CRICKET - Let Southee put focus on tests: coach

Northern Districts coach Grant Bradburn believes Northland cricketer of the year Tim Southee should be given time to develop at test level before the shorter forms of the game.
Bradburn said talent as genuine as Southee's needed to be nurtured and the cycle of promotion and demotion into the squad ran the risk of messing with a young player's head.
"I certainly hope that they put faith in Tim as a test bowler, I'd like to see him get the chance to learn his trade at test level and become a permanent fixture [in the team]," he said.
"He's a wonderful prospect for us, long-term, but my hope is that he'll get to learn his trade at the test level for a while, without being exposed to the one-day game or Twenty20 too much."
Bradburn believed Southee would become a great one-day and Twenty20 bowler - but it would take time.
"At the end of the day, he's just a kid learning his trade and it would be fantastic to allow him the freedom to do that at test level for a while until he gains the confidence to transfer those skills into the shorter version of the game," Bradburn said.
Southee, for his part, was just pleased to have some cricket after the domestic first-class season finished for Northern Districts in Whangarei this week.
"It's a good way to end the season for me with the call-up, it lets you know you're not out of the loop and I'll be trying to get some bowling under my belt and hopefully pick up a few wickets on the way," he said.
He was aware that if he started in today's test at the Basin Reserve, in Wellington, he would have to be disciplined against a gifted Indian batting line-up.
Southee has played only four tests but after picking up five wickets in the State Championship against Canterbury and three vital wickets in the victory over Wellington this week, he has made some adjustments his game that are needed for test cricket.
"I guess, for me, the main thing is discipline, I've got to hit my areas and be happy with bowling dots and wait for the batter to come into your areas," he said.
Tempting the Indians into making mistakes won't be easy but that's his job. The 20-year-old said his State Championship commitments for Northern Districts kept him from watching the first two tests but he had seen a bit in the daily highlights packages on television.
"I haven't really seen a lot of them bat, although I saw a bit of them in the one-dayers. But hopefully the side will go well and, if I get a crack, I hope I'll do the same."