Cricket: Opener with different strokes

By RICHARD BOOCK

Say what you like about Mark Richardson, but he must be one of the few New Zealand cricketers who can pack their bags for the tour of Africa and fly the plane there as well.

By far the most interesting deelopment in this assembly-line, academy-stamped era of New Zealand cricket, the former Aucklander seems likely to be included in the early-season touring party after successfully negotiating yet another significant career change.

His double-century while opening the batting for New Zealand A against Sussex last week followed a string of useful contributions in his new role and - just for good measure - was scored in front of an audience which included David Trist, Sir Richard Hadlee, Martin and Jeff Crowe and Chris Doig.

At 29, Richardson looms as one of the New Zealand's oldest international prospects since the days of Andrew Jones and, like the former test No 3, has been forced to overcome a misconception that he is a dangerously independent thinker and a potential threat to the rules of conformity.

In fact, if a poll had been run a few years ago on which New Zealand cricketer was the ultimate five-ball over, the mildly eccentric left-hander would have been immediately installed as favourite.

He was a space-cadet, some said unkindly, tapping at their foreheads. As it happened they were nearly right - he was soon to hold his commercial pilot's licence.

If there were those who recognised his extraordinary ability to change and adjust, first from a bowler into a middle-order batsman and then into a top-class opener, there were also those who preferred to dwell on the fragility that undermined his progress in the first place.

The apparent "problem" was that Richardson was unorthodox, he was different, and because of that he scared people.

He talked openly of things such as fear and uncertainty, of opponents' strengths and of his own weaknesses.

In the world of testosterone-charged dressing-rooms he was often considered a lone spirit, and in the eyes of some a liability.

"Positive thinking has never been my strong point," he chuckled yesterday. "It's something I'm always having to work on because it doesn't come naturally. I think I'm improving ... but, well, I'm not sure."

The bright light on the slow-bowling horizon during the early 1990s, he transferred south to play for Otago in 1992-93, and only a season later found his career in ruins, his rhythm deserted, his self-belief shattered.

Spin? He couldn't land the ball, let alone turn it.

"I just woke up one morning and couldn't bowl," Richardson said.

"I started getting the yips at the point of release, and I couldn't seem to do anything about it."

Confused and humiliated by the change in fortunes, Richardson swapped his cricket gear for a surfboard in the 1993-94 summer and goofy-footed his way around Dunedin's beaches, during which time he struck on the idea of re-launching himself as a batsman.

The transformation was astonishing. He won a middle-order berth in the Otago side after scoring prolifically in the early season, and ended the summer with two first-class centuries to his name - the second of which was scored against a particularly angry West Indian side at Carisbrook.

This was the match in which Richardson made the mistake of reminding star batsman Brian Lara about Zoe Goss, the Australian women's cricketer who dismissed him during a then-recent exhibition match.

If nothing else, the barrage that followed highlighted his rare ability against the short ball.

Now with nine-first-class centuries to his name, the whimsical opener mounts a strong case for further promotion.

No other New Zealand player has scored so many hundreds without being asked to play for his country, and, unlike some of the incumbents, Richardson has been forced to over-achieve just in order to be considered.

Former New Zealand off-spinner, coach and manager Gren Alabaster once said the Otago batsman had huge potential because of his self-help, No 8 wire-type of approach to the game.

"I think he might go a long way as a batsman," Alabaster said.

"But I also think that once he's established, once he's got his confidence back, his bowling will return. A top-order batsman and a part-time spinner ... he could be a very useful indeed."