The driver

According to a Cricinfo study Scott Styris has one really good shot - the drive. And he really is pretty damn good with it too - he has scored 27.33% of his runs with it and has only been out once. Which is all very well and good. But if he averages 337 with the drive and 39.77 overall, doesn't that also mean he averages only 29.86 with all his other strokes? Hmmm. I suspect I won't be the only person to figure this out and I also suspect Styris won't be getting too many full balls in international cricket anymore.

"Sinclair ponders English switch"

This headline on the BBC website gave me a bit of a jolt. There's not much in the actual story however. It seems that Matthew Sinclair is simply considering trying to get a short-term contract with an English side as an alternative to finding real work in New Zealand.

Sinclair is in this position because New Zealand Cricket rules state that a domestic side is not allowed to breach a salary cap of around $28,000 (excluding match fees). It seems Central Districts are trying to get around this by either arranging a job for Sinclair with another employer, or by employing him in a non-cricketing capacity themselves. Sinclair appears to be waiting to see how this pans out before deciding whether to head to England for the winter.

You have to feel some sympathy for the guy. Having just purchased a house he has gone from the economic security of a contract with New Zealand Cricket to a desperate scrabbling for pennies to pay for his new mortgage.

"Gooch already finding excuses"

Isn't that the most Australian of headlines? It comes from this morning's Sydney Morning Herald and manages to convey a typically healthy amount of arrogance and contempt for the opposition.

While reporter Chloe Saltau was busy getting stuck into Graham Gooch her Australian side were whomping something called the "PCA Masters XI" in a twenty20 match at Arundel. Sadly for New Zealand fans this side was lead by Stephen Fleming - sadly because his only moment of note was to be caught at slip off the first ball of the match.

Oram and Bond on the comeback trail

Here is some good news. Jacob Oram and Shane Bond are fit and raring to have a go at Australian kiddies at a Brisbane tournament early next month.

Chris Cairns NZOM

Chris Cairns was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday honours for his services to the game.

Farewell to Matt Hart

Matthew Hart is hanging up his boots. After fifteen seasons and 95 games for Northern Districts he is retiring from the game. There was something old fashioned about the way Matt Hart played cricket. His left-arm orthodox spin bowling was out of another time - a flashback to the years when spinning the ball was regarded as just a gimmick and New Zealand was served by bowlers like Stephen Boock and Evan Gray who relied on accuracy and a bit of drift for their wickets.

In recent seasons Hart seemed like a bit of a spare part in the Northern Districts team. He had too much talent not to be selected, but Northern also had the luxury of Dan Vettori and Bruce Martin to call upon for left-arm spin bowling. So Hart reinvented himself as an opening batsman. His batting too was old fashioned. He was a limited player who sometimes just managed to hang around through sheer determination. If things had gone a bit differently he could have turned out as another Mark Richardson. Both players were left-arm spinners who ended their careers at the top of the order. One thing that might have held him back was that his bowling was just too good for him to stop focussing on that side of the game.

In the Herald article linked to above Hart remembers his 5-77 against South Africa as the highlight of his career. I also remember his 5-22 in a one-dayer against the West Indies, back when the West Indies still seemed invincible. But I think I will remember Hart best as one of the best servants a domestic side could have had.

West Indies vs Pakistan

Sigh. I guess it was predictable. If West Indies beat Pakistan in the second test at Sabina Park New Zealand's test ranking would have risen to six. The Windies had already won the first match and looked to be in a strong position to push on for victory yesterday afternoon. Talk was already rife about a revival in West Indian cricket fortunes, and then this happened.

Cozier on Beauty and the Beast

Tony Cozier, the West Indian commentator, writes a column in Barbados' paper the Nation. This week he has written a quite venomous piece about chucking in the game of cricket - comparing the "radiance" of Brian Lara in the current Sabina Park test match to "the dark side of test cricket" shown by Shabbir Ahmed. I am still undecided on the whole chucking controversy. I can still see the need to loosen the rules if, as we are told, everyone was breaking them - but outright chucking should not be allowed and harsher penalties do need to be in place. According to Cozier Ahmed is about to be referred to the ICC because of his action for the third time. And what happens after he gets referred? He undergoes an independent analysis of his action and is asked to make corrective changes and is then allowed back into the game. In my view a player should be suspended once a referral is made and should remain suspended from international cricket until his action is cleared via a rigorous testing process that should, ideally, involve assessment domestic matches.

A good game for those that played

Craig Spearman, Andre Adams and Scott Styris all missed their latest county games, but Craig McMillan had a good first game against Stephen Fleming's Nottinghamshire side. McMillan hit 52 and a blistering 26 not out off only 13 balls. He also took more wickets than team-mate Shane Warne - ending with 2-49 and 1-36 - and all his wickets came from the top order. His opponent, Fleming, hasn't got too much to be upset about however, he scored 7 and 105 to take his season first-class tally to 598 runs at an average of 66.44.

Of those he played, the only one to be disappointed would be Nathan Astle. He scored only 11 before being trapped lbw by Chaminda Vaas and failed to appear in Durham's second innings.

Ricky and Carlotta

Some of you may remember Ricky Ponting's impressive black eye which appeared after he was knocked unconscious in a night-club brawl in 1999. In this article an ageing drag queen reveals how it all happened.

The real reason Chris Harris got a contract

Poor old Chris Harris. It seems he has good reason to be pleased with his controversial New Zealand Cricket contract. According to this article in the Christchurch Press, his fast-food company has just gone belly-up. The troubles don't end there for Harris either. The guy who sympathetically bailed him out admitted that to run a business you need to be a businessman, a manager and a promoter - in other words, as he says, you need to be "an all-rounder". Its a sad day for New Zealand's dibbliest batsman/bowler when mall-based fast-food franchise managers start calling him out over his waning status as an all-rounder.

Jonathan Millmow on Chris Harris - again

For the third day in a row Jonathan Millmow has used his Dominion Post column to rail against the fact that Chris Harris has been offered a new contract. While you might not be interested in reading another rant on that particular subject, his article does contain some encouraging words from Mark Richardson for Butler and Sinclair which are worth reading.

Reaction from Sinclair and Butler

They are clearly upset, but the positive thing is that both have eliminated the option of leaving New Zealand to seek money elsewhere and are committing to their provincial sides.

Book your seat at the Caketin for 2011

According to the Dominion Post and Cricinfo, New Zealand and Australia have submitted a joint bid to host the 2011 World Cup. You can click on this link, but it won't tell you too much more.

The unkindest cut

Chris Harris
Craig McMillan
Michael Papps
James Marshall
Craig Cumming
Matthew Sinclair

Only one of those players failed to get a contract with New Zealand Cricket this year. Only one of them has a first-class batting average of 48. Jonathon Millmow, in hysterics yesterday over the exclusion of Ian Butler, is in even more explosive paroxysms of disgust today over the revelation that Matthew Sinclair has been axed.

