Cricket: World Cup campaign thrusts Guptill back into test frame

Martin Guptill has worked with Martin Crowe to rebuild his batting technique. Photo / Mark Mitchell

In-form Martin Guptill is primed for a test cricket recall, with the opener to be named today in the squads for the test and limited-overs components of the tour to England.

On the outer in the longest form of the game since a disastrous test at Headingley two years ago - where he scored 1 and 3 batting at No6 - Guptill will be in a head-to-head battle with Hamish Rutherford for the second opening spot alongside Tom Latham.

It will cap a remarkable turnaround for Guptill, who was understood to be some way down the pecking order, behind the likes of fellow Aucklander Jeet Raval, as little as six months ago.

An outstanding Cricket World Cup campaign thrust Guptill back into the frame but it hasn't so much been the volume of runs, but the manner in which he's scored them.

Guptill, 28, has stripped down his technique and rebuilt it with the help of Martin Crowe. Criticised in the test arena for playing with hard hands and becoming, essentially, a block-bash merchant, Crowe has looked to inject a little more sublety into his defensive game. There is a hope that with more delicate footwork and the ability to play the ball under his eyes rather than his preferred method of playing the ball in front of him, he will be able to work singles more effectively.

Teams have found it too easy to set fields to Guptill. This in turn means he has a habit of becoming marooned, with the only release being higher risk boundary shots.

One of Crowe's great mantras, passed on to him by batting wizard Barry Richards, was to scan the park and see the gaps, not the fielders. During the World Cup, certainly, Guptill looked to have made progress in this area.

Despite a rocky summer before the World Cup, which had pundits calling for Latham to be tried as one-day opener, Guptill received unwavering backing from coach and selector Mike Hesson and captain Brendon McCullum.

He repaid that in spades, going on to be the World Cup's top scorer with 547 runs at an average of 68.37, while his strike rate was better than a run a ball.

He obliterated all sorts of New Zealand batting records with his brilliantly executed 237 in the quarter-final, when he moved smoothly through the gears on the way to 100 (his second in succession after 105 against Bangladesh), before opening the throttle and making a mockery of the West Indian attack.

Guptill has always been a bit of a batting riddle, since he opened his international account with a precocious century against the West Indies in a one-dayer at Eden Park. His ball-striking has never been anything other than superb, though he has struggled to ally it with a defensive technique that can stand the toughest tests.

In 31 tests he averages 29.62, but this is propped up by great returns against Zimbabwe, West Indies and Bangladesh. Against Australia (17.65), South Africa (17.2) and Sri Lanka (18) he has struggled.

The tour to England starts on May 8 with a warm-up match against Somerset at Taunton, followed by another first-class match at Worcestershire. These two games shape as crucial in the battle for the second opening role, with the slot in the test at Lord's starting May 21 likely to be given to the man in form.

The New Zealand teams for these two games are likely to be curious affairs, with Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, allrounders Corey Anderson and James Neesham, and new-ball pair Tim Southee and Trent Boult all having secured contracts with the Indian Premier League.

Matt Henry has bowled himself into test contention and he will also be at the IPL, along with one-day specialists (at this stage) Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan.