Yes, this.
IMO, this is the number one reason why we are so **** at the moment - we do the basics terribly. All the good players, across all sports, do the basics exceptionally well, and that's what makes them so good. All the NZ players can do the little things - they can reverse sweep, play scoop shots, hit over cover, do diving backhand flicks in the field etc. - but while being able to do those things is good, they're the things that you might do once a game, if that. We fail at the things you need to do constantly - we can't defend, play with hard hands, fall over their front feet, hit the ball at catchable height, drop regulation catches in the slips etc etc etc.
It's one of my biggest gripes about coaching in NZ. There's a huge focus on the 1% things, and not enough on the 40% things. I've lost count of the number of team talks, coach talks etc I've had where we've been told to concentrate on the little things and then the big things will take care of themselves...it doesn't work like that. Get the basics right first.