KEY POINTS:
The triumvirate charged with taking New Zealand's faltering test team to the next level will meet at the conclusion of the tour to Australia for the first time.
Daniel Vettori, coach-elect Andy Moles and general manager for cricket Geoff Allott will review the tour but, more importantly, chart a course to return some lost lustre to the team.
Although Allott does not officially start his new role until March 1 (it is hoped he might be able to join at least a month earlier) it was felt he should be part of all critical meetings going forward. Chief executive Justin
Vaughan last week told the Herald on Sunday Allott was brought in for discussions with Moles before he was handed the job after the late withdrawal of new South Wales' coach Matthew Mott.
Top of the agenda for Vettori, Moles and Allott will be rescuing New Zealand's sinking test fortunes, thrown into sharp relief in Brisbane when they struggled to keep pace with an Australian team that looked dispirited and a pale shadow of its former self.
"We've got the structure in place, we've got the people in place, now it's time to stop talking," Vaughan said. "We need an overall increase in performance in test cricket but what sticks out like a sore thumb is the test batting."
A sore thumb would be one of the kinder descriptions tagged to this top six that has flunked examination after examination from some of the world's leading bowlers. And from some fairly average ones too.
Upon his appointment, Moles said the top six was an area he was targeting. With Moles' background as a batsman, Mark O'Neill's position begins to look tenuous. The Australian has received warm reviews from the players but it is fair to say that those reviews have not translated to any tangible improvement on the field.
"We think we've got the makings of something really good there," Vaughan said. "It's a young batting line-up but we can't keep saying that forever."
The selectors, who will meet later, will have little opportunity, or appetite, for change. Jacob Oram will come back in and James Franklin is pushing for a recall, but it is at the very top of the order where the intrigue lies. Jacob Oram will come back in and James Franklin is pushing for a recall but it is at the very top of the order where all the interest will lie.
Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn and Jesse Ryder appeal as long-term middle-order fixtures, though there are still massive headaches at Nos 1 and 2 - and where to fit Brendon McCullum in to maximise the balance of the side.
While the selectors have faith in Jamie How, his results do not inspire confidence and there is a growing feeling he needs to drop down to No 3 in the order to get the best out of him.
Aaron Redmond has no doubt kept the wolves from the door with his dashing 83 at Adelaide, although he'll need another score of note against the West Indies to avoid the feeling it was papering over a crack.
With John Wright's elevation to selector, you can take it as read he would have watched the last round of the State Championship with some interest. The runs were flowing freely on helpful decks, with several players showing they can bat for long periods.
Tim McIntosh, the tall Auckland left-hander, scored 191 to go with a century earlier in the first match of the season. His problem has always been consistency and the selectors might feel squeamish about the three failures he strung together between scores. But he has to come into consideration.
Matthew Bell probably won't figure too highly in discussions, though you could argue it is a miscarriage of justice. His two centuries in two matches have proved what everybody knows: he is the most consistent first-class opener in the country by the length of the Adelaide Oval. He cannot shake the tag, though, of a guy whose technique is not sound enough to succeed against the best swing bowlers.
Michael Papps remains a heavy scorer at State Championship level but, like Bell, his technique was found out by the quicks, while Craig Cumming was found wanting too.
Spare a thought, too, for Peter Ingram. After years of mediocrity brought about, by his own reckoning, by being over-coached when he first came on to the scene, Ingram is in the process of stringing together a third excellent season in succession. In fact, since the beginning of the 2006-07 season, where he was overlooked for a Central Districts contract, he has scored 1591 runs at an average of just under 55, with seven three-figure scores, including last week's CD-record 247. At 30, though, he will struggle to get a look in.
More flavour of the month will be Northern's BJ Watling, scorer of a century in the same match as Ingram's heroics. It might help, too, that the new coach, although not a selector, has seen them at close quarters.
