Overcoming the disappointment of their early exit from the World Cup and switching back into Test mode will be the key to New Zealand’s hopes of holding their Test ranking of No 3 in the world in their forthcoming Test series with Sri Lanka
Lynn McConnell09-Apr-2003Overcoming the disappointment of their early exit from the World Cup and switching back into Test mode will be the key to New Zealand’s hopes of holding their Test ranking of No 3 in the world in their forthcoming Test series with Sri Lanka.The side leaves for the Test leg of the series next week, and will be going without stalwarts Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan and Chris Cairns. Astle is having surgery on a long-standing knee problem, McMillan has been dropped for this tour and Cairns is available only for the One-Day International tri-series after the Test matches.That third ranking is important to the Kiwis, it is not a position that has often been their property in the past, even in the unofficial rankings before the implementation of the ICC Test Championship.”Everyone else refers to it so we have to and we want to hold onto the third position which I think we have deserved over the last two years,” New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming says.With all the emphasis on one-day cricket this summer in preparation for the World Cup, New Zealand has been starved of Test action, playing only two Tests over the summer.That has made life tough for Test match specialists like opener Mark Richardson who only really picked up his best batting form in the latter stages of the domestic season, this despite playing some key innings in the Test series victory over India.Fleming said there would be no problem getting prepared for the Sri Lankan series after the disappointments of the World Cup.Just like falling off a horse really, the best medicine is to get straight back on.”There was a disappointing feeling after the Cup but the best medicine is to get back into it straight away. The challenge of the Tests is what I am looking forward to in Sri Lanka,” he said.Fleming enjoys touring Sri Lanka and recalls the success he had during the last Test tour when hitting his highest Test score of 174 not out.”Winning the first Test is crucial in a two-Test series and we will have to go hard for that.”We will have to soak up the pressure in their conditions and they will be very tough Tests,” he said.The Test series is an important one for many reasons. New Zealand has a winter off this year, but once the summer of 2003/04 starts it is all on in a big way.It has a tour to India and then the two home series against Pakistan and South Africa before a tour to England. Somewhere along the way the missing Test against Pakistan from that disrupted by the bomb which forced New Zealand home from Karachi last may has to be fitted into the calendar as well.Depth is lacking in some areas, especially the opening role and also in spinning. The spinning lack is probably the longest-standing problem in the New Zealand game. From the days through the 1970s and 1980s, when every New Zealand province had at least one quality spinner, the situation has deteriorated badly.Various methods have already been tried to improve the situation and another is to be tried on this tour with two promising young spinners, left-armer Bruce Martin and off-spinner Jeetan Patel being taken along for the ride to get some exposure to the international scene, and no doubt to do a lot of bowling in the nets.Their involvement is seen as part of a longer-term initiative, the finer points of which are still to be worked out.Off-spinner Paul Wiseman has been included for the tour despite some unconvincing performances in the New Zealand domestic season.But Fleming says Wiseman has experience of Sri Lankan conditions and he expects him to relish the opportunity the tour provides to shore up the spin-bowling options in the New Zealand side. He does come off some lengthy match bowling having sent down 63.2 overs in Canterbury’s last State Championship match against Central Districts this year. His reward was one wicket for 165 runs.Adding to the concern in the spin department is the relative lack of use of key spinner, left-armer Daniel Vettori.He had been hamstrung by the pitches that have been provided in New Zealand over the last summer, and on the portable pitches in the first and third Tests against England last summer.While Fleming looked to attack with him as often as possible, it was a fact that the wickets the side had been playing on had not allowed the opportunities.”You have to keep looking at the wickets, and the figures of the domestic cricketers are just the same.”The return of Matt Horne should strengthen the batting options at the top of the order while Fleming’s Wellington team-mate Richard Jones should bring a strength of attitude when he gets the chance.Going on tour without the support in talent and experience that Astle, McMillan and Cairns offered him did make for tougher going for Fleming but he said their absence provided chances for Horne, Mathew Sinclair and Jones.The extra responsibility that will go on Fleming would be significant and his recent run of form could be just what he needs to set the pace from the front. He has been happy with his form of late, and there has been a sense of reward for the work he has put in. But there is still more he wants to do, and that has to be encouraging.The tri-series with Sri Lanka and Pakistan will offer more opportunities for New Zealand to address their shortcomings in the one-day game.Fleming commented that it is the lack of opportunity for the one-day side to play together, with all its key performance elements, as often as possible that has been one of reasons for the side not achieving a level of consistent success since he has been captain.There was also a need for a greater understanding of the game and learning to apply the lessons of defeat at the right time when opportunities arose.Chopping and changing of players, especially in the twin areas of concern, opening the batting and the bowling at the death, had not helped this development.On this occasion Chris Nevin, a controversial omission from the World Cup team as an opening batsman, had the chance to stake a more permanent claim in the side while Horne was another who had plenty to offer.The problem with settling the issue of bowling at the death was that it was really a skill that was acquired as the result of experience at bowling in tight situations.Shane Bond still represented a chance in that role, although he had been used in the World Cup to try and polish off sides earlier. But Daryl Tuffey, Andre Adams and Ian Butler were others who could have a role to play.There are still plenty of questions to be asked, and answered, for the New Zealanders but Sri Lanka represents a significant opportunity for some players, and the success of the tour may depend on how well they take them.