John Ward13-Sep-2000John Ward (JW): Al, it must feel good to get the runsflowing in Test cricket again, but I suppose there must bethe disappointment of missing a century today [he scored88].Alistair Campbell (AC): Yes, definitely. That was mygoal and I just wanted to grind it out. I’ve been guilty inthe past of getting pretty thirties and forties, so I justwanted to grind it out out there, no matter how long it tookto reach the milestone. It didn’t happen, but the way I wasbatting at the end of the England tour, in the one-dayersthere, and the way that I’m batting now, I’m sure it willcome. I’m confident mentally, and I’m batting well enoughto do that, and I have a decent method worked out now, sohopefully if I can keep on plodding along the same road I’llbe able to achieve it in the not-too-distant future.JW: How did you get out of your run of poor form?AC: People say I was in a rut of poor form, but to behonest I scored a lot of runs in first-class cricket – Ithink I scored three hundreds in the four first-class gameswe did play last season – and it was just in the Testmatches that I really struggled. I don’t want to makeexcuses, but some of the times I got some good balls, and Ithink for moments when I went in I lost the way I wanted toplay, I lost the method I wanted to adopt, and as you knowyou just make one mistake and that’s the end. I’m a lotcalmer at the crease now; I think one of the criticismslevelled at me is that I don’t seem as composed as I shouldbe when I go in. So I’ve tried to work on that, and when Iget a start I try and convert it. If you look back on myTest career I’ve made a lot of starts, a lot of twenties andthirties, and that’s probably why I only average 24 becausethat’s what I get all the time. So now I want to convertthem into big scores.JW: Yes, you looked a lot better today than I’veseen you for a long time. In what sort of frame of mind didyou approach this Test match?AC: Regardless of what I had done in England, when Iwas batting really well, there were murmurs of my Test placebeing in jeopardy, so I was under pressure to score someruns. I’ll just set my stall out for the next couple ofyears; I’m not captain any more, so there’s noresponsibility on my shoulders as the leader of a team. Myjob is to score runs, and with Murray Goodwin and NeilJohnson gone there’s a lot of pressure on our shoulders -myself, Andy Flower, Grant Flower – to do a lot of runscoring for us to compete. So my frame of mind for thisgame was just to give myself a chance, and if I did make astart to convert it. I wanted to play with a lot ofpatience, something I haven’t displayed in the past, so Iset out to bat time, grind it out. So I did that, and itwas a bit unfortunate to fall 12 short.JW: How did you see the match situation when youwent in to bat yesterday?AC: It was a good batting wicket, and the guys hadmade starts but got out. We knew 350 was the minimum scorewe needed to get on that wicket, so I didn’t worry aboutwhat was going on the other end; I needed to keep my endintact. Andy [Flower] came out and I thought he was good forplenty, but when he got out, then Wishy [Craig Wishart] gotout, Streaky and I put on a partnership. It’s all aboutbuilding partnerships. I just tried to look after my end sothat people could bat around me.JW: How is the pitch playing?AC: It’s playing well, but it’s taking turn, as yousaw with Wiseman and Vettori, and as you saw with PaulStrang this evening. He really bowled a very testing spell,so if he can bowl a long spell tomorrow and get balls in theright area, they don’t seem to be picking his wrong ‘un verywell, and there’s a bit of bounce there – who knows? But itis still a really good batting wicket and we’re going tohave to work hard to bowl them out. But if the luck goesour way and we managed to bowl them out for around 250, 270,and get a lead, we have a chance to bat and put somepressure on them on the last day.JW: With an overall scoring rate of around two anover, is that just the way the tea played, or is the ballnot coming on to the bat?AC: No, it’s a nice batting wicket, but it’s ourfirst Test match of the season and people forget that. I’vejust played one warm-up game but some of the guys haven’teven had that; it’s just been nets. So the object of theexercise in the first Test match of the season is to makesure you get time in the middle. So it was a case on thefirst day of just trying to bat out the day, no matter howlong it took, and as the season progresses, as batters workout their games and become more confident, get more practiceunder their belts, then the shots will come and a betterscoring rate will be achieved.JW: What sort of tactics did New Zealand use againstyou when you batted?AC: They bowled a lot of spin at me, but basicallythey just tried to bowl to defensive fields and wait for meto make a mistake – as I have obliged on many occasions inmy career! I just said that if they were going to bowl theball in the right area, which they did do, and I’ve got noopportunity to score without taking risks, then so be it -I’m just going to defend until they give me a ball I can getaway in the gap. That’s how I set out my stall. If theyhave to bowl on a flat wicket they tend to do that, justbowl in the channel and with a ring field. They did thatand their bowlers didn’t bowl many bad balls, so that’s whyour scoring was so slow. In the past I think we would havebeen 220 all out by trying to force the pace and play shotsthat weren’t really there. But I think we’ve taughtourselves a valuable lesson, that if we can bat for sometime, no matter how long it takes, and get a score on theboard, we get the opportunity to put the other side underpressure.JW: We did wonder in the press box if a little moreeffort might have been made by the team as a whole to keepthe strike rotating, pushing for singles.AC: Like I say, that comes as we get into the season,when we get more time in the middle, we get better andbetter and the scoring rate will improve. But for now thisis our first Test match of the season, and