Mark Richardson: Chance to take our advantage

Selecting an extra test bowler would make Jesse Ryder and the batsmen more accountable. Photo / Getty Images

Up until that historic test match victory, I was a staunch advocate of three seamers and Daniel Vettori but I don't mind being proven wrong.

While the essential balance of the Black Caps test team did not really change in Hobart because only four bowlers were played, I was convinced during that match that four seamers and Vettori batting at six could be the way forward for the test team.

The extra seamer meant there was never a let-up for Australia. It allowed each bowler to bowl with more intensity and when I saw Tim Southee hitting speeds in excess of 140km/h, it showed that, with an extra hand in the bowling unit, the bowlers could operate close to 100 per cent output 100 per cent of the time.

That could make all the difference when it comes to the all too familiar lack of penetration that accompanies New Zealand bowling attacks.

Of course, for this to happen Vettori must be forced into the No6 position and someone in the current top six will lose their place.

I see that as a very healthy dilemma because to have Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Jesse Ryder more accountable to the bottom line, namely runs scored, should I hope see a continuation of the improvement in attitude we all saw from test one to test two.

It's taken too long for the batsmen to admit they simply cannot do what they want to do (in terms of playing style) if they want to be consistent run scorers in the test form.

But if they use the mindset they took into the Hobart game from this day forward, we might start to see more runs more often out of our top five.

There is one major problem, however, that faces the development of New Zealand's test game in the short term. There is next to no four- and five-day cricket for them to play before South Africa arrive.

The goodwill towards test cricket and the Black Caps that one exciting test win in Australia has generated must be built on - and that means a creditable display against one of cricket's current powerhouses this March. The problem is the batsmen will face a diet of Twenty20 and one-day cricket over the next couple of months.

No doubt they will turn in some stunning performances, the same sort of performances that have lulled them into a false sense of test cricket ability in the past.

I'm convinced that if New Zealand Cricket wants to be seen as a valuable and desirable contributor to world cricket, we must win our share of tests against the top nations and New Zealand Cricket must recognise that with its scheduling of first class fixtures.

An attitude shift is one thing and making attacking players a little tighter is not a massively difficult task.

But adding new skills to one's game, even if that skill is the reduction of shots, take practice and game time to bed in.

I just hope that the next two months of crash and bash will not equate to an addictive relapse.