When Millmow was mewling that the selectors will have some explaining to do if Chris Harris is selected, the official list had yet to be announced. It has now. You will notice that it is accompanied by a good deal of justification over the non-selection of Butler and Sinclair. It also raises a couple of points of interest that Millmow has not yet discussed. Darryl Tuffey has a contract despite a season from hell. And so has Shane Bond despite his injuries. It also contains a very nasty practical aspect. The new contracts are active as of today. Which means that the old ones expired yesterday. So, Butler and Sinclair a) have only just been told that they did not make the list and b) their income has just dropped from (a minimum of) $45,000 per year to $0.

Cricket cliches

Lawrence Booth, the Guardian's excellent cricket writer, is collecting cricket cliches and meaningless jargon. "Scorching cover drive", "steepling bounce" "adjudged lbw" - that kind of thing. I am sure New Zealand cricket commentary is as riddled with them as the rest of the world, but I suspect we also have our own unique gems. Our commentators might not have the same level of repitition as, say, Tony "and he's just smashed that away to the boundary" Greig - but I am sure you can come up with a few pithy phrases which manage to capture the essence of Bryan Waddle and company. Post them here and I will e-mail them to Lawrence.

Here's a few to get things going:

Martin Crowe - "In my opinion, [insert the name of any player who has not scored 100 or taken a 5 wicket bag in the last 5 minutes] should not be in the team."

Peter Sharp - "Canterbury are 13/8 in reply to Northern's 400/1 declared, but Canterbury have looked the better team"

Ron "Wrong" Snowdon - "He's caught! No - it's six! No - clean bowled 'em!"

Ben on ... the end of Tendulkar's career?

Earlier this week Sachin Tendulkar had surgery on his elbow and is expected to be out of cricket for a few months. However, a Pakistani astrologer is predicting he could be out of action for longer - for good in fact. Earlier this year Abdullah Shaukat Chowdhry read in the stars that an injury would end Sachin's career this year. Chowdhry's track record has been quite good to date, but I am hoping that as a supporter of a rival team he is reading too much into the planets' alignment in this case.

Ian Butler bounced

You have to suspect that there is something New Zealand Cricket doesn't want to say in this. Ian Butler has apparently not been given a contract this year, while Chris Harris - who is 35 years old and has not played in over a year - has. Perhaps there was some truth in Brendon Bracewell's claims that Butler is not the sort of player his brother has any time for. I just hope that, whatever the reason for the young quick's rejection, New Zealand Cricket are being upfront and have sent him away with instructions on how to win his central contract back. True pace is a limited resource and Butler is one player who has it. For him to turn his back on New Zealand cricket would be an absolute tragedy.

A possible change in our ranking

West Indies have just thumped Pakistan in the first test of a two test series. According to the Black Caps website if Pakistan were to lose the second match, they will sink below us on the test rankings table. I'll certainly be watching the outcome of this series with greater interest now.

Richie on Bangladesh

Having just commentated on Bangladesh's latest catastrophe Richie Benaud's cultured tones have joined the chorus to have the team suspended from test cricket. And you have to say that losing 20 wickets to an opponent's 3 while scoring 261 less runs is pretty blimmin' crummy.

MCC vs the World

Stephen Fleming has been selected as captain of the MCC side that will take on Brian Lara's International XI for a tsunami fundraiser at Lord's on 14 June. Chris Cairns will be playing on Lara's side.

Overseas test matches, day one

Sigh. Poor old Bangladesh. Day one of the first test in England and they are already looking at a thrashing. All out for 108 and England 188/1 in reply. For some reason Cricinfo is being very unreliable and odd at the moment, so I have been getting my coverage from Sporting Life. You can go here if you really want to read the same old dreary things about batsmen lacking in application and ragged new ball bowling.

Meanwhile, things might finally be looking a little bit up for the West Indies. They smashed 345 on the first day against Pakistan - and with ten wickets and 367 runs in the day that must have been some cricket to watch.

The continuing democratisation of English cricket

A few years' ago English cricket seemed to be at risk of becoming the realm of rich old white men and no-one else. But the introduction and sudden popularity of Twenty20 at a County level and now the appearance of a scheme called Chance to Shine are threatening to make cricket a popular pursuit again. In New Zealand we have had Kiwi Cricket for many years now, but lack what Chance to Shine will give to the English game. Chance to Shine is about increasing participation in real cricket by young people. It is well-funded, receives popular support and has quite a canny angle - being to cast cricket as a healthy lifestyle choice in an country lacking in those. Go here to hear Derek Pringle sings its praises in the Telegraph.

In other news, Stephen Fleming just hit 92 for Notts against Gloucestershire, while Scott Styris managed an uncharacteristically high score of 34 for Middlesex against Sussex (his season average by the way is 25.42).

Nathan goes to Durham

The Black Caps website has previewed Nathan's six week stint with Durham with a bland little interview and a few statistics about his recent form and his previous performances in county cricket. Its not really worth reading, but its winter and interesting cricket stories are hard to find.

Time to make the selection panel smaller

After watching Martin Crowe's application to be a New Zealand selector get knocked back, Andrew McLean has written a piece for Cricinfo arguing that the selection panel only needs three members - and not the current four. McLean states that a team which consists of Bracewell (a spinner), Hadlee (a pace bowler) and Turner (a batsman) has a balanced feel to it and no extra input is needed. McLean is always an entertaining read and in this article he manages to extract, out of nothing, an excuse to make barbed comments about Chris Cairns which are well worth scrolling down the page for.

Willow that makes the bowlers weep

Mike Selvey had an interesting piece in the weekend's Guardian about modern bats and the need to rein in technology. Selvey made me realise that there is more to the Ricky Ponting bat debate than old fuddy-duddy luddites getting upset at the introduction of something new. Selvey argues that modern bats make the game far too hard for spinners. He sees a parallel between cricket and golf, where new club technology has reduced the world's great courses to "a pitch and putt outing". I think he has a point. And another argument could be made against super-bats on behalf of the egalitarian nature of cricket. Selvey notes that super-bats are not hard-pressed and therefore don't last - he mentions in passing that Hershelle Gibbs is onto his 47th bat this year. Unless you are an international player with a neat sponsorship deal, these super-bats do not come cheap. It would be a tragedy if the game ever came to a point where the rich play better than the poor simply because they can afford better equipment.

