Australia v New Zealand
VB Series, Match 4
Thursday, January 17, 2002

Quite simply, Australia blew it. After 15 overs, New Zealand were 37 for 1, and yet they came back from an impossible position for the second time in a week. Their middle order pulled together well to reach 235, but in normal circumstances that shouldn't have been a problem for the Aussies. But this Australian team is flat and unhappy, and I haven't seen their intensity levels this low for a good three years.

Something has got to be done, no question. That flatness cannot be allowed to stay in the side. It has either got to be addressed, or it has got to be stamped out. There will be a lot for the selectors, and the team, to reflect on tonight.

An injection of fresh blood might be needed. Ryan Campbell had a handy debut - his glovework was good, and he batted well after his let-off, though I was disappointed he didn't go on to greater things. But his innings was entirely built on adrenalin. Nobody else came close to matching his intensity.

Are the players training hard enough? They had a day off between matches, and it could be they need to work harder, rather than relax. Are the team meetings achieving anything, or are they just meetings for the sake of meetings? And on the field - are Australia thinking on their feet, or are they going through the motions? One-day cricket is all about improvising, and frankly they looked short of ideas today.

Today's team selection was an improvement on last Sunday's, but more balance is needed. After three matches, Australia have found out that Steve Waugh is in poor form, and that Michael Bevan is in decent form. That's it - the rest of the batsmen have been given one-match bursts, which proves nothing to anyone.

Matthew Hayden played against South Africa, but was dropped today. Mark Waugh played in the first match and the third, but not the second. Andrew Symonds and Ian Harvey don't know where they stand … the list goes on. No Australian likes losing, but then nobody has been given the chance to bounce back.

The fielding was none too flash either. Australia never recovered from Glenn McGrath's over, when two catches went down in consecutive balls. Waugh had kept him up his sleeve for precisely that moment, but when the breakthrough was missed, heads went down. Australia have opened well in each match, but the later bowlers have taken some tap. Today it was Shane Warne's turn.

Chris Harris's innings didn't surprise me in the least. He is New Zealand's most-capped one-day player, and a gritty competitor whom I played against many times. His batting is always hard to contain, but I think the Aussies took him a bit for granted. He was able to work far too many deliveries through his favourite cover region, which was not clever bowling. And Shane Bond stood out for me among the New Zealand bowlers.

All is not well in the Aussie camp. A firm team meeting will be needed tonight, and it won't just be about the VB Series. The World Cup is barely a year away, and Australia need to work out who they want to take. For the moment though, the selectors mustn't do anything too fancy. There haven't been enough chances to justify wholesale changes, and for three matches at least I'd stick to this batting line-up: Gilchrist, M Waugh, Ponting, Martyn, S Waugh, Bevan, Harvey. I'd push Bevan back to six, the position where he made his name, and I'd bump Damien Martyn up to four.

Australia have to set themselves a target of four wins out of five. Sixteen points might be enough to qualify, if South Africa keep beating New Zealand. But any match that they drop from here on in, the task is going to get very difficult indeed.

Ian Healy, one of the game's greatest wicketkeepers, is a commentator for Channel 9. He will be giving his verdict on each match in the VB series. He was talking to Andrew Miller.

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