New Zealand’s selectors, tired of potential being unrealised in One-Day Internationals, have thrown down the gauntlet to players wanting to be part of the 2003 World Cup campaign today
Lynn McConnell20-Aug-2001New Zealand’s selectors, tired of potential being unrealised in One-Day Internationals, have thrown down the gauntlet to players wanting to be part of the 2003 World Cup campaign today.Only 12 players have been named for the one-day side to Pakistan, with two more to be added by the end of the month.The 12 selected were:Stephen Fleming (c) (Wellington), Nathan Astle (Canterbury), James Franklin (Wellington), Chris Harris (Canterbury), Craig McMillan (Canterbury), Kyle Mills (Auckland), Dion Nash (Auckland), Jacob Oram (Central Districts), Mathew Sinclair (Central Districts), Daryl Tuffey (Northern Districts), Daniel Vettori (Northern Districts) and Lou Vincent (Auckland).Notable absences from the side are wicket-keeper Adam Parore and off-spinner Grant Bradburn.They have not been excluded from consideration but if players with the New Zealand A team in India for the Buchi Babu tournament can come up with the required performances, Parore and Bradburn may be left out.Selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee said, “We are not happy with the team and individual performances in Sri Lanka. We were in a position to win at least four games, and possibly five.”We expect more from our senior players.”If performances were not forthcoming in the near future some players may want to rethink their futures in the game, he added.Hadlee said Parore was without doubt New Zealand’s best ‘keeper and had given tremendous value to New Zealand over the last 10 or 11 years, but it was necessary to start looking ahead.The selectors also had to look at his workload.”He has been remarkably injury free over all that time and we can’t expect him to play in every one-day game, in every Test match and in every tour game.”He has got to have some breaks.”Disappointed as he may be, we have got to look after his career longevity,” Hadlee said.Holding two positions open added more sting to the performances of the A team and would allow for a fine tuning of the balance of the side.Hadlee said that incoming coach Denis Aberhart would have a game plan that he wanted to employ and the selectors would be looking to select a team to fulfil that plan.Aberhart reiterated the comments of previous coaches that it was up to individuals to provide the performances and he would be looking to work with them to achieve that.Having the killer instinct was about desire and having the mental attitude to compete.”Some are born with it, some aren’t. I want to make sure that everyone buys into it,” he said.Hadlee said there was concern about the failure to develop a bowling strategy at the death in games.The selectors had indicated their thoughts on that to the team management and have said that they would like to see Tuffey, especially, bowl more often at the death.”A key focus for us is the World Cup in 2003. We want to be fully prepared for that and the ideal situation for us would be to have 20-25 players to select from.”There are enough One-Day Internationals and tournaments over the next 18 months for us to look at various combinations. We want to have pressure for places because if there is competition the level of play will increase,” he said.”The players should make it as easy as possible for us by performing,” he said.Hadlee said the call was tough on Bradburn and was not necessarily a reflection on his performance in Sri Lanka as he had only bowled two overs in the one game he played. The selectors wanted to reconsider the composition of the side, he said.The retention of Franklin, who did not get a game at all in Sri Lanka, was to provide the option of a left-arm pace bowler to the tour selectors.There was no clear indication on what would happen at the top of the order as much would depend on the two players called into the team.If Chris Nevin could show the sort of form the selectors were looking for, especially with the bat, then he was likely to be the preferred choice.There was still the option of continuing to open with Sinclair, who had scored two centuries in Sharjah earlier in the year.Hadlee said there had also been an indication from captain Fleming that Vincent might be considered as an opening choice.Selector Brian McKechnie said New Zealand’s most successful ODI batsman Astle was a player who thrived on being able to keep the strike and other players used had not been able to get it to him often enough.