Martin Crowe off the selection short-list

According to the "Stuff" website, Martin Crowe has been told his application to be a New Zealand selector will not be considered because of his "checkered history with [coach John] Bracewell". While this might not be a particularly valid reason for rejecting a good applicant, I have never been particularly impressed with Crowe's comments on team selection as a commentator. He seems far too inclined to experiment with unproven players. As a commentator I guess that it is his job to provoke, but I am not convinced that he would be a better choice than his competitor for a spot in the selection team, Glenn Turner. While both would be batsmen in a support team that needs batsmen, Turner has prior experience on Crowe. But that is not to say that Martin should be given the heave-ho from the entire set-up. As a batsman Crowe was a perfectionist, and I am sure that he can translate that skill at improving his own batting into a skill at improving the batting skills of others.

Cricket in Baghdad

Australian journalists have established the Baghdad Cricket Club. Retreiving a ball hit over the fence requires an armed escort and the lunches sound bloody awful, but this sort of dedication is probably a reason why the Australian cricket team is so good.

Changes to the game

The ICC's Cricket Committee, headed by serial rule fiddler Sunil Gavaskar, has suggested some changes to the way in which cricket is played. Amongst a host of boring new regulations governing the colour of bats, Sunny is also suggesting that substitutions be allowed in one day cricket and that fielding captains be allowed to choose when to impose some of the fielding restrictions. And perhaps the most controversial of the former India captain's suggestions is that umpires be allowed to ask for television replay assistance to help in any decision (including lbws presumably).

Shoaib the "Gangstar"

All the news lately has been either about John Wright or about Shoaib Akhtar. I guess that is what happens when there is no decent cricket on. Anyway, the latest story about Shoaib is that he is being courted by a film producer to star in a Bollywood movie called "Gangster". According to the movie's producer the fast bowler has the "the vulnerability of a child" - a quality that is apparently sought after in gangsters.

Ben on ... Shoaib Akhtar's new career?

What's next for a much-loved hard worker with an ego too big for cricket? The talkies of course!

More on Wrighty

Cricinfo, aware that John Wright is being egged to apply for the vacant Otago and Canterbury coaching positions, have kindly provided him with some references. I particularly liked Harbarjan Singh's comment that "he had the look of a person who had to go somewhere urgently and had lost his car keys."

Wrighty

John Wright might be trying to lie low, but it looks like New Zealand Cricket are gently prodding him in the direction of several job vacancies...

Karl ... starts to get his hopes up

A New Zealand Academy squad is to play in an Australian Emerging Players' tournament, starting July 4.

The squad is (bold is my emphasis):
Jacob Oram (captain), Graham Aldridge, Todd Astle, Shane Bond, Te Ahu Davis, Derek De Boorder, Peter Fulton, Bruce Martin, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Jesse Ryder, Hayden Shaw and Ross Taylor.

The focus of the tournament will be limited overs versions of the game with two teams from the Australian Institute of Sport and an Indian Academy team set to play the NZC side in Twenty/20 and one-day matches before each team plays a three-day match.

Zimbabwe and politics

The Green Party have spotted a way to get the New Zealand team out of the tour to Zimbabwe without penalty, but the Labour party isn't having a bar of it.

My feeling is that only an intervention from the New Zealand government will stop the tour. Without it, New Zealand Cricket will almost certainly go ahead with the tour, but will allow players to make their own decision about whether to go or not. And I think that New Zealand Cricket probably thinks this will turn out quite nicely for them. Senior players who probably need a rest and who are not worried about their place in the team will turn the tour down, but those players fighting for a place in the side will go. Given the state of the game in Zimbabwe, New Zealand Cricket may see this as a great opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talents and for the selectors to try a few new tricks without much chance of defeat. Given Stephen Fleming is one of those who will opt out of the tour, it will also give the selectors a chance to blood a potential replacement.

Frankly, while this kind of experimentation has its appeal in benefits for the future of the New Zealand game, it would ultimately be disappointing. Test cricket is the game's pinnacle and should always be played in the hardest possible way by the best players available.

West Indies vs South Africa

How much must last night's ODI loss have hurt the West Indies? Needing two runs to win (and one to tie) off the last four balls of the match and with three wickets in hand it seemed pretty simple. But three balls later Charl Langeveldt was celebrating a hat-trick and the West Indians were shaking their heads in disbelief.

A tasty quote

From Matthew Norman in a Sunday Telegraph review of a London restaurant:

"The entire notion of 'fusion' cooking belongs to that category of things - along with the England Test bowler Matthew Hoggard, and digital radio - that at first appear a complete waste of space, but gradually prove themselves a useful addition to human existence."

More Shoaib Akhtar quotes

Shoaib today admitted to be heart-broken and confused about his ommission from the Pakistan side. Confused? What is there to be confused about? Well:

"What puzzles me the most is that nobody is willing to tell me whether I have been dropped on fitness grounds or disciplinary reasons or for not appearing before PCB's medical commission to prove fitness."

What part of "Shoaib Akhtar was left out of the Pakistan squad for the tour of West Indies on disciplinary grounds" (his captain, Inzamam al-Haq, on 6 May) did Shoaib not understand?

Luckily for Shoaib it turns out that he has lots of fans around the world to make him feel better. "Internationally, I am tagged as a hard worker and someone who wants to perform and that's why people love me", he said. Hmmm. A much loved hard worker? Oh dear, no wonder Shoaib has complained about being confused.

Bangladesh vs England

There is an interesting interview with Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar in Cricinfo this week. Bangladesh are warming up for a tour of England and are currently having the better of a weak British Universities team at Fenners. I would love to see Bangladesh do well against England and Habibul certainly manages to say all the right things, but his side is ridiculously young (the keeper is only 16) and the coach appears to have his mind on other things. Still, Bashar is a solid performer and he has some talent in the side. If that talent can fulfill its potential then England might get just the kind of shake up they need before the Australians arrive.

Kevin Pietersen

England's new South African wonderboy, Kevin Pietersen, sure can talk. It's kind of refreshing to have a player around who doesn't speak in clichés, but I bet Graeme Smith, Ali Bacher and Graham Thorpe, to name three, weren't pleased to read this interview in the Independent.

Ben on ... another to watch out for

Craig McMillan has signed to play for Hampshire for a couple of months, starting from the end of May.

McMillan's test form has fallen away drastically recently, but I think he could still do very well at first class level.

Interestingly, McMillan will be leaving Hampshire in time for the series in Zimbabwe, so he clearly believes there is still a place for him in the Black Caps.

The Super Series

Just two New Zealanders - Dan Vettori and Brendon McCullum - made the shortlist of 39 players to compete against Australia in October's Super Series. The criteria for selection were:

- players' overall career records in both Test and ODI cricket
- their form in both Test and ODI cricket over the past 12 months
- their overall playing records against Australia and their performances against the world champion team in Australia
- players' positions in the LG ICC Rankings for both Test and ODI cricket
- the distinctive characteristics of the venues in Melbourne and Sydney which will host the games.

