The emergence of New Zealand's Tom Latham

Away from home

By the time New Zealand began their tour of India, Latham had proved his value to the Kiwis, especially in alien conditions. They weren’t really expected to sparkle on the dusty pitches in the UAE, but Latham’s consecutive centuries against Pakistan had proved his ability and temperament in conditions where New Zealanders generally found the going tough.

For the first half of the series, Latham waged a lone battle against Pakistan while his teammates found it tough to even keep him company. Only when the seniors – Taylor in the second Test, McCullum and Williamson in the third – notched up centuries, were New Zealand able to draw the series. Latham’s technique and patience had finally paid off.

Tom Latham's stats in Test cricket

Venue	Matches	Innings	Runs	High Score	Average	100s	50s
Home	7	14	389	109*	29.92	1	1
Away/Neutral	18	33	1359	137	41.18	4	9

Interestingly, the southpaw made a good impression on his tours to the West Indies, Pakistan and later, England and Australia. He was able to stand tall on pitches with turn and low bounce as well as tackle the swing on hard and grassy strips. Here was a young prospect for the Kiwis, a solid top order batsman following in the footsteps of Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.

In India, Latham has once again been the only New Zealand batsman to consistently stand up to the Indian bowling attack. He picked up a half-century in each of the three Tests and his inability to reach three figures was one of the reasons New Zealand failed to put up a fight, not withstanding the collective failure of all other batsmen in the side. In the three ODIs so far, he has again provided three consistent knocks at the top of the order, setting the base for innings which have often faltered after his dismissal.

He has used the sweep shot to great effect, especially on turning tracks

Not pretty, but effective

New Zealand might have got used to the ‘shock and awe’ methods of McCullum, but no flash in the pan player would be able to manage the longevity and consistency of McCullum. Players like Chris Gayle and Virender Sehwag popularised aggressive Test cricket, but lest one forget, Test cricket is more often a game of attrition. Latham has neither the bravado of McCullum, nor the power of Gayle or the simplicity of Sehwag.

What Latham brings to the table is a very good technique and the ultimate skill that a Test batsman needs – patience. His knocks in the Emirates and more recently in India, proved that he has the temperament to grind it out in the middle when the odds are stacked against him. That, despite his regular early dismissals, he has managed a Test average of 38 is an impressive fact. It is at par with what McCullum and Astle achieved.

In contrast, his opening partner in Tests, Martin Guptill has a Test average of a shade below 30 and only 3 centuries to his name. In fact, no other New Zealand batsman has had the kind of impact as an opener that the young southpaw has had. Latham’s performances were the need of the hour, especially away from home, and it would be fair to say that he did save the blushes for the Black Caps on quite a few occasions.

Form or class?

Latham’s overall figures as a batsman both in Tests and ODIs are none too impressive. While he averages 38 in Tests, in ODIs he has managed 32.56 so far. However, the figures show a marked improvement when his first season in international cricket is excluded. Is it a case of Latham hitting a purple patch of good form, or are his excellent figures in the last year a product of his class?

One thing to note is that when considered only as an opening batsman in ODIs, his figures make for much better reading. He did hit his straps in the last one year, with a century against Zimbabwe and three half-centuries on the trot against the venomous bowling of South Africa. He has also given an excellent account of himself in the three ODIs against India so far. How far he is ahead of other batsmen in his side was established when he became the first New Zealander to carry his bat, in the first ODI at Dharamsala.

A bright prospect for New Zealand cricket

Getting set and going on

One of Latham’s great strengths is his ability to get going and at least get a start, once he is set. A batsman getting dismissed for a single digit score, before he could get his eye in, is quite understandable. Latham does fall prey early in his innings on quite a few occasions. Once he has got set at the crease, however, he has the ability of playing an innings of great value to the team.

This is where his not-so-good conversion rate comes into the picture. Out of 22 instances where he has gone past the half-century mark, only on 6 occasions has he gone on to triple figures. It is a something which has plagued many batsman and what separates the average batsman from the incredibld runmakers.

Apart from Martin Crowe, no other New Zealand batsman has managed a conversion rate of close to 50 in Test cricket. This is something that Latham would do well to learn.

Although he is doing well for the Kiwis with consistent starts and the occasional match winning innings, it is not really reflective of his talent. If he does learn how to play the long innings, though, New Zealand will have a brilliant player on their hands in their quest to become a strong cricketing power.

NOTE: Statistics as of 25^th October, 2016. Statistics include India vs New Zealand at Mohali, 3^rd ODI, 23^rd Oct 2016.