Second test preview

All the news seems to be that Brett Lee won't be playing at the Basin, so expect to see him charging in with a stiff southerly at his back come Friday.

As for the New Zealanders, well there has been call for changes in the batting order but John Bracewell has sensibly batted aside suggestions that players like Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, James Marshall or Peter Fulton be introduced. Blooding new players into a demoralised team being done over by the best in the business is not a good strategy. But it does beg the question, who else out there is performing? An analysis of the State Championship averages show that only six players have scored over 500 runs. They are:

Lou Vincent (563 runs at an average of 112.60)
Peter Fulton (797 runs at 72.40)
Jamie How (563 runs at 51.18)
Jarrod Engelfield (525 runs at 47.72)
Michael Parlane (517 runs at 47.00)
Greg Todd (511 runs at 42.58)

Jesse Ryder drops just below this group with 498 runs at 49.80 (with 236 of those coming in one innings against CD's dobbers), while James Marshall has 176 runs at 35.20 and Craig McMillan has 140 runs at 35.00 (those two missing games while representing New Zealand in pyjamas).

If a change were to be made, the figures clearly indicate that it should not involve Lou Vincent. Craig McMillan would be the obvious player to drop and, on form, Peter Fulton would be his most obvious replacement. Fulton though has a reputation for being a somewhat nervous starter and early nerves are not the things you want to be showing the Australians. Baring injury or calamity, expect to see the batting order remain unchanged until the Sri Lankans reach these shores.