Bazball infection! Daryl Mitchell slammed by Kiwi greats after bizarre 'New Zealand not defined by outcomes’ remark

New Zealand batsman Daryl Mitchell has been criticized for undermining the importance of winning after his team’s defeat in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Australia.

Australia, on Monday (March 11), defeated the Black Caps by three wickets in the second Test in Christchurch to complete a clean sweep. Defending 278, New Zealand were in the driver’s seat after reducing the visitors to 34 for 4 and then 80 for 5. However, a 140-run stand between Alex Carey and Mitchell Marsh brought Australia right back into the game.

Ben Sears then dismissed Marsh and Mitchell Starc on successive deliveries to reduce Australia to 220 for 7 and put New Zealand on top once again. However, the hosts could not break the partnership between Carey and Pat Cummins as the two shared an unbeaten 61-run stand to take their team home.

Earlier, New Zealand had lost the first Test by 172 runs. Before the Tests, Australia had clean-swept the three-match T20I series as well. With the Black Caps not managing a single win at home against the Trans-Tasman rivals, Daryl Mitchell defended his team by saying that the New Zealand team isn’t ‘defined by outcomes’.

“For us, we’ve always said as Blackcaps, 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. “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,” he added.

Daryl Mitchell criticized:

Daryl Mitchell’s comments have not gone down well with many including New Zealand cricket greats Jeremy Coney and Ian Smith. Both Coney and Smith have criticised the New Zealand batter for his comments. Coney said that winning is the key and urged Daryl Mitchell to stick with a winning mentality.

“I absolutely support the sentiment of it about the act that you’re an international sportsman and that you train as hard as you can,” Coney said.

“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.

“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.

“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,” he added.

On the other hand, Smith said: “I’m sort of in danger here of getting myself in trouble.

“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,” Smith was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.