Cricket: The new generation to lead bowling attack

Tim Southee. Photo / Getty Images

All the talk is of New Zealand's batting woes of late.

And with good reason. The performance of New Zealand's top six in three of the four innings against Pakistan during the first two tests raised a pile of questions.

But what about the other half of the game?

New Zealand's fast-medium trio - Shane Bond, Chris Martin and Iain O'Brien at Dunedin in the first test win, and Martin, O'Brien and Daryl Tuffey in Wellington - more than did their part.

They combined hostility with penetration against a Pakistani batting lineup which - teenage star Umar Akmal and captain Mohammad Yousuf apart - has flattered to deceive.

So all's well in the seam department. But for how long?

Consider the ages of the incumbents and their current situations.

Bond is 34 and after a spectacular return to test cricket is now gone from the five-day side until at least the test against Bangladesh early in February.

Martin turned 35 yesterday and won't be around for too much longer. He is targeting 200 test wickets and is up to 174, with four tests remaining this summer.

Allowing for good health and the desire remaining, he could be around for another year.

O'Brien is 33 and leaving for a new life in England at the end of the third test starting in Napier today.

Tuffey is 31 and resurgent, after a successful first test back from a five-year absence from the test game.

And then ...

A word around the country with some of the first-class coaches came up with some interesting names. Who had impressed them with an eye to the test team in the next couple of years?

The obvious next in line is Tim Southee. He is 20 and swings the ball, but lost his way late last season against the batting might of India.

Southee's test debut was impressive, five for 55 against England in Napier, followed by a thrilling, if ultimately irrelevant 77 not out off 40 balls.

His overall test figures aren't that flash - 12 wickets at 47.91 - but he's in good form, as evidenced by his eight for 27 against Wellington in Hamilton a couple of weeks ago,

It seems a given that, providing his form stays good, he is No 1 contender, and potentially for the next decade, and with the added hope that he could develop his batting to be a decent No 8 in time.

Then there is his Northern Districts colleague, Brent Arnel, who gets good marks for consistency and having had a couple of strong seasons, taking 33 wickets last season and 20 so far this summer.

"A very good performer, but if they're going to pick him they need to do it now," one coach said, referring to his age.

Arnel, 30, has a New Zealand Cricket contract, which suggests he is very much in the selectors' thoughts.

He began this season with six for 18 against Otago, has 93 first-class wickets at 23.82 apiece from 28 games.

Kyle Mills is out with injury for the next few months. He lost his test place nine months ago and has been thought of more in ODI terms, more so with his rise to the world's No 1 ranked bowler in that form of the game recently.

But he must come back into the reckoning and is still only 30 but has, through 19 tests, the edge in experience.

The prevailing view is that several others round the first-class scene are of a similar, steady mould if short of the highest class, the likes of Warren McSkimming from Otago and ND's Graeme Aldridge being prime examples.

Good, reliable performers aged around 30 - McSkimming has 195 wickets at 25.48 from 57 games over a decade; Aldridge has 194 wickets at 29.61 from 73 games in an 11-season career.

Central Districts' Michael Mason, at 35, was considered past his best; Canterbury's Leighton Burtt and Hamish Bennett need more consistency but aren't the worst around.

South African-born Neil Wagner has at least two years, possibly three, to wait to gain eligibility, but in the words of one coach, is "without doubt one of the three or four best in the country".

Bouncy, lively and left arm, Wagner made a strong impact for Otago in his first season last year.

CD's raw left armer Mitchell McClenag-han is sidelined by injury but tipped to have potential for the task, provided he is fit.

He can be slippery, at 23 has time on his side, and although 32 wickets in 12 games don't leap out off the page, he gets a 'watch this space' mark.

And, a surprise, the name of Otago's tall Mathew Harvie was put in the pot by more than one coach.

A former national under-19 player, again his numbers are only average - 46 wickets in 22 games - but injuries haven't helped his progress.

But "he's quick enough and is a strong boy, hits the deck hard and could step up", said one coach.

Progress over the next couple of years across the fast-medium board will be interesting. Who will emerge from the pack?