I guess at least one of those counted against each of Shane Bond, Jacob Oram and Stephen Fleming, but two is still a pretty pathetic effort. England, India and even crummy South Africa had seven players selected from each.

The complete list of players can be found here.

Scott Styris

As Ben has pointed out, Scott Styris has just taken his first ten wicket bag in first-class cricket - 10 for 118 - after taking 6 for 73 in the second innings for Middlesex against Hampshire. Styris promptly started making new friends by laying into the groundsman and calling the wicket "junk". Which, to be honest, it would have to be if he can take wickets on it.

Fleming upsets my new poll

Rattling up an undefeated 223 a few hours after my new poll was posted might have a some influence on the outcome. Of the other New Zealanders currently in play, Scott Styris scored 33 and has taken 5 wickets for Middlesex, Craig Spearman scored 73 for Glouscestershire and Andre Adams took 2-49 and scored 27 for Essex.

The saga continues

When your captain says you have a negative impact on the team then you know it's time to quit. Poor old Shoaib Akhtar doesn't seem to have any friends left.

Poll results and a new poll

My last poll asked you whether the New Zealand side should tour Zimbabwe in August. One of you thought we should - and that politics should be keep its nose out of sports. Another two of you agreed that we should tour - but only if Zimbabwe promise to keep being rubbish. Another five of you thought we should tour - because the ICC tells us we have to. Three of you said we should'nt tour - because we would be legitimising the reign of an evil dictator. And three of you said we shouldn't tour anywhere until we learn to play some decent cricket.

In total the Mike on Cricket crowd is 8-6 in favour of touring.

My new poll asks you which New Zealander playing in county cricket is going to have the best year. You have a few to choose from - but beware that Nathan Astle only has a month-long contract.

Getting rid of Lara

The editor of the Wisden Cricketer magazine, John Stern, has written an editorial asking the question, “would the West Indies be better off without Brian Lara in the side?”. It is an interesting thought, but a better one might be "how can Brian Lara be managed?" Lara is an exceptional talent as a batsman but, as Stern points out, his reputation intimidates the rest of the side. Lara also seems to be a very polarising individual and the impression from the last Windies tour here was that there are players who flock around him and try to mimic him, and those who don't and who are therefore on the social outer. As New Zealand fans will remembers from the early '90s, a side with cliques in it is not really much of a side at all.

Everyone who has played sport has played alongside a personality - someone who has talent to burn and a huge amount of influence. I can think of two I have played alongside - one I admired and the other I did not - and ultimately both were bad for the team. One because others resented his influence and the second because his bad behaviour rubbed off onto youngsters who envied his talent and wanted to be like him. Being able to incorporate such a player into any side requires people around him who have the influence, if not the talent, to keep hero worship, intimidation, jealousy, indulgent behaviour and egotism in check.

One thing I feel quite strongly about is that Brian Lara should not be captain of the West Indies. And neither should anyone else in his posse. What the Windies could do with is someone strong enough (or perhaps someone with the management support to help them be strong enough) and influential enough to take the reins, bang some heads, break up the cliques and make sure the side understands that Brian Lara is simply another player - albiet a senior player who has a good deal of knowledge to contribute to the side.

A quick end?

The end appears nigh for one of cricket's most entertaining dramas, Shoaib Akhtar. Despite a successful return from injury, he has not been selected in the Pakistan squad about to tour the West Indies. Shoaib is "very upset and disappointed" and, at 29, he can't have too many years of fast bowling left ahead of him.

Sledging

Derek Pringle, who I respect far more now that he is writing about cricket rather than playing it, has a very interesting article in the Telegraph about Australians and sledging. From what Pringle says it seems that coping abuse is a rite of passage for young Australian cricketers - a type of hazing - and Australian players' exposure to that from a young age might explain why they always act surprised when foreigners complain. I guess if you have survived the process yourself you might feel it is something that has made you harder and something that you have a right to put others through.

Glenn Turner

I have been thinking about Glenn Turner's announcement that he would like to be a national selector. The annoucement itself was all Glenn - few other New Zealanders broadcast their job applications via the media. Certainly none of the other applicants for the four spots on the selection panel have picked up the phone to tell all to the New Zealand Herald. This brashness and failure to work through the normal channels are the most obvious of Turner's quirks and, overall, they are things which should probably count against his appointment. But Turner is also a batsman, a perfectionist and an innovator.

Turner's best qualification probably is, as the Herald identifies, the fact that he was a batsman. Perhaps even more importantly he was an opening batsman who knew the importance of proper technique and practice. Having a batsman of his reputation in the New Zealand camp should be a great boost for the James Marshalls and Craig Cummings of the side, who would not doubt have been bemused to recieve pep talks on the subject of opening the batting against Australia from such unlikely sources as John Bracewell and Richard Hadlee. Experience is a great teacher and few have the experience at the top of the order that Glenn Turner has had.

Turner is also an innovator with an eye for detail - who can forget his use of a dustbin "umpire" in the nets to get Richard Hadlee to subtly change his approach to the bowling crease in Brisbane in 1985/86? Who can forget that Hadlee went out after that session and took 9-52?

While unconventional methods of communicating count against his appointment, Turner's perfectionism and experience still make him a good choice. If we could find another candidate with the same approach to batting, with similar experience at the top of the order and with a strong background in coaching - but without the baggage - we would be even better off. Does anyone come to mind? Someone who might have just returned from a long trip to somewhere slightly warmer than Darfield perhaps?

Ben on ... more on Styris' first innings back from injury (and the other guys)

Karl has already mentioned that Styris scored a fine 53 off 47 balls in his first innings for Middlesex. What he didn't mention is that the it included 13 4s. In contrast, Fleming hit only 17 4s (and a 6) in his innings of 111 off 107.

Adams by the way ended up with 2-52 in the first innings against Somerset and is currently 4-31 in the second, including a hat-trick!

(Spearman 35 off 85).

Ben on ... dressing Stephen Fleming

This dressable Stephen Fleming paper doll is one of the many highlights of Fun with Black Caps, quite the most delightful fan site created for any cricket team - or for anything at all, really - put together by Kit of Sydney, showing that not only are the Australians better cricketers than us, they are better fans of our own team.

(If only this Scott Styris fan could be as dedicated.)

Ben on ... drawing matches and losing respect

Shane Warne, captain of Hampshire who last year were deemed to be the least sportsmanlike team in the county league, has been involved in another sledging incident, during a game against Sussex, which despite all the aggro ended up a draw. It seems the Sussex captain Chris Adams was so appalled by Warne's attempts to humiliate his players that he has lost a lot of respect for Warne. In turn Warne was so annoyed by Adams' whinging that he has lost all respect for him.

As usual, there are no details on what was actually said on the field, so everyone involved ends up looking thin-skinned and petulant. If these players are so concerned about respect, perhaps someone whould release the onfield exhanges so we can tell just how worthy of respect these guys are.

