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After what seems like an eternity, attention will switch
back to test cricket when the New Zealand selectors today name
a team likely to contain at least one new cap for the one-off
test against Bangladesh.
First-class cricket has been in recess since December,
meaning the selection panel of Glenn Turner, captain Dan
Vettori and new coach Mark Greatbatch has to put aside the
surfeit of domestic Twenty20 and one-day matches played in
the intervening period.
Greatbatch admitted the selectors' job had been complicated
by the domestic Twenty20 competition played throughout
January.
"It is not ideal scheduling but we cannot do anything about
that," he said.
"We had the test series against Pakistan earlier in the
season and the basis of the side will come from that. There
may be a couple of surprises."
The panel intend choosing a 13-man squad for the test, which
starts in Hamilton on Monday, meaning at least one new cap
and possibly more will feature as they seek to fill two holes
left by retirement and injury.
Out of the reckoning from the side which drew the third test
against Pakistan in Napier before Christmas are fast bowler
Iain O'Brien, who has retired, and batsman Grant Elliott, who
remains unavailable due to a knee injury.
Elliott was the 12th man in Napier, when Vettori moved up the
order to fill a specialist role at No 6. Vettori marked the
occasion by scoring 134, and there is no reason to suggest he
will not continue to fill the allrounder's brief.
While one-day newcomer Andy McKay looms as a potential
replacement for O'Brien, given the positive impression he has
made since joining that squad a week ago, Elliott's position
and possibly that of No 5 batsman Daniel Flynn are up for
grabs.
Flynn is vulnerable, having not cemented his position and
averaging just 28.70 after 16 tests, although the selectors
may want to persevere with him at No 5 after most of his
tests saw him in the taxing No 3 position.
A readymade replacement or a new addition could be found in
Otago's Neil Broom, who hit 566 runs at an average of 94.33,
including three centuries, during the pre-Christmas Plunket
Shield programme.
Into his eighth season at first-class level, Broom, 26, has
served his apprenticeship, averaging close to 43 with eight
centuries to his credit.
Another name likely to at least be tossed about in
deliberations is that of teenager Kane Williamson, who
impressed knowledgeable observers by scoring in excess of 800
runs at slightly more than 50 an innings in his first full
season for Northern Districts in 2008-09.
The 19-year-old hit a dry patch in the Plunket Shield
competition at the start of the summer but has since regained
his form and confidence in the one-day arena, with two
centuries and more than 300 runs this side of the New Year.
Also in Williamson's favour is his ability to offer overs of
offspin, which could be handy if the New Zealanders continue
to operate a three-pronged pace attack complemented by
Vettori's left-arm spin.
Possible squad: Dan Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, BJ
Watling, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, Brendon
McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Andy McKay, Chris
Martin, Jeetan Patel, Kane Williamson.
