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Brendon McCullum. Photo / Getty Images

The decision by stand-in captain Brendon McCullum to bat at No3 or No4 in the recent one-day series against Zimbabwe seems odd but magnanimous.

Martin Guptill is ensconced at the top but the recent order, with Rob Nicol opening, has surprised.

Perhaps it has been a ploy to get Nicol into form ahead of the limited overs matches against South Africa, given he opens in the shorter formats for Canterbury. However, McCullum was also first drop in 50-over matches away in Zimbabwe last year so the role may have more permanence.

New Zealand coach John Wright is understood to endorse the theory of playing your best batsman at three in cricket's shorter forms. It means they're out to the crease early but protected (to a limited degree anyway) from the perils of the new ball. McCullum presumably agrees but it seems strange he would choose not to open, given it is a role he has long coveted in all forms of the game.

Surely McCullum, New Zealand's most senior limited overs batsman, needs to be at his bristling, aggressive best facing the first ball when the Proteas arrive.

Psychologically, it could give New Zealand an edge with McCullum's ethos based on fearless leadership from the front, regardless of whether he succeeds.

The Zimbabwe series has clouded the evidence. It made little difference where McCullum, Guptill or Nicol batted against their weak attack but South Africa have arguably the strongest bowling arsenal in the game. Against Zimbabwe's military medium pace, the New Zealanders have been willing to plant a foot outside the off stump and hit through the line to the deep mid-wicket boundary. It will be a brave man who attempts that against Dale Steyn et al.

In fact, it is hard to base anything on the statistics from New Zealand's last six One-Day Internationals, all against Zimbabwe. They are flattering to say the least. Nicol averages 67.6 from those six matches and Guptill 74.33. Their average opening partnership is 97.4, as it should be. If they could maintain those records against South Africa, the pair would be the toast of the summer. Yet optimism is justifiably high after Guptill and Nicol also topped the HRV Cup MVP tables.

However, the reality is that the intensity level will go up several notches against South Africa and it may be better not to expose Nicol to that as an opener when McCullum has the experience.

So it would surely be better to open with Guptill and McCullum and play Nicol at three. He is believed to be comfortable batting there because he is desperate to play for New Zealand - and because it will surely be better to have McCullum blasting away and possibly unsettling dangerous opposition. Even if McCullum was to go early, Nicol has the technical ability to stay at the crease and push the ones and twos around.

He is already considered a middle order player in the Twenty20s, judging by McCullum donning the pads first in the most recent matches in Zimbabwe. It is not a complicated change to make.

The return of Jesse Ryder - presumably against South Africa with Ross Taylor and Dean Brownlie still injured - poses a further conundrum.

Nicol and Guptill must be favourites to continue opening but Ryder and McCullum have a terrific record based on their symbiotic relationship. If one does well, it motivates the other to do likewise, which is not always the case with opening batsmen as some tend to feel too much pressure to score.

In ODIs, Ryder and McCullum average 50.9 in 22 innings, having played every top eight country except Australia. Their endeavours include five century and four half-century partnerships.

In T20s, they average 33.21 in 14 innings, with one century and three half-century partnerships against all top eight teams except Australia and Pakistan.