Cricket: Selectors' world one of eternal optimism

By RICHARD BOOCK

It's hard not to think of the Emperor's New Clothes when it comes to the performance of the New Zealand cricketers this summer.

Never mind the riches-to-rags story since Kenya and the consecutive series losses to Zimbabwe, the national team are now garbed in an exciting new cloth which, depending on whom you talk to, reflects the success of their rebuilding programme, and the optimism which abounds over the 2003 World Cup.

They might have lost seven of their previous eight one-dayers and not won any of their past four tests, but the air remains laden with a Carry-on-Regardless attitude when it comes to the philosophy of selection. Sunday's ignominious defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe seems to have done nothing to change that.

Despite the plea for optimism, the question right now does not so much involve whether New Zealand will improve enough for the next World Cup, as much as whether they have improved at all since losing their front-line bowling attack late last year.

Whatever compliments might have been extended to some of the new players, the fact remains that Sunday's 273 is the highest total New Zealand have failed to defend in their one-day international history, a staggering statistic considering the opposition were at one stage 64 for five in reply, and the venue was Eden Park.

A side with a fraction of the player resources of New Zealand, Zimbabwe had been just as badly affected by absences, having lost Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin to defections, and Paul Strang, Grant Flower and, for most of the series, Dirk Viljoen, to injury.

But they still appeared a bigger threat with the bat than New Zealand, and did enough in the field to suggest that the home side might not have made as much progress as initially thought, particularly in the key areas targeted since the loss of Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori and Dion Nash.

So far the bowling at the death has proved about as dependable as a helicopter's ejector seat, the opening batting combination is far from resolved, and the issue of who is New Zealand's No 2 spinner behind Vettori remains unclear.

One of the chief reasons given for the omission of Shayne O'Connor was his inability to restrict the scoring at the end of the innings. Yet he was replaced by Chris Martin - the most expensive bowler in Shell Cup history - who was promptly destroyed in the first match at Taupo.

New Zealand gave up 90 runs off the last 10 overs in that match and 75 at Eden Park, rekindling memories of their struggles in South Africa, when they were often savaged at the end of the innings.

Mathew Sinclair's 85 at Wellington caused some faint hopes that a solution might have been found for the opening-batting concerns, but his failures in the other matches highlighted an inconsistency which could yet undermine his claims.

On the slow-bowling front, it was difficult to know who was New Zealand's front-line spinner after Brooke Walker and Paul Wiseman bowled a combined total of four overs in the series. The answer may be neither, since they conceded 35 runs between them.

No wonder, then, that all eyes are on Vettori and his reportedly encouraging recovery from a back injury.

The 22-year-old spinner bowled five overs yesterday for Northern Districts B, and may be considered as an all-rounder for the Knights' Shell Cup match against Otago at Oamaru on Friday.