Karl summarises the kiwis in action this week

In England this week, players in action are Stephen Fleming for Notts (v. Sussex), Craig Spearman for Gloucestershire (v. Kent) Andre Adams for Essex (v. Somerset) and Scott Styris for Middlesex (v. Warwickshire).

So far, Adams has 0-38 off 10 overs. Styris, in this first game so far, scored 53 off 47 balls. Fleming and Spearman haven't batted yet.

Shoaib

"I am astonished over the language used by Woolmer. I had thought of him as an intelligent person."

Aamir Sohail, chairman of the Pakistan side's national selection committee, in response to coach Bob Woolmer's claim that Shoaib Akhtar is "not an integral part of the team." He is not playing and his lips aren't even moving, but Akhtar somehow still manages to cause chaos in Pakistani cricket.

More on New Zealanders in the county game

Nathan Astle has just picked a short-term contract with Durham and will play for them during June, when Mike Hussey is unavailable due to his selection in the Australian one day side.

Meanwhile Stephen Fleming's first game for Nottinghamshire did not improve much after his first inning's duck. He only made 1 in the second dig and his decision not to enforce the follow-on when he had the chance gave Middlesex enough time in which to save the match. Andre Adams' Essex side had their match against Glamorgan rained out and Craig Spearman scored 16 in his Gloucestershire side's unsuccessful chase of Northamptonshire's total in a one-dayers at Bristol.

Fleming vs Styris

A poor start to the county season for both Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris as their sides clashed at Lord's yesterday. Styris hasn't recovered from knee surgery and failed to make the Middlesex starting line-up while Fleming made a four ball duck in Nottinghamshire's impressive score of 546. Craig Spearman's Glouscestershire's next first-class match is against Kent at Bristol beginning on the 27th of April, the same day that Andre Adams' Essex side take on Somerset at Taunton.

Making cheating illegal

Malcolm Speed has called on world governments to make cheating in sports illegal. This follows British gambling legislation which makes it illegal to rig the outcome of a game for profit. At first glance it seems a sensible suggestion, but in my view the borders between "rules" (such as the Laws of Cricket) and "laws" (such as the UK Gambling Act) should be kept as distant as possible.

Cricket is an international sport. And making laws which govern international contests raised interesting questions. Does the law change in the UK mean that an Indian cricketer touring England needs to be made aware of the Gambling Act? What if New Zealand passes a slightly different law? Do cricketers have to learn the relevant laws in all countries in which they play? What happens if the Indian cricketer breaks the Gambling Act while on tour in the UK but the crime isn't detected until after he leaves? It would be unlikely that he would be extradited so presumably he could just avoid touring England again to avoid being punished. And if this isn't the case then doesn't the law raise the spectre of double jeopardy? Could a player punished under the Gambling Act (with a fine presumably) argue that further punishment by the ICC or a cricket board would effectively mean he is being punished twice for the same offence? Dan might correct me, but my understanding is that this is not permissible in the eyes of the law. And could any punishment that the British courts impose be the equal of the life-ban from the game from the ICC?

To me, Speed's suggestion raises too many questions and doesn't appear to provide any deterrent that a life-ban from the ICC already provides. The only thing it does add is to legislate for non-cricketers (such as bookies who attempt to bribe cricketers) who are outside the jurisdiction of the ICC. I believe that for these persons national law would (and is) an appropriate forum for legislation. But the Laws of Cricket are international, have teeth and those teeth are used. Introduction of national laws will do little to prevent future corruption in the game.

New Zealanders in county cricket

According to Sporting Life the following New Zealanders are currently contracted to play in this year's county championship:

Andre Adams (Essex)
Scott Styris (Middlesex)
Stephen Fleming (Nottinghamshire)

Craig Spearman (Gloucestershire) is another, but he is not listed as he qualifies as a local. Under the new "Kolpak" system it is much easier for overseas players to obtain contracts, but it seems the counties are generally reluctant to start signing vast numbers of international stars. Apart from Australians that is - 14 Aussies have been snapped up despite the fact that the national team will be touring and will miss a big chunk of the season.

Interestingly both Adams and Spearman make Sporting Life's picks for players to watch this season.

Ben on ... further more ratings

Stuff has rated the Black Caps again, considering the whole of the summer post-Bangladesh. It is interesting to compare with their earlier ratings of just the home series against Australia.

Chris Martin, following his storming run against Sri Lanka (11 wickets in two tests, compared with 7 against Australia in five), raised his rating from a terrible 2.5 to a poor but not embarrassing 4.

Lou Vincent, not surprisingly, increased his rating by a point following the Sri Lanka series, as did Stephen Fleming.

The biggest loser, however, was Ian O'Brien. Given the benefit of the doubt after the Australian series with a pass mark of 5, after not being needed for the Sri Lanka series, his rating dropped to 3.

Spearman vs Moreton

This news is a couple of days' old, but I just noticed it. In a recent first-class match between Gloucestershire and Oxford University former New Zealand opener Craig Spearman struck 216 ("retired out") off only 168 balls. One poor unfortunate - a Mr SJP Moreton - making his debut for Oxford bowled one over in the match. The significant thing about this one over was that it was delivered to Spearman, who whacked it for 34 runs.

Not a bad start to the season for Spearman then. Andre Adams didn't do too badly in his first game for Essex either. He took 3-52 and 0-9 in a rain affected match against Yorkshire.

Where are the swing bowlers?

Evan Gray asks the question "where are the swing bowlers?" over at the TVNZ website and then refuses to tell us the answer. Miserable bastard.

The players' awards

The New Zealand Herald, always one to bury good news beneath bad, has stuck with its usual reporting policy by noting the fact that Daniel Vettori was the players' choice for player of the year in an article entitled "Facilities not good enough say players". Both pieces of news came from the New Zealand Cricket Players Association annual survey of players. Amongst other highlights of this survey were the voting of Brent Bowden as best umpire (which the Herald led into with "While players agree that umpiring standards need to be raised..."), Stephen Fleming best test batsman, Nathan Astle best one-day batsman, Hamish Marshall best fielder and Ross Taylor the best emerging player.

I guess the Herald just finds that bad news sells more papers. Perhaps we could take a similar line here at Mike on Cricket to raise our readership? Expect to see a series of articles coming soon with headings like "Kyle Mills - NOT voted cricketer of the year", "Nathan Astle makes a golden duck (and in other news New Zealand win by an innings)" and "Wellington lose State Championship final".

Karl marvels at a thrilling series

Six games. Pakistan won 4 games to India's 2. Pakistan scored 1685 runs (average: 281 per game) and lost 49 wickets. India scored 1558 runs (average 260 per game) and lost 49 wickets. Five innings totals were over 300 (with another at 298). The play from all players on both sides was marvellous and it was a thrilling contest up to the last match. The last match was an anti-climax though with the crowd throwing objects onto the pitch.

