It's a great shame that O'Brien is set to be lost to our cause, and a pity that he has not been able to push his test career as far as he could, says Adam Parore.
It might not be worth a loud appeal, but at least New Zealand Cricket should ask the question.
I'm talking about Iain O'Brien, who bowled superbly against Pakistan in Napier in what is tagged as his final test match.
O'Brien will quit test cricket after this match, which is a
bit of a soft retirement. There would be merit in seeing if the 33-year-old might reconsider. After bowling so well, the man himself might even be having second thoughts.
He bowled with good pace, well in the 140km/h zone, with bounce and accuracy. It has taken him such a long time and a lot of effort and drama to get to this point, that it seems a waste to jack it all in now. And as the saying goes, you are a long time retired.
I understand he wants to spend more time with his wife who is in England, so has signed up for Middlesex. He has his professional cricket considerations to weigh up as well. Still, it's a great shame that he is set to be lost to our cause, and a pity that he has not been able to push his test career as far as he could. His departure is a bit odd. There are still tests against Bangladesh and Australia left to go this summer, and the English season doesn't start until about April.
The track at Napier looks like an excellent one for test cricket, which is perhaps why the groundsman Phil Stoyanoff was in a lippy mood with his criticism of the batsmen in the New Zealand and Pakistan sides.
My experience is this - groundsmen don't actually like cricketers. They spend all that time getting their wickets and grounds perfect and then cricketers come along and make a mess of it all by running all over them.
In Stoyanoff's defence though, Pakistan's batsmen did start dreadfully against an excellent bowling effort from the Black Caps. As the ball got softer and the bowlers got a bit tired, Pakistan effected a recovery. Which is how it often goes.
