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0 Black Caps batter Daryl Mitchell has drawn the ire of Kiwi cricket greats for saying he and his teammates are “not defined by outcomes”.
The comments – which read straight out of England’s playbook amid the Bazball revolution – were made following New Zealand’s three-wicket loss to Australia in the second Test in Christchurch on Monday.
Aussie ‘keeper Alex Carey led his side’s chase on the fourth day, combining for two substantial partnerships with Mitchell Marsh and then Pat Cummins to win the Test and the series 2-0.
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“For us, we’ve always said as Black Caps, we’re not defined by the outcomes, we’re defined by how we play cricket and hopefully how we inspire our country to play the game,” Mitchell told SEN radio.
“We are really proud of the efforts that we did throughout the Test.
“Although we didn’t get the win that we wanted, I think if we keep turning up and keep playing cricket like this, puffing our chests out and doing it with a smile on our face and hopefully inspiring many young kids here in New Zealand to play Test cricket in the future, then we’re doing the right thing.”
Mitchell made scores of 11, 38, 4 and 58 in the series.
It was England batter Harry Brook who famously suggested after the fourth Ashes Test last year England would claim a “moral victory” should they win the fifth Test and level the series 2-2, which they went on to do.
Mitchell’s comments were promptly torn up by New Zealand cricket greats Ian Smith and Jeremy Coney.
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Coney, who played 52 Tests between 1974 and 1987, said he understood the sentiment that he and his teammates should be recognised for working hard and at least making contests of the two Tests.
“You train your own individual skills and whatever that might be, that doesn’t just mean batting or bowling, it means where you are in the field, what you’re going to do and what’s the requirement of the position,” he said.
“You don’t want to let your teammates down … all those kinds of things, you do in order to, what? To lose?
“Give me a break. (You do it) to win. Winning is actually the key to it all, (and) you don’t have to be a sportsman for that, either.
“Any position that you do, you have to do it well in order to remain doing it for a start. If you do it poorly, you’re out.
“So don’t tell me that outcomes have got nothing to do with international sport.
“We kind of get what he’s meaning. But actually, young kids will follow the New Zealand side when they win.
“I promise you that Daryl, they’ll stick with you.”
Smith, who spent seven years as Coney’s teammate, agreed.
“I’m sort of in danger here of getting myself in trouble,” he began.
“I’m going to take two or three deep breaths here and then still say, I don’t believe I just heard a New Zealand cricketer say ‘We’re not defined by the outcomes’, of a Test match against Australia.
“If we were to ask Daryl Mitchell, had they got up and won that Test, asked them the very same question, he wouldn’t have said, ‘Really, winning didn’t really matter to us, it was more the way we were appreciated and respected by our crowds and our kids coming through to play the game’.
“I’m sorry … unless I’ve been so far removed from the game. I don’t understand that.
“I simply don’t, and I hope it was just a mistake to be perfectly honest.”
Both sides will enjoy some time off before the T20 World Cup begins in the West Indies and USA in June.
