Cricket: Not a great deal of talent

NZ Cricket has released its list of centrally contracted players for 2009-10. Dylan Cleaver assesses the selections.

The list

Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Jacob Oram, Iain O'Brien, Kyle Mills, Martin Guptill, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee, Shane Bond, Grant Elliott, Daniel Flynn, Ian Butler, Chris Martin, Tim McIntosh, Gareth Hopkins, Neil Broom, Brent Arnel.*

The big picture

A largely predictable list that, unfortunately, rather highlights the dearth of talent in New Zealand at present. The lower numbers inspire little inspiration and the and there are 10 players outside this list that you could point to and say, "well, they could have done just as good a job as the ones that made it".

That's not hyperbole either. Can you honestly say Aaron Redmond, Craig Cumming, Scott Styris, Peter Fulton, Kane Williamson, Nathan McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Mark Gillespie, Peter Ingram and Jamie How lose much in comparison to the stragglers on this list? That does not equate to depth either, just the fact New Zealand has become adept at churning out middling cricketers.

Or, as head of selectors Glenn Turner would rather put it: "Some experienced players have missed out as a result of new players forcing their way into the top twenty - and that's a good sign for the game." Hmmm.

The big four

Daniel Vettori (No 1), Brendon McCullum (No 2), Ross Taylor (No 3), Jesse Ryder (No 4) - Very difficult to argue. The selectors break up the rankings into the top 25 test and top 25 short-form players in the country and it is highly likely the above named occupied the top four placings in both lists. There would appear to be daylight between these guys and the pack.

The bolter

Brent Arnel (No 20) - The selectors see something in Arnel that makes them believe the 30-year-old will make the transition from first-class journeyman to international. You can only presume Moles, who had more to do with Arnel than most over the past few seasons, had a big say in this.

Rising fast

Iain O'Brien (No 6), Martin Guptill (No 8) - You couldn't deny O'Brien his slot after a lion-hearted season that, in tests anyway, saw him become Vettori's go-to guy every time he needed a wicket. He is less convincing in short-form cricket, however.

Guptill is a work in progress, particularly in test cricket, but has shown he has the class to play at the top level for years to come. "He has played his way into being considered a core squad member," Turner said. "His ODI average is already ahead of other leading players, and for his age shows the promise of more to come."

Parachute needed

Jamie How (no contract), Mark Gillespie (n/c), James Franklin (No 17) - How's is the most stunning drop, from a top 10 position on the last contract list to services not required. His is a perplexing fall because he looks as if he has all the tools needed to be successful at the highest level bar one - consistent runs.

Mark Gillespie's fall from a comfortable spot on the list to gone has been far more predictable as he looked unfit and lacking in confidence last season.

James Franklin stayed on the list but only just, apparently. With Shane Bond returning, Franklin really needed to establish himself as an allrounder last season but found that first-class runs accounted for little when it came to the test arena.

Underpriced?

Chris Martin (No 15) - He is hamstrung by the fact that he is not considered for a second as a short-form player so will not receive any ranking points for short-form cricket. So, even though tests get a 1.25 weighting, he will always find himself in the lower ranges of the contract scale. A shame, really, considering his value to the team as a new-ball bowler.

Overpriced?

Jacob Oram (No 5), Kyle Mills (No 7), Tim Southee (No 10) - Oram needs his bat to start talking again ... and soon. He has talked about specialising in short-form cricket recently but, like Scott Styris, that could be a huge mistake that sees him become less relevant in the selectors' eyes. When he is on song he is such a valuable piece in the puzzle because he, McCullum and Vettori give the batting such punch at numbers six to eight. Mills is a fading force at test level but, until the end of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy at least, proved he was the best one-day seamer in the country. After a sensational opening spell at the Gabba last November, the rest of the season was a big step back for Southee and a salutary lesson about over-hyping a player still trying to find his feet at the top level.

The unlucky

Aaron Redmond - The Son of Rodney would not have won too many sympathy votes after his dreadful shot in the second innings at Adelaide precipitated another embarrassing batting collapse. However, with time being a healer and all that, you can look back and say he has been treated pretty shabbily in comparison to others.

He did score 83 in the first innings of that test and, although that breezy knock was cut off at the knees by another poor shot, few other batsmen looked capable of scoring against Australia. He missed a couple of soft opportunities against the West Indies and Tim McIntosh made the most of that chance but he, in turn, looked all at sea against India.

Redmond did pretty well when called up at the World T20 as well, so he obviously must have a short-form ranking.

The lucky

Gareth Hopkins (No 18) - he's a good cricketer, is Hopkins, so you would not begrudge him a contract but really, what is the point? He will not play if McCullum is fit.

The only form of the game where McCullum seems happy to hand over the gloves is Twenty20 cricket and Peter McGlashan, rightly or wrongly, seems to be the preferred back-up for this form of the game.

Throw into the mix the fact Reece Young has fans and that Kruger van Wyk is available in September and might be better than all of them and the selection of a back-up keeper-batsman in the list seems a luxury or a lottery, depending on your viewpoint.

The breakdown

Dan Vettori gets a $174,000 retainer as No 1-ranked player. This decreases in increments of $6000 until No 18. The bottom three retainers are each worth $72,000. Players also receive $7325 for each test, $3175 for an ODI and $2075 for a Twenty20 international.

* NZC do not make the rankings public but the numbers mentioned above are estimates based on conversations within cricket circles and personal opinion.