Cricket: Papps bounces back to win place on tour squad

Michael Papps leaves the field at Eden Park early last year after a Brett Lee ball slammed into his head. Picture / Paul Estcourt

Michael Papps has discovered that there is life after Brett Lee after all.

Just over a year after his William Tell routine against Lee at Eden Park went horribly wrong, the little Canterbury opening batsman has bounced back to win a place in the 15-man touring squad for South Africa.

The 26-year-old right-hander will join second spinner Jeetan Patel and recovered all-rounder Jacob Oram as the main talking points in the touring party, to play back-to-back tests at Centurion, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Picked specifically as cover for incumbent openers Jamie How and Hamish Marshall, Papps is possibly still best remembered for his tendency to take the new ball in the middle of the swede, rather than any particular shot preference.

He first came to the attention of cricket fans when he was felled by an Ian Butler bouncer at Timaru, and later added to the legend when he was incapacitated by Steve Harmison in England and then by Lee the following summer.

However, Papps was determined to fight back after the Lee ignominy, and produced a string of impressive performances this season that convinced coach and chief selector John Bracewell to offer him another chance.

It was at the Basin Reserve yesterday, as he came off the field for bad light during Canterbury's State Championship match against Wellington, that he was taken aside by coach Dave Nosworthy and given the happy news.

"I've felt I've been pretty consistent over the past few weeks, so it feels good," he said last night.

"I've been out of the team for about 18 months or so, so I've really made a point of working hard on my game, particularly things like my fitness and the technical side of the game.

"It was really good to see all the hard work pay off in the end, for the rewards to come. I put the hard yards in, the scores came, and I was re-selected.

"It wasn't a complicated formula."

Papps was guarded when discussing the technical adjustments he had made, but conceded that he was no longer employing such a dramatic forward press as his pre-delivery movement.

"I have made some technical adjustments but they weren't in specific response to short-pitched bowling, they were just an attempt to get myself in a better position to access more areas of the field.

"My pre-delivery movement has changed, but, like I say, it wasn't a specific reaction to the short ball, it was just a matter of getting in a better position to play any ball."

He said the prospect of receiving a hostile reception from South African fast bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel wasn't something that worried him - the biggest challenge was breaking back into the test team's playing XI.

"I'm looking forward to getting right back into the firing line," he said. "I'm a specialist opener in both forms of the game, and this is a great opportunity for me.

"There's a couple of guys ahead of me right now, but if anything should happen I'll be there to give it a good shake."

Bracewell revealed yesterday that test discard Lou Vincent had not been considered for the initial touring party because of his unavailability for the opening test, apparently dictated by the imminent birth of his first child.

The New Zealand coach also revealed that Mathew Sinclair had not been available for the opening test because of his wedding plans, scheduled for April 15.

SQUAD

Stephen Fleming (c), Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, Michael Papps, Peter Fulton, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel.

* Persistent rain washed out the fourth day of the third and final test between New Zealand and the West Indies yesterday. With the McLean Park outfield sodden, officials called play off early.

* New Zealand paceman James Franklin seems likely to head for a stint with Welsh county side Glamorgan after the tour of South Africa.

English newspapers were yesterday tipping Franklin as the probable replacement for Australian seamer Michael Kasprowicz, who pulled out of his contract at the 11th hour.

The theory is that, although test commitments would delay Franklin until mid-May, Glamorgan would not be badly inconvenienced as they expect England paceman Simon Jones back soon, following his knee operation. Franklin had a brief spell with Gloucestershire in 2004.