Cricket: Playing with one eye focused over ditch

Nathan McCullum celebrates with Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum after bowling Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand could be excused for having half an eye on events across the Tasman over the next couple of weeks.

Clearly their primary focus will be on beating Bangladesh in the three-game ODI series starting in Napier today, then the one-off test in Hamilton later in the month. However, the West Indies start a five-game ODI series against Australia at Brisbane on Sunday. They follow that with a couple of Twenty20s to round things off.

The world Twenty20, starting in the Caribbean on May 30, is sharpening in players' minds. So too, the World Cup in the sub-continent early next year.

The shorter version is obviously of more immediate interest and so every opportunity to assess possible opponents should be taken.

But the other point about the Australians' activities coming up is their impending arrival on these shores. They start their nine-game tour on February 26 with the first of two Twenty20s in Wellington. But New Zealand should fancy taking every chance to have a peek at the Australians against the West Indies. Whatever information or ideas they can glean could be put to good use.

New Zealand have the two games against Australia as their only remaining leadup to the world Twenty20.

There is jockeying for places at the moment and the New Zealand selectors, Glenn Turner, Mark Greatbatch and captain Dan Vettori, have signalled a willingness to check out all possibilities.

The selections of Andy McKay and James Franklin for the ODIs against Bangladesh are examples of that.

Wellington left-armer McKay, the former Auckland seamer, should get a chance in Napier today, but he's come from wide mid wicket in terms of where he was generally rated in the New Zealand fast-medium pecking order.

Franklin has been around a long time, but his has been an in-and-out international career, at least in part affected by injury. Still, the selectors want to have another look to see if he can provide an extra component into the mix.

Ideally they'd have wanted more from Bangladesh in Wednesday's night's all-too-brief contest. They'd have preferred to bat, to get a good look at players like Peter Ingram and Gareth Hopkins. The Auckland captain has overtaken Peter McGlashan as the preferred backup wicketkeeper to Brendon McCullum, but can do a job as a specialist batsman.

McCullum's brother, Nathan, bowled tidily in helping dismiss Bangladesh for just 78 in Hamilton.

McCullum appreciates what is at stake.

"I guess the world Twenty20 is in the back of all our minds, as a unit," he said. "It's something we're building up to, but we still have to take it game by game and we're trying to make sure we improve and put in good solid efforts in everything we do."

It is likely a couple of other players will be included for the Australian Twenty20 doubleheader, as the assessing of candidates continues.

One of those could well be Scott Styris, whose omission from both the short form squads against Bangladesh raised eyebrows, given his strong form for Auckland.

Lou Vincent had his backers when he delivered runs smartly upon returning to the Auckland side this season, but Brendon McCullum, Ingram, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor are the incumbents. If Ingram justifies his belated callup at 31 over the next few games, Vincent's chances of a surprise return to the national side in time for a flight to the Caribbean will recede.

Right now, it's as if New Zealand's selectors have a large melting pot into which various ingredients are being tossed.

And the final serving up will come only after a pile of options have been sifted, and ticked or discarded.