Cricket: Mystery pitch should not set off alarms

By Richard Boock

DERBY - This city has a reputation for doing wonderful things with its dirt, and the New Zealand cricketers are hoping the tradition will be upheld when it comes to the pitch on which they face Pakistan tonight.

The red-brick town is famous for its crockery and crystal, and - in yesterday's case at least - its proximity to Manchester, but the Kiwis are still unsure about the quality of the wicket for their penultimate World Cup Group B showdown.

As it happens, unless it turns out to be dry, grassless and crumbing, it should not make much difference to the unchanged team New Zealand are expected to name, although it did seem curious that the covers were on most of the day when no rain was threatening.

Whatever the reasons, the Derbyshire County Ground pitch is reputed to be on the low and slow side, which will not be entirely bad news for the New Zealand top-order batsmen, who, after a towelling from the West Indies' quicks on Monday, have to bounce back tonight against the likes of Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar.

Neither are the New Zealand bowlers likely to complain about a lack of pace in the wicket, although they will have ample reason for complaint if the batsmen play as poorly as they did at Southampton the other day.

However illogical, the Kiwis seem to be believe that the unbeaten Pakistan side are due for a struggle after such a successful stretch, and that their own loss at the hands of the West Indies will make them a much more difficult proposition this evening.

And certainly New Zealand have a lot to play for.

An upset against Pakistan and the expected win over Scotland on Monday would allow them to qualify as the group's second seeds, leading to an opening Super Six showdown against England at the Oval next Friday.

A loss tonight would more than likely lead to New Zealand claiming the third seed's position on net run-rate, and a battle against Tendulkar, Dravid and Co at Headingly on Monday week.

Disappointed though he was after the seven-wicket loss earlier in the week, captain Stephen Fleming refuses to view that result as anything more than a hiccup, and said after practice yesterday that the side still felt confident about its ability to knock over Pakistan.

"We've been in very good form and I don't accept that a bad hour-and-a-half in Southampton has suddenly made us a poor team," Fleming said. "We believe we can beat anyone in this tournament if we play well, and that's naturally our main focus right now."

Fleming acknowledged that consideration was still being given to promoting at least one player (Adam Parore, Chris Harris, Dion Nash and Roger Twose can all bat higher), but said the attack was a settled unit and unlikely to be changed.

At the start of the tournament it appeared there might have been a chance to unleash Simon Doull on a green seamer or Daniel Vettori on a turning surface, but the incumbents have performed so strongly that there are no longer any openings.

Dion Nash bowled a beautiful spell in trying conditions against the West Indies and Gavin Larsen has been Mr Consistency throughout, while Geoff Allott, Chris Cairns and Chris Harris are all automatic selections.

Akram said yesterday he thought the pitch would suit his bowlers more than New Zealand's, but was gearing up for a tough encounter all the same.

"They're a well-balanced side, they field exceptionally well and they have a lot of all-rounders, so they're always contenders."

New Zealand (probable) - Stephen Fleming (captain), Matt Horne, Nathan Astle, Criag McMillan, Roger Twose, Chris Cairns, Chris Harris, Adam Parore, Dion Nash, Gavin Larsen, Geoff Allott, Daniel Vettori.

Pakistan (from): Wasim Akram (captain), Saeed Anwar, Abdul Razzaq, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousef Youhana, Salim Malik, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wajahatullah Wasti, Waqar Younis.