Cricket: Loyal fans cop nightmare

Two highlights emerged from the Black Caps' fifth and final one-day series defeat to India early yesterday.

The first was James Franklin's 17 not out as he built on outstanding returns of 72 and 98 in the previous two matches.

It has cemented his place batting at six for now, leading into the World Cup.

The second highlight was that the match finished mercifully early, enabling a decent night's sleep for the ever-dwindling number of New Zealand cricket tragics prepared to put the kettle on and settle in front of the telly until the early hours.

That's provided they didn't have nightmares afterwards about men in black enacting premeditated shots, playing the wrong line or shuffling timidly about the crease against some vicious subcontinental spin on their way to an 11th straight one-day defeat.

Ironically Kane Williamson, one of New Zealand's best batsmen against spin in the test series, was not selected on a wicket doctored for turn.

Williamson, thrown in at number three to start the series, missed the final two games as the Black Caps shuffled their order in the vain hope of success against India B with Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh rested.

The work put in against spin on the specially-prepared wickets of the Sandgate club in Brisbane from June to August for all the team (except Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor) came to little as India unveiled more local talent, notably off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

The wicket was a cruel sign-off from the local Chennai head groundsman against a team in patent disarray. Maybe he wanted to head home early too.

The total of 103 in 27 overs was New Zealand's lowest in the 88-one-day international history between the two countries. It seemed an appropriate climax after a fortnight of Black Caps' cricketing melancholy.

With the customary post-match tour debrief this week, the onus goes on what the team can do ahead of the World Cup to regain some pride. Winning the tournament seems out of the question but New Zealand has a proud history at the event with five semifinal appearances in nine attempts. However, none of those top four finishes have occurred when the World Cup has been held on the subcontinent (1987, 1996).

It was hoped three tours and 14 one-day internationals - to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and India - over the last four months would be the perfect build-up to the six-week World Cup running from late February to early April. Instead it has shattered the Black Caps' confidence and they return jaded and lethargic.

Solutions are hard to find. A fit Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder and Daryl Tuffey would be a positive start.

Ryder could join McCullum at the top of the order with Martin Guptill, Taylor, Scott Styris, Franklin and Oram slotting in from there - if Williamson remains out of favour with his struggle to score quickly and Grant Elliott can't rediscover past form in the coming weeks.

Vettori, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills and another pace bowler could fill numbers 8-11. Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Andy McKay or Hamish Bennett could be number 11.

But how about an unfashionable suggestion - if Tuffey's bicep fails to recover, should Chris Martin's experience be backed ahead of youth?

The World Cup is not for experimentation. Choosing Martin means a batsman is lost, but few matches are won on the performance of a number 11 with the willow. Martin is a well-respected team man.

Success in India looks set to be based on spin, subtlety and guile with the ball rather than express pace, so he could provide some glue. Are any of the other pace prospects reliable enough?

The Black Caps' horrendous form now faces the ultimate test of loyalty from fans. Pakistan play the first of their Twenty20 matches in a fortnight.

Is it worth turning up to see a team that sometimes tries to win versus a team that can't win?

It's a hard sell. Yet it is potentially the booster the Black Caps need. It's a chance to play at home in familiar conditions and regain some momentum ahead of the World Cup and break that daunting 11-match streak.