Cricket: Sail gives Aces urgent message

By RICHARD BOOCK

When it comes to one-day cricket, the fine line between urgent and reckless batting is often the difference between winning and losing.

Former New Zealand coach Glenn Turner liked to say "play all the shots you can, just don't get out," and his Auckland Aces counterpart Tony Sail has adopted a similar philosophy in the lead-up to today's Shell Cup semi-final against Northern Districts.

Disappointed that Auckland were unable to beat Canterbury on Wednesday and qualify directly for the finals, Sail has asked his top-order batsmen to make more use of the early fielding restrictions when they walk out on to Eden Park's Outer Oval this afternoon.

Auckland mustered a modest 208 against Canterbury and Sail said there was not enough intensity in the batting early-on, despite a solid innings from Aaron Barnes and a fairly quick half-century from Dion Nash.

"I thought we were a little bit flat when we batted," he said last night." And it's something we've talked about since. Aaron batted well enough but didn't get as much of the strike as he should have, and as a result we only made a slowish start.

"You're always looking to improve on all aspects of your game, but I thought that was one area in which we could have done a lot better."

Sail said he was also aware of Auckland's terrible Shell Cup record against Northern Districts and knew his players were particularly keen to address the imbalance.

Of the previous 10 Shell Cup matches between the rivals, Auckland have lost eight, including the past six matches at Eden Park.

"There's obviously a big incentive for the players, not just in terms of this competition but also in terms of the recent record," said Sail, who yesterday retained the same squad which played Canterbury for the sudden-death semi.

Auckland's main problem today, however, might well involve the plan to accelerate the scoring against one of the most dangerous attacks in the competition.

In Simon Doull, Scott Styris, Alex Tait, Daniel Vettori and Daryl Tuffey, Northern's strength lies as much in their ability to defend as it does in their batting - which has been strengthened a shade today with the return of Robbie Hart for stand-in wicket-keeper Nathan Daley.

All-rounder Grant Bradburn, who is set to play his 100th Shell Cup match, adds balance to the line-up, while the use of Vettori as an opening batsman has given an extra dimension to Northern's top-order.

Coach Chris Kuggeleijn was excited about the form of his bowlers and the flexibility resulting from the batting form of Styris and Vettori.

Doull, in only his second big game back since recovering from a serious knee injury, bowled seven overs on Wednesday and took two wickets - the prized scalps of Central Districts' Mathew Sinclair and Craig Spearman.

"I'm very pleased with our bowling," said Kuggeleijn yesterday." We're just starting to hit our straps.

"Doullie has got it pretty much right already; Tuffey's bowling as well as anyone right now, and Styris, Vettori and Tait are on top of their games."

The match stars at noon.

Auckland: Blair Pocock (captain), Aaron Barnes, Lou Vincent, Andre Adams, John Aiken, Richard King, Dion Nash, Tama Canning, Reece Young, Kyle Mills, Brooke Walker, Chris Drum.

Northern Districts: Robbie Hart (captain), Daniel Vettori, Michael Parlane, Neale Parlane, Scott Styris, Mark Bailey, Grant Bradburn, Hamish Marshall, Alex Tait, Daryl Tuffey, Simon Doull, Joey Yovich.