Cricket: Without a leader the Cup is a dream

The Black Caps' disappointing tour of South Africa has exposed a leadership vacuum that must be filled by 2007 if John Bracewell is serious about his tilt for the World Cup.

In a squad shorn of Chris Cairns - and, as Scott Styris and Stephen Fleming have, you can debate long and hard the merits or otherwise of that non-selection - the time was ripe for a player outside the triumvirate of Fleming, Dan Vettori and Nathan Astle to step forward and ride New Zealand home to victory.

The fact nobody has done so has been the most disappointing aspect of the tour.

It has not helped that Styris and Jacob Oram carried injuries on to the tour that has, in Oram's case, emasculated his cricket and, in Styris' case, hamstrung his efforts to be a complete allrounder. But, particularly on the batting side of things, it is long overdue for someone other than Fleming or Astle to grab an innings and make it his own.

Selectors are big on developing the concept of shared responsibility within the team but it is questionable whether there is the maturity at this stage for it to work. Part of that responsibility is monitoring your own injuries and knowing when you are ready to play a full and active part in the team. This is not aimed at diluting New Zealand Cricket's medical responsibility but at taking ownership of your career.

In that respect, eyebrows will be raised in Styris' and Oram's direction. While everyone acknowledges freak accidents can happen, you have to wonder how fragile Oram's health was pre-tour if the plane trip can trigger enough back pain to prevent him exercising half his duties.

But that is a side issue to the main facet of leadership, and the one that has been sadly lacking in the Republic - getting your team across the line in close situations.

Fleming has done it many times and continues to carry the batting burden for the top order. Astle has won numerous games in the past and his recent rut is nothing new, either (that's what you get with Astle - long periods of productivity followed by periodic droughts).

Vettori is New Zealand's most consistent one-day bowler by the length of the straight. It is the next tier of players that need to prove they are more than part-time stars: Oram and Styris, Brendon McCullum and Hamish Marshall, even Shane Bond, though his mere presence is still something of a bonus.

And Craig McMillan. For 10 years now McMillan has been there or thereabouts in the Black Caps. After a decade, you would expect more than a few match-winning hands.

He is an easy target for critics because of his often bizarre mode of dismissals, though his batting has looked as technically sound in South Africa as it has for years. But you can't escape the conclusion that a couple of classic McMillan innings and New Zealand would be leading 2-1, not losing 0-3.

This is the difference between showing and talking leadership.

In some ways this mini-crisis couldn't have come at a better time for Bracewell and his selectors.

There are players who impressed on the recent 'A' tour, none more so than Peter Fulton. He has been prolific for a number of seasons and is just waiting for one of the established 'stars' to stumble. He has also shown leadership.

It is believed Northern Districts seamer Graeme Aldridge impressed Sir Richard Hadlee in Sri Lanka and is another putting pressure on the likes of Kyle Mills and James Franklin for a ODI seam bowling role.

The incumbents need to make the sort of leadership gains Bracewell expects, or they might find themselves on a very short leash.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY