Cricket: Shrink aids battered batsmen

Daniel Vettori

New Zealand's top-order batsmen have swapped the practice nets for the couch as they prepare for Saturday's do-or-die one-dayer against Australia.

On a day in which coach John Bracewell made two changes to the side hammered by 106 runs in Christchurch, it was revealed that several of the besieged top-order batsmen have been seeking the advice of team psychologist Gilbert Enoka.

Bracewell said the players had been released for 24 hours of emotional healing yesterday.

They would re-assemble in Auckland today with the team's two new faces, Michael Papps and Andre Adams.

The pair were yesterday included in a 13-man squad at the expense of Mathew Sinclair and the injured Scott Styris.

It would be no surprise if both played on Saturday, leaving James Marshall as twelfth man.

Bracewell said it made some sense for his batsmen to seek Enoka's assistance, because the inaccuracy evident in their recent performances was almost certainly the result of acute mental pressure.

"It's as much a psychological issue as anything else," the coach said.

"At this level the tension quickly escalates, and because of that errors can creep into your game.

"It's quite understandable. The problem is that it can develop into something of a vicious circle, in that as form drops away, so do the confidence levels, leaving room for self-doubt and more anxiety."

He said Sinclair, axed after another run of failures against Australia, was an example of a batsman who was low on confidence and as a result, needed some space to re-establish his game.

"It got to the point where his body language and lack of footwork were telling us a pretty clear story about his state of mind," he said.

"Mathew probably won't agree, but I think the Australians got in his head a bit and caused some self-doubt."

He was hoping that Adams' recall to the squad would add stability to a bowling attack that was - with the exception of Daniel Vettori - thoroughly collared on the slightly quicker-paced Christchurch pitch.

But he also warned that his bowlers needed to stand up and take responsibility in the coming games or more changes could follow.

"Daryl Tuffey is one who needs to up the intensity if he is to warrant continued selection," said Bracewell.

"We had a couple of bowlers really searching for their line and length in Christchurch, and hopefully that will improve on Saturday."

New Zealand Cricket has sold more than 21,000 tickets for the Auckland day-nighter.

All indications are that Eden Park will be completely sold out, a rare occurrence for a cricket match.

Bracewell said Styris, who has a bruised left knee, would be monitored over the next few days before a decision would be made on his availability for Saturday week's series finale.* Black Cap matches for the rest of the season will be screened free and live on Prime Television.

The network said yesterday that it would show the remaining three New Zealand-Australia one-day internationals.

The games are the Auckland match on Saturday, the Wellington game on Tuesday and the last game of the series, at Napier on Saturday March 5.

Prime would also take full live cover of test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka in March and April.

New Zealand

Stephen Fleming (c), Andre Adams, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Kyle Mills, Michael Papps, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Jeff Wilson.