While India didn't win the series, John Wright finished his coaching stint with them on a high note, producing a thrilling competitive series.

Mr John Wright

The Telegraph of India has an interesting interview with John Wright on the eve of his retirement from coaching the Indian team. There are some interesting insights into his coaching style and the frustrations of coaching India. One insight I found particularly interesting was his hard attitude towards players in private ("having too many [support staff] around leads to too many shoulders to cry on") and how this contrasts with the unwavering support he gives them in public. Wrighty reveals that he is returning home to Christchurch to spend more time with his kids. I hope Martin Snedden has been in touch...

Karl on the Master of Chaos

Shahid Afridi on his way to the 2nd fastest ODI hundred - 102 runs, 9 sixes, 10 fours, 45 balls faced to get the century - as Pakistan beat India in the fifth ODI of their 6-match series. Afridi has scored the most sixes in ODIs. A comparison with number four on that list shows:
Afridi: 204 matches, 195 innings, 4523 runs, average of 24.31, 4 centuries, 203 sixes and a strike rate of 106.97
C. Cairns: 204 matches, 184 innings, 4767 runs, average of 29.42, 4 centuries, 147 sixes and a strike rate of 83.69

Reference.

Cricket ratings

The various ICC (previously PWC) rating systems have been updated in light of the recently completed test series. Unfortunately this isn't very exciting news. The main reason it isn't interesting is that the new ratings website is both boring and difficult to navigate. But don't worry, I have done the difficult work for you and found the ratings that matter. Not that they are that much more interesting. The team rating has barely changed and we remain ranked at 7th, above the West Indies and below South Africa. And there are no New Zealanders in either of the individual top 10s. Stephen Fleming is our top ranked batsman at 24th, and Daniel Vettori is our best ranked bowler at 18th. Chris Martin (23rd) and James Franklin (35th) are notable risers amongst the bowlers while Lou Vincent has rapidly climbed to 37th in the batting stakes, one place below Hamish Marshall.

Victory - and Lou Vincent put your bloody tongue away!

Poll results and a new poll

My last poll asked you to tell me which young New Zealand cricketers are destined to have long and profitable New Zealand careers. Jacob Oram received far and away the most votes with 11, while Hamish Marshall and Brendon McCullum followed on 9. It was a sharp drop back to James Franklin on 4 votes and Craig Cumming and James Marshall each received 2 votes. Only one person thought poor old Ian Butler has much in the way of prospects. How quickly figures of 6-46 against a strong Pakistan side are forgotten.

My new poll asks you to decide on that vexed area where sport and politics collide. Let me know whether the New Zealand side should tour Zimbabwe come August.

Ben on ... super 6s

From the Cricinfo bulletin for the third day's play:

...followed by a useful cameo from Mills, whose contribution included a six struck so sweetly off Malinga that it sailed down Wellington High Street, where it was fielded by a bemused shopper.

That is a mighty 6. High Street is in Island Bay, right down near the coast.

Money, money, money

In the Dominion Post Jonthan Millmow has started speculating about who might win a contract with New Zealand Cricket next season.

Series stats

Batting

Name - runs (ave)
L Vincent - 276 (92.00)
HJH Marshall - 172 (57.33)
SP Fleming - 145 (48.33)
NJ Astle - 133 (44.33)
JAH Marshall - 119 (39.66)
BB McCullum - 106 (35.33)
PJ Wiseman - 59 (29.50)
JEC Franklin - 77 (25.66)
CD Cumming - 75 (25.00)
KD Mills - 57 (19.00)
CS Martin - 9 (-)

Bowling

Name - wickets (ave)
NJ Astle - 7 (15.42)
CS Martin - 11 (21.54)
JEC Franklin - 9 (28.22)
KD Mills - 2 (71.50)
PJ Wiseman - 1 (215.00)

Victory at last

And it is one to be savoured too. Ignore the feeling that this is an end of season blip - that is just the timing talking. This is a comprehensive series victory over a good test side. The fact that it occured during a hurried, late season mongrel of a tour stuffed into the itinerary as a make-up and held during the middle of a week did not matter to the players involved. And those players all contributed - even Kyle Mills. Lou Vincent, Chris Martin and Jimmy Franklin all provided critical contributions but just as importantly they found support at the other end. Lou Vincent would never have reached 224 if it weren't for stolid batting from Franklin, Mills and Wiseman. Martin wouldn't have got 6 wickets in the first innings without pressure at the other end from Astle and Mills, and Franklin's incisive spell in the second innings could not have occurred without water-tight bowling from Astle, Mills and Wiseman. About the only player not to make a significant contribution was Hamish Marshall - and he probably deserved a break.

Matthew Maynard

Some of you who might recall Matthew Maynard's brilliant time with Northern Districts back in the early '90s might be interested in this tribute to him in the Guardian.

The class of the man is undeniable

1991 redux

Andrew McLean, perhaps overcome with pessimism in the face of such a strong New Zealand performance, is having flashbacks to 1990/91 when New Zealand saved a match against Sri Lanka in similar circumstances at the Basin. The Basin has a very different wicket nowadays however. If the southerly keeps refreshing the pitch I think Sri Lanka will be in for a very difficult struggle.

Day two continued

Its a conspiracy. I try to prepare you for the long, cricketless winter by easing off on the posting and the Sydney Morning Herald publishes a photo of Shane Warne with a ciggie in his mouth and his trousers around his ankles. Not only that, but the New Zealand Herald reveals a plot by New Zealand Cricket to keep Sonny Shaw (flag-waving cricket fan and convicted sex offender) out of shot AND publishes an article by Richard Boock which gets stuck into Stephen Fleming's captaincy.

Day two

You are getting a real cheat today. All I am offering you is this link to Andrew McLean's article on Lou Vincent. I'm not even going to add a hint of mocking or outrage to it. No commentary whatsoever. And not even a hint of a critique. Just the link. Slack I know. But what are you going to do about it?

Day one

A couple of stories from the first day's play. Firstly Daryl Hair has refused New Zealand requests to wear white trousers or at least drape something down his front. New Zealand batsmen have said that they have had problems because Malinga's arm comes down directly infront of the umpire and the ball disappears as it merges into the black of the umpire's trousers. Good old Daryl. Always keen to put himself first.

And secondly, Andrew McLean has passed verdict on Chris Martin's excellent performance yesterday.

Flem gets angry

One of the more interesting aspects of yesterday's play was the bollocking Stephen Fleming gave his entire team very early in the day's play. It worked, but I was left wondering whether it was an inspired piece of captaincy or simply frustration boiling over.

