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Concern over the "integrity" of the State Championship could scupper prospects of sending the 'Indian Six' to the major associations.
Master batsmen Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, up-and-comer Murali
Vijay, leggie Amit Mishra and pacemen Dhawal Kulkarni and Laxmipathi Balaji arrive during the one-day series and are seeking a first-class warm-up match to gain some match play.
When New Zealand Cricket re-drew the schedule to accommodate an extra test, a first-class warm-up match for India was sacrificed. NZC is now charged with finding appropriate match play for the six test specialists who will join the tour late.
"There's no easy solution, it's a real conundrum," said Wellington chief executive Gavin Larsen.
Adding to the difficulty is that the Players' Association will not support any relaxation of the rules surrounding overseas players, with each major association allowed only one overseas professional for any match.
New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan told a Wellington newspaper that New Zealand Cricket had the facility "under the playing regulations to change" the rules surrounding overseas players.
"If they think they can change the conditions halfway through the competition we would be absolutely against that," said Players' Association boss Heath Mills.
Wellington have employed Graham Napier this season, while Auckland and Northern Districts have Stephen Croft and Hamish Marshall respectively. Otago and Canterbury's South Africans, Neil Wagner, Johann Myburgh and Kruger van Wyk are classed as locals even though none are yet available for New Zealand selection.
Napier was due to leave at the end of the Twenty20 competition but Wellington have been so impressed with his contribution they are trying to engineer a way for him to stay longer.
Even if each major association decides to use an Indian as their overseas player for the round in question - from March 6 to 9 - the dispersal of the players will again be fraught.
While the competition might appear to be a three-horse race between leaders Central Districts, Wellington and Auckland, every team will still be trying desperately for maximum points. The sides that are given Laxman, Dravid and even Mishra are at a massive advantage to the others, in terms of playing experience and marketing opportunities as well.
How pleased can you imagine Wellington coach Anthony Stuart will be if Auckland, his closest chaser for second, ends up with Laxman while he gets the unproven Vijay?
The other option is to stage a warm-up match using five local players to make up a team around the six
Indians. But that, too, is flawed. The Black Caps will be out of commission in the one-day series and New Zealand A are meeting England A in Queenstown, meaning State Championship teams will be down to the bare bones as it is. Removing another 16 players for a match that has meaning only to the Indians, would turn the State Championship into a farce.
Cancelling that round of the State Championship is also an option, but a totally unsatisfactory one.
Perhaps the most trouble-free solution would be lumping two Indians each into the three Championship non-contenders, but the Players' Association would reject that.
" You can't just go and change the playing conditions because it might be convenient," he said. "There is no way we would support that," Mills said.
Vaughan's proposals are currently awaiting board approval.
