Brisbane Test, Day 1, Lunch
Thursday, November 8, 2001

It's all looking very scary for New Zealand here. They had that little window of opportunity right at the start when Justin Langer was lucky to survive. But since then they just haven't put the ball on the spot often enough.

Now the sun is out and the pitch is starting to flatten out. It's going to be a fantastic batting wicket for the next two or three days, and Australia have the line-up to make the most of it.

Stephen Fleming must be disappointed with his bowlers. He really needed them to respond this morning, but they just weren't up to it. It's a pretty weak attack. Maybe they got over-excited at winning the toss and tried too hard at the start.

The stand-out bowler has been Chris Cairns. He looks like the one most likely to get the breakthrough. He managed to maintain the right length and really troubled Langer.

Vettori is getting the same treatment that the Aussies gave Tufnell at The Oval - when they really intimidated him from ball one. Here, they'll test Vettori and find out just how much he loves playing Test cricket! It's pretty tough for him, not having played for 13 months.

Maybe Fleming should have brought him on a little earlier, before Matthew Hayden had the chance to get so settled. I also think Fleming might have thought about opening with Shayne O'Connor, as he is a genuine swing bowler. But he didn't really do a lot wrong – he was just let down by his bowlers.

As for the batsmen, obviously Hayden has played fantastically well. He just looks so confident and at ease out there. Langer looks pretty out-of-sorts, but he's the type of player who will battle it out.

It looks like a long day in the field for New Zealand.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments are appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session of the Brisbane Test. He was talking to Camilla Rossiter.

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