Cricket: Flower power in full blossom

By RICHARD BOOCK

Andy Flower's emergence as one of the world's best batsmen seems all the more remarkable for the fact that he doesn't get to face his own side's bowlers.

The Zimbabwean wicketkeeper-batsman has just completed a hugely successful calendar year in international cricket, during which time he joined Pakistan's Inzamam ul-Haq as one of only two players to score more than 1000 test runs.

Zimbabwe, who square off against New Zealand in the opening one-day international at Taupo tonight, do not possess a famously strong bowling attack at the moment, but Flower has proved more than competitive with the bat for most opponents, scoring his nine test centuries against India (3), Pakistan (2), Sri Lanka (2), the West Indies and England.

He ended the year with a test average of 80.38 and a sixth consecutive half-century, which leaves him just one shy of the world-record mark of seven, set by the West Indies' Everton Weekes in the summers of 1947-48 and 1948-49.

Flower's most recent memorable deed was in the second test against India at Nagpur, where he led the fight to save the match with 232 not out, following scores of 183 not out and 70 in the first test, and 55 in the first innings of the second.

By the time that test series was over, he had spent a total of 23 hours batting, and on two occasions had kept wicket for well over 10 hours.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who has played in each of Zimbabwe's 48 tests, is also the lynch-pin of the one-day side, having played in 158 ODIs, scoring 4735 runs at 32.88 - including two centuries and 39 half-centuries - at a strike-rate of about 70 per cent.

But Flower is not the sort to be affected by any fuss.

"To be honest, I've always been a fairly ordinary cricketer," he said during practice yesterday.

"I came from a small state school, and I was limited in strength and in the shots I could play.

"If there is any recognition it's good in the sense that people can see that you don't have to be brilliantly talented, that if you work hard at your game you can get some sort of success."

He was philosophical about his rise into the top bracket of the world's test batsmen, saying that the fickle nature of the game meant fortune was a cyclical thing, and that he was merely making the most of things while it smiled on him.

By the same token, work-ethic and application were the cornerstones of Flower's career, and he was convinced that those aspects, rather than any secret solution, had underpinned his chart-topping form.

"It's been a big year personally, but to be honest, there aren't any magic formulas. If you work hard at your game and be as smart as possible, you can achieve the results.

"I also believe it goes in swings and roundabouts. This is a good time for me right now, but I'm sure there's hard times ahead. You've got to just stick to the principles you believe in."

Meanwhile, the pitch for the day-night ODI may prove something of an unknown quantity after eight days of bad weather in the region.

Ground staff said yesterday that they had never seen the Owen Delany Park block looking so wet this close to a match, but were hoping for some drying in the hours before it started.

New Zealand seem set to make James Franklin 12th man, in which case the 21-year-old all-rounder will achieve the trifecta, having carried the drinks for Wellington, the New Zealand test team and the New Zealand ODI side, all in a week.

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Roger Twose, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Scott Styris, Brooke Walker, Chris Martin, James Franklin.

Zimbabwe (from): Heath Streak (captain), Guy Whittall, Gavin Rennie, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Trevor Madondo, Heath Streak, Doug Marillier, Angus Mackay, Travis Friend, Mluleki Nkala, Brian Murphy, Bryan Strang, Henry Olonga.