In a slump

Australia's head of selectors, Allan Border, has openly discussed dropping Matthew Hayden from at least the first part of the tour to New Zealand. I am not sure whether this is good news for New Zealand or bad. Hayden is in shocking form and if his slump continues then the New Zealanders would love to see him at the top of the order. On the other hand, if he came out of the slump and returned to his bullying best then he could destroy an attack without Shane Bond or Daniel Vettori.

The other consideration in this equation is who might replace Hayden if he is dropped. And that is where New Zealand hopes take a little bit of a dive, because it is likely to be Michael "Australian cricketer of the year" Clarke.