Cricket: Coach can see format's merit

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Auckland coach Tony Sail sees the new-look domestic cricket season as giving players the best possible chance to force their way on to the international stage.

Two full rounds of four-day, home-and-away Shell Trophy matches should ensure top-order batsmen of around 15 first-class innings a season and the bowlers the chance of more overs than in past seasons.

"Playing that amount of cricket gives the selectors the opportunity to judge players on the park," Sail said yesterday. "Cricket is about statistics. Playing that amount of cricket gives a very clear idea of what is happening."

Sail is certain the extended season will be welcomed by the players. He also hopes pre-season conditioning programmes will allow players to get through the season without the spate of injuries which has hit the national side.

"I would like to think at least 10 of the players we have here in Hamilton for our first trophy match [against Northern Districts] will still be fit to play for our last. I'm sure most associations will be looking to work within a 14 to 15 man squad.

"That has been one of Northern's strengths," Sail said. "They have kept a pretty tight squad together."

Neither Sail nor Northern coach Chris Kuggeleijn favour recruiting overseas players.

"Obviously, having an import has been good for Central Districts," Sail said in reference to Leicestershire batsman Ben Smith, who scored a century in the game against Otago.

"But in Auckland we want to work through a development programme to find the players we need."

Kuggeleijn said that despite having used players such as England's Graeme Hick in the past, the Northern association no longer looked offshore.

Sail and Kuggeleijn are reasonably happy with the points at stake this season, but not so comfortable with the penalties for slow over-rates.

"It seems unfair if you dismiss a team cheaply and then get fined for not bowling the required number of overs per hour in doing it," Kuggeleijn said.

While points are no longer deducted for not reaching the 15-overs-an-hour requirement, associations will be fined $1000, on a match-by-match basis, for failing to reach that target. Failure to reach 14 overs an hour will bring a $2000 fine.

Sail has some reservations about the points structure.

"I think that if you trail on the first innings but go on to win outright, you should only get four, not six, points. I think it is a bit unfair on a team who have dominated the early part of the match to get four points less at the end."

Six points are awarded for an outright win, no matter what had happened in the first innings. A team taking a first-innings lead collect two points which are retained even if the team are subsequently beaten outright.

Both coaches agreed there was no need for bonus points.

"You don't get them in test cricket," Kuggeleijn said.

"There is no need for them in Shell Trophy."

Three trophy rounds will be played before Christmas, as will three Shell Cup games, by each team. The two competitions will be interwoven in January, with the cup semifinals and final scheduled from January 21.

The last round of trophy matches will be played from February 24 to 27. There will be no trophy final.