Beefy and Lamby

Alex has kindly forwarded me this link to show us what happens to players once they stop getting paid to hit a ball about.

Karl thinks about ... cricket, politics and politicising cricket

While New Zealand cricket is avoiding the political/governance problems afflicting other associations at the moment, it's starting to face a Political dilemma - Zimbabwe: tour or not tour?

The Listener has a useful introduction to the issue. It's a tough issue that will be made harder for the Black Caps by the tour taking place close to the New Zealand election, making this too juicy an issue for politicians to steer clear of.

In discussing the ability of players to make a moral stand and not tour, Ian Smith in the Listener article says that there are only four players who could not tour and still be guaranteed a place in the side: Fleming, H Marshall, McCullum and Vettori. For the rest of the players this will be a tough time, especially following the recent elections in Zimbabwe which indicate no letup by the Mugabe regime in its way of governing.

The Greens have written to all 25 squad members to stay home. If the team didn't tour, New Zealand would face a financial penalty - if the Government thinks they shouldn't (and the NZ Goivernment is staying at arms-length from this at the moment) then should they pay the fine?

Day five and the end of the domestic season

Well, we survived the final day and the draw lost some of its snore factor thanks to New Zealand's attempt to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Meanwhile Auckland took away the State Championship after smacking Wellington around on the outer oval at Eden Park. This was slightly surprising given that Auckland spent most of the competition with only one batsman.

The end of the domestic season gives us a chance to look at the form of individual players. The batting averages show that only two batsmen scored over 500 runs and averaged over 50 - Lou Vincent (563 at 112.60) and Peter Fulton (828 runs at 69.00). Promising players like Jamie How, Jesse Ryder, Craig Cumming, Jarrod Engelfield and Ross Taylor all had solid seasons without really setting the world on fire and their averages merely sat alongside those of reliable, older players like the Parlane brothers and Gary Stead rather than outstripping them.

The bowling averages saw a whole crop of players taking 20 or 30 wickets at an average of under 25. The problem is trying to work out which of those bowlers took their wickets through skill and pace or spin. I mean, what can we learn from the figures of the reasonably unknown Warren McSkimming (25 wickets at 22.88) when we also see that Tama Canning took 27 wickets at 23.85 with his military medium seamers? Not a lot. Two bowlers which do stand out from the masses were James Franklin (23 wickets at 14.13) and Paul Wiseman (35 wickets at 15.11).

So. Onto Wellington we go and the last match of the season. And if the forecast is right, then there might be even less than five days of cricket left before the long, dark of winter takes hold.

Day four

Why is it that whenever New Zealand reaches the end of a snore draw we crumble? For as long as I have watched cricket we have either spent the last day of a draw struggling to 164/7 or letting the opposition blast their way to 203/0. At this stage, 64/2 could easily turn into another of those 164/7-type scores.

Having said that, some people seem to think that a snore draw with New Zealand struggling to 164/7 would be a good result for the Black Caps. Cricket Australia, who have some insight into our ability to dramatically collapse, headline their coverage of day four with Black Caps not safe yet.

It was nice to see Martin and Franklin get some wickets yesterday, and to see them both getting the ball to reverse swing. It was less nice to see Craig Cumming dismissed lbw again. The Australians picked that he has a tendency to tuck his bat behind his pad and got him that way, and the Sri Lankans appear to be quick learners.

Adam Gilchrist in knickerbockers

According to the Sydney Morning Herald the Boston Red Sox have been trying to persuade Adam Gilchrist to take up baseball. Ian Chappell (a former Australian representative baseballer as well as captain of the Australian cricket team) thinks Gilchrist hasn't got the fielding skills to make it and the man himself doesn't seem to show any kind of interest, but it is an interesting development nonetheless. The same article mentions that the Arizona Diamondbacks (whoever they are) once approached Brett Lee along similar lines.

Hmmm, I smell an idea for finally breaking the Australian team's dominance over the red ball game...

A new Wisden

The new Wisden has been released. This isn't awfully exciting news on this side of the world, but it is probably more interesting than the test match at this stage. One interesting feature of the new edition is that every single one of the "five players of the year" is an Englishman. This seems totally outrageous until you consider that the awards are judged on their influence on the previous "English summer" rather than on world cricket. If you recall, England spent the previous summer thrashing a hapless New Zealand side and there was therefore not much competition for places in the top five from players who live outside England.

One of the more unlikely winners of the player of the year award is Ashley Giles. And it is depressing to read the summary of his season to see that he was struggling for form, being smashed around by the New Zealanders and on the verge of being dropped when something happened to completely change his season:

"Still bowling that negative stuff over the wicket?" goaded [Scott] Styris upon his arrival at the crease. Giles stayed over the wicket, yielded nothing and soon had Styris snaffled at silly point in a spell that ensured his survival as a Test cricketer.

With his confidence back, Giles took six wickets in the next match and scored 81 match-winning runs. Gee. I didn't think there was much else I could blame Scott for, but I was wrong.

Wisden's list of the world's top forty cricketers in 2004 also makes for some heart-breaking reading. Two New Zealanders are on the list. Stephen Fleming is one with the comment that while his captaincy skills seemed to have lost their sheen, his batting form was superlative. The other New Zealander is the crocked Jacob Oram.

New Zealand managed to have two of the world's top forty cricketers in 2003 (when it was Fleming and Richardson) and 2004. At this stage only Hamish Marshall looks to have any chance of making the 2005 list.

Day two

The press, and even the players, are already writing off this test as a snore draw. But we can already reflect on some very positive aspects of the match. Hamish Marshall for one. Jimmy Franklin finally showing us he can bat for two. And Nathan Astle soldiering on for three. Brendon McCullum's 99, like all 99s, is in the too tragic to be positive, too positive to be tragic category.

Marshall's development has, as I have said before, been the revelation of the summer. I still worry that it could be a flash in the pan - a repetition of the early stages in the careers of players like Mark Greatbatch or Lou Vincent - but Marshall's technique is built on such simple methods that you would hope that the vagaries of form will have less effect than it would on other players.

Day one

The Marshall twins may have put on a century partnership and Hamish Marshall may well have scored his second test century, but the New Zealand media has mostly been focussed on the bowling action of Lasith Malinga. A good start to the match nonetheless.

Napier test preview

Cricinfo have published some stats to cheer us up before the first test. The numbers game column has analysed New Zealand second innings scores and has unsurprisingly concluded that we are rubbish in the second dig - averaging less than half our first innings score in games since 2003. And if you scroll down to the bottom of this article you will also find another disturbing set of statistics, in ODIs since 2003 New Zealand has a) scored less runs in the last 10 overs than any of the other major sides and b) scored less runs overall than any of the other major sides. Not that this really belongs in a test preview, but it is disturbing news nonetheless.

