Cricket: Pad up, you're next in coach

New Zealand's preparations for the controversial tour of Zimbabwe have got off to an unexpected start.

Scheduled to play three warm-up games in Namibia before flying to Harare, New Zealand were instead forced into head-counting mode yesterday after an airline strike stranded five players in London.

At last count the touring squad numbered nine players and six management personnel, and contingency plans were being made to cover the possibility of having to play without the balance of the squad.

New Zealand had intended to play three games at Windhoek before flying to Zimbabwe to begin preparations for the first test, which starts at the Harare Sports Club ground on Monday week.

New Zealand manager Lindsay Crocket told Radio Sport yesterday that the start of the tour had been marred by a "transportation nightmare", but that all stops were being pulled to ensure that neither he nor coach John Bracewell would be required in the middle.

Crocker, who played for Northern Districts as an opening batsman in the 1970s, sounded a distinctly reluctant starter, and seemed likely to receive an exemption on account of a kidney operation last year.

As for Bracewell, the word was that he was even more adamant about not launching a comeback, a move that could leave team officials such as physiotherapists, fitness trainers and assistant coaches in the firing line.

However, Crocker said it was far more likely that, if required, any shortage of players would be made up from Namibia's local reserves, so that management and staff could be spared their blushes.

The hiccup brought to mind some of the previous occasions in which New Zealand have been forced to hunt for substitute players, most notably on the diarrhoea-stricken tour of India in 1988.

During the first test at Bangalore, so many players were sidelined with a bug that the travelling media corps were drafted into action, with the recently retired Jeremy Coney returning to the slips and TVNZ sportscaster Ken Nicholson patrolling the covers.

However, that option won't be available to the present side, as the only Kiwi reporter covering the tour is Radio Sport's Bryan Waddle, and he doesn't leave until Tuesday.