the object was totry and get a good first-innings total, no matter how longit took, and for every batter to get in there and get sometime in the middle. I think it will improve from here.JW: Can you evaluate the New Zealand bowlers in thisinnings?AC: It’s a pretty flat wicket, and as you know I dotake on the short balls so they did have a man back there,the seamers did try to bowl a few short. Otherwise theyjust tried to bowl channel to me. The spinners just triedto get the ball in the right area and make me play. It wasturning a little bit, and they had two guys close catching.There was no special tactic as far as I was concerned, butthey probably had a team meeting and said that I’m prone togiving it away, and if you get balls in the right area he’sgoing to take you on, and that’s how we’re going to get himout. I managed to be patient and grind it out.JW: Was there any particular point in your inningswhere you felt, “I know I’m I control and can really go onand make a big one this time”?AC: I did. From yesterday evening when I wasbatting with Andrew [Flower] I felt really good, and in thefirst session this morning I felt really in control. Afterlunch I just thought that if I keep playing the same way,just keep batting, it’s going to arrive. I wasn’t reallylooking at the scoreboard, I was just concentrating onplaying ball by ball, and he runs would come. They bowledme some balls I could put away, and if they bowled halfdecent balls in the channel I’m just going to defend. I wasaiming at being 150 not out overnight.JW: Is there any particular method you used mentallyto help to concentrate so well this time?AC: I think everyone has their littleidiosyncrasies, but all I do is say to myself, “Watch theball, watch the ball.” It seems to be the simplest thing todo: you’ve got to watch the ball if you’re going to hit theball, so before the bowler runs in some people touch theirthigh pad or do something with their pad or touch thehelmet. But all I do, as the guy’s running up to bowl, issay, “Watch the ball, watch the ball.”JW: What happened with the delivery that got youout?AC: It was slower ball [from Nathan Astle] and Ijust picked the wrong line, to be honest. I was maybegetting a little tired, not as focused as I should havebeen, but I just feel I fell over a bit and picked the wrongline, which was unfortunate.JW: It must be the longest innings you’ve everplayed in international cricket.AC: Yes, probably in Test cricket it is my longest,batting for near on five hours. But if you’re going toscore hundreds you have to learn to bat for five to sevenhours, and sometimes longer if you want to score doublehundreds. Every batter knows that if you’re going to score aTest hundred you have to put aside five hours. I shouldhave done a lot more of those in my career, but now I’veadopted a method and I’ve seen that it does work, andhopefully I can carry that on in the rest of the Testmatches this season and beyond.JW: Any particularly memorable strokes in thisinnings that gave you real satisfaction?AC: Well, not really; it was just one of those gutsylittle ‘get in there, get behind the line of the ball andnot give anything away’. It wasn’t pretty, but I played acouple of good cover drives off O’Connor, I think, and acouple off Vettori, but nothing memorable. I just tried topick the gaps when I could, not try to hit the ball toohard. I think that’s what Test innings are all about. AndyFlower has shown it time and again, that if you’re going toscore big hundreds you have to be prepared to not look thatpretty, get in there, guts it out and be prepared to bat forlong periods of time, which is something I’m trying to do.JW: In retrospect, do you think there’s anything youmight have done in that innings?AC: Yes, I might have been a bit more positiveagainst the spinners. I’m a natural attacking player andthere were balls there that I might have run down the wicketand hit over the top, to change the field a bit; maybeplayed a few pick-up sweeps, which is one of my shots, butlike I said I had the frame of mind just to defend, that ifI batted enough time I had enough shots in my armoury,enough experience to get to a hundred. But in retrospectmaybe I should have, so the guy’s not just bowling at you,but you give him something to think about. As soon as youdo that and you hit a guy over the top, if he sees youlooking to come down he drops a few short and you get a fewmore scoring opportunities. So perhaps in retrospect Ishould have been a bit more aggressive against the spinners.But having said that, if I’d been talking to you now with140 not out, then I would have said I’d have changednothing, so just because I came 12 short I’m looking to findsomewhere I could have scored!JW: After you were out, we had quite a few runs fromthe tail.AC: Yes, we did. Bryan Strang has chipped in for usbefore; he’s got a Test fifty. Streak’s a really good allrounder and he got a fifty today, and ‘Psych’ Nkala wasreally good as well. He rode his luck but played his shotsand was really positive. Psych’s going to be our futureall-rounder who’s going to fill Streaky’s boots, and he’svery capable of doing that. He bowled a good first spell aswell with the ball. It’s very important if you get to 270or 280 for seven that the tail wags and you can get another70 or 80 out of them, as happened today. And it might makea difference in this Test match, you never know.JW: What comments do you have on the New Zealandinnings so far?AC: It’s a good batting wicket so naturally they’regoing to come out and play their shots. That can work foryou one day and not work the other day, and I think they’regoing to have their work cut out with Paul Strang bowling.He really showed it this evening, and it’s going to be anintriguing day’s play tomorrow. Obviously you’re going toget some partnerships if they get stuck in; they’ve got somevery good players so we’re going to have to be on the ball,the seamers are going to have to be on a length, in thechannel, and Strang might be the one to apply some pressureand nip them out.