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Matthew Sinclair - Source: Photosport -
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For a team that has hardly covered itself in glory recently, the Black Caps have surprisingly few selection headaches as they prepare to name their first Test squad of the summer on Friday afternoon.
Perhaps it's a measure of the lack of depth in New Zealand cricket, or a newfound desire for continuity in selection, but the only two spots that should cause prolongued chin-scratching and heated debate among selectors are numbers five and six in the batting order.
Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn will all have their names read out at the top of the order - although the latter pair won't want too many more failures next to their name.
Shane Bond's comeback continues to gather steam and, assuming he emerges from Canterbury's Plunket Shield game unscathed, he should be selected to partner incumbents Chris Martin and Iain O'Brien in a three-pronged pace attack.
Keeper Brendon McCullum and skipper Dan Vettori will fill the number seven and eight spots respectively.
This leaves the selectors looking for one more batsman and one all-rounder. The latter looks like a toss-up between James Franklin and Grant Elliot, but the tough question is, who will fill the gaping hole left by the injured Jesse Ryder?
It's a nod to Ryder's influence that after just 11 Tests he is considered a vital cog in the batting order. Many times already he has been sent in to perform repair jobs, and stuck to the task admirably.
And while no immediate replacement will spring into the selectors' minds, the usual candidates - and a few fresh faces - are putting their hands up.
Matthew Sinclair
The Central Districts veteran simply refuses to stop scoring runs. Has had more "last chances" than a naughty schoolboy, but a big hundred and a 93 in two domestic matches have thrust his name into the reckoning once again. The risk with Sinclair is that he often forgets how to use his feet at Test level; the reward is that when he scores, he scores big.
Neil Broom
A logical candidate rather than a compelling one, Broom has been part of the ODI setup for the best part of a year. Although he has yet to set the world on fire at international level, he has the temperament and the record to suggest he could be suited to Test cricket, and knows every blade of grass at Dunedin's University Oval. Middling ODI form is likely to count against him, though.
Peter Fulton
Like Sinclair, he has endured a stop-start Test career, with just one appearance in the past two years and footwork largely to blame for his lack of success. But like Sinclair, he has the pedigree to succeed and is in sizzling form, scoring 249 runs in his two knocks against Otago this week. At 30, he is entering his prime as a batsman but needs to cling onto the next lifeline he's thrown.
BJ Watling
The South African-born opener got his first taste of international cricket during the Black Caps' tour to the Middle East. Don't be fooled by his middling first class stats - those who have followed him closely speak highly of his grit and determination at the top of the order. Picking Watling would mean shifting Guptill to 3 and Flynn to 4, but that move may already be in the selectors' long term plans.
Cameron Merchant
If they're going to pick a bolter, the selectors could do a lot worse than to plump for the 25-year-old Wellington dasher, who has fair exploded out of the gates this summer with scores of 99 and 108 in his first two matches. An unflappable character and consummate team man, he's probably too green for a call-up just yet but his time may come.
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Post new commentrupertnz said on 2010-01-25 @ 20:48 NZDT: Report abusive post
They are OBVIOUSLY not picking on form...Vincent, Styris...what more do they have to do? i do not rate Any Mckay at all...poor selection! Finally they picked Peter Ingram!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!