Having cheered us up with that kind of analysis, Cricinfo has then published a preview which cheerfully points out all the holes in the side - no top order, no bowlers, that kind of thing. They also tell us the exciting news that Ian O'Brien has been made 12th man, meaning Kyle Mills' dismal performances in Australia earlier this season have been rewarded with another test cap.

The media does have some good news for you though, the weather. Sunny, warm and scheduled to stay that way. And despite all the other doom and gloom, I am feeling kinda upbeat. This could be a good contest. Sri Lanka have some brilliant batsmen, but swing and seam could be their undoing. And while Chaminda Vaas is always a handful on greenish wickets, the rest of the bowling line-up is not going to send shivers through New Zealand spines.

Its like a Russian novel and the ball is made of wood

Americans try to get to grip with cricket again. I don't know where the hell they got the idea that the game is played with wooden balls.

Player of the year

Dan Vettori came away with the plaudits at the New Zealand Cricket awards ceremony last night. By taking 42 wickets at 27.78 in test cricket this season without much support he won both player of the year and the Winsor Cup for bowler of the year. By my calculations Vettori also scored 365 test runs at 33.18, which must put him up amongst our better performed batsmen after consistently dismal performances at the top of the order. One batsman who did perform was Hamish Marshall, who ended the season with 378 test runs at 54.00 and who took the Redpath Cup for batsman of the year. Vettori and Marshall also took the awards for bowling and batting in ODIs.

English on Italian

Peter English, has written a profile of Daniel Vettori for Baggy Green in which he calls for Dan's selection in the World XI matches against Australia and slams the rest of the New Zealand attack.

More ratings

Stuff.co.nz has published its own ratings for members of the New Zealand team in the recent series. They were somewhat more generous than Cricinfo, but not overly so.

Mills in, Vettori out

What? According to this story Kyle Mills has replaced Dan Vettori in the team to face Sri Lanka in both tests of the upcoming series. Surely there must have been someone else they could have called up? I can understand the logic of picking a pace man to replace Vettori with the wickets at Napier and the Basin likely to be greenish and with the Sri Lankan batting line-up being somewhat less experienced against seam bowling, but Kyle Mills?

Player ratings

A new feature over at Cricinfo is the publication of player ratings at the end of a series. Each player who contributed is marked out of 10 and a justification for that rating is given. Peter English has been given the task for the New Zealand vs Australia series and he has been very harsh, but fair. Of the New Zealanders only Dan Vettori (8), Hamish Marshall (7.5), Nathan Astle (6.5) and James Franklin (6) received a rating higher than 5, but Franklin can count himself a better performer than Jason Gillespie (5.5), Michael Kasprowicz (5.5), Matthew Hayden (4) and Michael Clarke (3). Sitting equal and below Clarke were Stephen Fleming (3), Ian O'Brien (3), Chris Martin (2), James Marshall (2), Paul Wiseman (2) and Craig McMillan (1 - ouch!). I feel a little sorry for James Marshall and Paul Wiseman - who both managed at least one average score with the bat in the only test they played along with one piece of brilliance (Marshall's run-out of Clarke and Wiseman's ball to bowl Martyn).

Changes to Mike on Cricket

Some of you might already have noticed that a recent post was made by someone other than me. Mike on Cricket is now accepting pieces from guest bloggers and three new contributors have been welcomed aboard. They are Karl, Ben and Dan. Please make them feel welcome. If you would like to become a contributor to Mike on Cricket please get in touch.

Injury update

New Zealand Cricket has issued an update on the fitness of injuried New Zealand players. Sadly Shane Bond's return is still scheduled for Zimbabwe in August and not Sri Lanka on Monday.

Karl thinks ... there are a couple of positives from the Aussie series

I'm taking a couple of positives from the recently concluded series against Australia (desperately trying to look for positives). There's also a couple of negatives.

Firstly, the negatives.
I'm worried about how we overwork one or two key players. Daniel Vettori couldn't walk the morning of the first test, and yet shouldered a huge burden throughout the series. Nathan Astle has recently come back from injury - a message sent out when he was looking at a comeback was that to protect his body he would be taking a minimal bowling workload in future. The third test showed that he is considered a third seamer and had to shoulder a heavy workload accordingly. Two of our few world class players are being overworked and I think there's a large risk they'll be back on the sidelines with Jacob Oram and Scott Styris.
From the one-day series - there were nothing but negatives. Five matches, seventeen players used. To my mind only Hamish Marshall redeemed himself, although Craig McMillan started to look good and played more maturely than he has for a while.

The positives.
Going into the test series with Sri Lanka, there is the post-Australia effect, documented recently on CricInfo.

In the tests, my main positives were the play of Daniel Vettori, Hamish Marshall, Nathan Astle and, to a lesser extent, James Franklin.
Daniel Vettori is just pure class. While he didn't take many wickets, he still genuinely troubled the Australian batsman and showed he's a handy batsman. His back is of real concern, especially with his admission he couldn't walk the morning of the first test - see http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10115682
Hamish Marshall showed he's a good back-foot player with great timing.
Nathan Astle batted himself back into some good form and was probably the most consistent of the batsman. He also bowled well in the third test - I just hope it doesn't impact on him physically.
James Franklin matured a lot in the series. After the mauling he received over in Australia pre-Christmas, he could've been expected to go to pieces. Instead, he ends the series with his best figures yet, with a useful 6 wicket bag and starting to trouble the batsman.

End of the series

Sometimes I hate cricket. No. Sometimes I loathe cricket. Watching a depressingly predictable end to a depressingly predictable test was one such moment. It was so fittingly apt that the series would end with Ricky Ponting tearing the New Zealand bowling to shreds, getting a reprieve when blatantly LBW and then smashing the winning runs two balls later before celebrating with one of those arm pumping, screaming pieces of hubris that only Australians seem to get away with. It is easy to see what there is to hate about such moments.

But. And this "but" requires you to forget the current series completely. But there is one positive aspect of the series that I want you to reflect on. It is that we are not due to play the Australians again for bloody ages. According to Cricinfo a tour of Australia is scheduled for November 2006, but I suspect that this is just for the annual ODI series we set-up last year. As far as I can work our the next test series will not be until 2008/9. No wonder Stephen Fleming saw this series as his test farewell to Australia. And it won't just be Fleming who will not be around next time. In 2008 Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne will be 39. Adam Gilchrist will be 37. In fact of the Australian team who just thrashed us so badly, only Ricky Ponting (34) and Michael Clarke (27) are still likely to be playing.

Third day summary

I was so depressed by the failure of our openers in the closing stages of yesterday that I forgot the positive things that we saw earlier in the day. Andrew McLean did not forget and has written a good summary covering James Franklin's bowling and Stephen Fleming's captaincy.