Cricket: McMillan's willingly putting body on line

By Richard Boock at the cricket World Cup

DERBY - Craig McMillan is relishing the chance to mix it with the best bowlers in world cricket, even if that means the occasional smack in the ear and blow to the ribs.

The New Zealand top-order batsman earned his rights of passage against the lethal West Indian fast bowlers on Monday, and will tonight go head-to-head with the 23-year-old reputed to be the fastest bowler on the planet - not to mention his side-kick Wasim Akram.

McMillan was one of the few specialist batsmen to defy Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh for any length of time at Southampton and despite emerging black and blue from the experience is looking forward to the upcoming clash with Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar.

The Rawalpindi tearaway had a running battle with Steve Waugh on Sunday, much of it verbal, and even physical on a couple of occasions, showing that he has inherited much more from his Pakistan tutors than merely the ability to reverse swing a cricket ball at nearly 100mph.

McMillan, who also witnessed Akhtar's approach against Australia, said it would be up to each individual to cope in his own way, but promised he would not take a backward step from a confrontation with the fiery right-armer, whose run-up and action (not to mention the pace of his delivery) contain more than a hint of Waqar Younis.

"When it comes down to things like that you've just got to do what's best for you - there's no real set formula," he said. "But I'm looking forward to facing Akhtar. We first played against him at the Commonwealth Games, and he's obviously improved a lot since then. He bowls a far tighter line."

One of the more consistent Kiwi top-order batsmen, McMillan has scored 20 against Bangladesh, 29 against Australia and 32 against the West Indies, but is desperate to make better use of his form in the remaining matches.

"Those sort of scores beg the question as to why I didn't carry on past 50 and get a genuinely big total, and that's a priority for me at the moment," he said.

"The hardest thing to do over here as a batsman is to make a start, but my problem seems to be staying in once I've made a start."