Cricket: No fear serves Black Caps well

Win or lose today's decider against the World 11, New Zealand cricket coach John Bracewell will label the series a success for the adoption of Australia's "no fear" approach.

The series has done its job of filling the void left by Sri Lanka's postponed tour and, at least in the three-wicket loss in Wellington on Monday, gave the Black Caps some tough leadup work before next month's Australia series.

The words "no fear" have been mentioned regularly by captain Stephen Fleming as New Zealand look to take their one-day game, in which they won 19 of 23 last year, to a level that can topple world champions Australia in the five-match series.

The key has been more aggression -- batsmen hitting over the field with confidence and bowlers not being scared to use the one bouncer per over rule to unsettle the batsmen.

"We wanted to learn as much as possible about how far we could push ourselves in order to prepare for Australia," Bracewell said of this series.

"I've been pleased with what the bowlers have done with changing their pace, getting used to different grips, a number of those they learned from the Australians on the last tour, and the use of the bouncer."

An encouraging example was Jeff Wilson's eight-over spell on Monday where he bowled aggressively and hurried up the batsmen to take one for 27 and further push his claims for the Australia series.

The post-match sessions with Australia late last year were memorable for the Black Caps who picked the brains of their opposite numbers.

After the Adelaide test, Jacob Oram, Chris Martin, James Franklin, Ian Butler and Daniel Vettori sat down next to Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Shane Warne for a bowling lesson, and also some tips on how they tried to get the New Zealand batsmen out.

That same bowling unit, with the likely addition of tearaways Brett Lee and Shane Watson, will be a handful in New Zealand conditions next month.

For opening batsmen Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle the no fear policy worked brilliantly against the World 11, Fleming smashing 106 off 57 balls in Christchurch and Astle 109 off 123 balls in the three-wicket loss in Wellington.

"I've been pleased with way our top order have started to use the air better in terms of their ball striking.

"They're a lot stiller and less frenetic, and as a consequence are hitting the ball further than they used to," Bracewell said.

Safely through today, the team will revert to State Shield one-day cricket, apart from injured pair Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori whose back problems still cause concern.

Bracewell said the World 11 approach needed to be used in domestic cricket too as they build for the first one-dayer against Australia in Wellington on February 19.

"It depends on how long you practise it, so it's very important the guys use domestic cricket to keep it going, and show no fear.

"If they decide to go into domestic cricket with a complacent attitude, then they won't learn and up their skills to the point where they're useful in international cricket."

- NZPA