Australia vs New Zealand 2016: Voges relieved to see his average drop below 100
A day after Adam Voges made all the headlines overtaking records held by Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, the Australian said that he was relieved to see his average drop to below 100, ESPN Cricinfo reports.
The 36-year-old revealed that he had been the subject of some stick from his teammates after his Bradmanesque average but added that he knew that it was only a matter of time before the bubble busted.
"I'm probably happy that I'm out now and it's gone back under," Voges said. "I can just get on with playing cricket, I guess. The boys had a bit of fun taking the mickey out of me in the change-rooms but it's all good.
“It [the average] was never going to stay there, it won't stay there, I know that. So it was always going to happen at some stage," he said.
Talking about his mammoth innings, which eventually came to an end at the Basin Reserve when he gave a return catch to Mark Craig on 239, Voges said that he loved to score big once he got his foot in and credited Usman Khawaja, who had made 140, for easing his stay at the crease.
"I think that I'm giving myself every chance to get in each time I bat and then when I do get in I'm hungry to score runs and score big runs," he said.
"I try and keep it pretty simple. I really enjoyed my partnership with Usman [Khawaja] the other day, he's batting brilliantly. He's in complete control of his game so that made life a lot easier for me."
Voges responds to no-ball incident
It is no secret that Voges enjoyed a huge slice of luck during his record knock as the on-field umpire Richard Illingworth wrongly called a legitimate delivery from Doug Bracewell that had knocked out Voges’ off stump, a no ball. Talking about the delivery, Voges said that it was a bad leave from his part but added that he was more determined than ever to make the second chance count.
"I turned around, it was a bad leave, saw the stumps, went to walk off and then saw the arm out. A little bit of luck," Voges said.
"I approached the [next] day that I was going to go pretty hard, you don't get second chances too often so I'm gonna try and take the game on a little bit here.”
Voges didn‘t have things all his way quite though as he took 130 deliveries to reach his half-century and the right-hander credited the opposition bowlers for making life difficult for him.
"As it turned out, New Zealand bowled really well and I couldn't do it. I had to bide my time and think I only scored 30 and had to be a little bit more patient.
“Once I did the hard yards it did become a little bit easier but the plan to go out and take the game on didn't quite eventuate," Voges said.
But he deserves credit for the way he stuck in there and found the going a lot easier once he reached the three-figure mark. Voges admitted that his years of experience of playing in domestic cricket has helped him understand his game better.
“No doubt it comes with time," Voges said. "It comes with a lot of hard work as well. And understanding your game. It comes with confidence as well, being able to trust your ability, trust your defence and then being able to attack when the opportunity presents."