Perth Test, Day 2, Lunch
Saturday, December 1, 2001

It's been a really good, patient session from New Zealand. They haven't tried to do too much too soon, and that takes trust. It would have been easy to think, with three wickets left to fall, that quick runs were the order of the day, but Astle and Parore have done everything right. Some people thought they were going too slowly, and killing the game, but the runs began to flow after that initial 20 minutes.

They've still got a lot of hard work to do. As I said before, 400 is the par score on this pitch, and they haven't yet reached that, let alone a good score. But if they can keep going for another session, or at least until the drinks break, well, anything's possible. That's not an outrageous ask – they've shown application up to now, and the wicket is as true as they come.

Australia's bowlers have been fine – in fact none of them are far off bowling really well. They just have to continue to be more patient than the batsmen, and block off the runs to build pressure. Most of all they have to resist getting straighter in their line of attack, or else they'll be picked off. Steve Waugh won't be frustrated yet – he has a lot of respect for these Kiwis, and he said the other day that if it had been England playing at Hobart last week, they would have cracked. He's a cool head, though I guess his bowlers will be a bit agitated if they can't break through soon after lunch.

Jason Gillespie tried to liven things up a bit with what I think he calls his "albatross" impression – spreading his arms out just before his delivery stride. There wasn't a lot of need for that, and I think he has to be careful, as something came in earlier this year relating to behaviour that is not in the spirit of the game. But there was no harm done on this occasion, which is just as well, or feathers would have flown and the albatross might have been shot down!

If anything, I thought the quicks were coming in from the wrong end this morning. They've all been running up into the wind, with Shane Warne at the other end. Unless the breeze is different down there in the middle, then that's something I might try to change, although it's been that way for two days now.

But credit to Astle and Parore. They became a lot sparkier between the wickets as the morning went on, and that all boils down to confidence. But New Zealand will know that a lot rests on this pair, as Martin and Bond are not up to much with the bat – in fact I hear Martin has been thinking of changing his stance and going in as a lefthander!

It will be fascinating to see how New Zealand's bowlers respond with 400 runs on the board – confidence breeds confidence, and Australia might face quite a battle to force a victory if they bowl well. Steve Waugh might even be forced to declare while still behind on first innings.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session in the series. He was talking to Andrew Miller.

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