Cricket: Solid Stead cements regular test place

Gritty Canterbury cricketer Gary Stead has secured a place in New Zealand's next test team against the West Indies in December, but where he will bat is unclear, national selection panel convener Ross Dykes said yesterday.

Dykes acknowledged that Stead had now twice successfully answered an SOS call from the team.

Each time Stead has replaced injured fellow Cantabrian Craig McMillan and succeeded, first against South Africa in March, and yesterday he top-scored with 78 to help New Zealand draw the third test against India at Ahmedabad after arriving just two days before the match began.

Dykes said that because Stead had twice been summoned for a patch-up job and twice succeeded, he must be a frontrunner for future selections.

Dykes was uncertain what batting role Stead would fulfil against the West Indies.

"Whether that will be as an opening bat or down the order has still to be determined, depending on circumstances when we come to pick the team."

Dykes said Stead had shown the right temperament and ability to cope with the pressures at test level.

He felt that might have come from having to fight for everything in Canterbury, where he was never assured of a place in the side when the New Zealand players were available.

"Because of that he is determined to make the most of every opportunity," Dykes said.

Stead has now made 223 runs from five test innings at an average of 44.6.

His performance may also earn him a place in the New Zealand one-day side for the five-game series against India starting tomorrow.

Dykes said opener Matthew Bell, who Stead replaced, would have ample opportunities to regain form during the North Island and New Zealand A matches in coming weeks.

Yesterday's 131-run partnership between Stead and Matthew Horne was New Zealand's first substantial opening stand since Craig Spearman and Roger Twose added 214 against Zimbabwe in 1995-96.

Horne and Bryan Young put on 107 against South Africa at Christchurch last season, but that was late in a rain-ruined match destined for a draw.

Apart from that stand, seven combinations of different openers had failed to post 100 together in 55 test innings, underlining the problem position.

New Zealand might have lost the series to India 0-1, but they will come away from the experience a better test cricket side, according to captain Stephen Fleming.

New Zealand batted out for draws in the first and third tests in Mohali and Ahmedabad, while India won the second in Kanpur by eight wickets.

It was a series featuring good fightbacks by the tourists in each match, but it was also one of chances missed to put real pressure on the home side.

New Zealand dismissed the home side for 83 in the first innings in Mohali, won an important toss in Kanpur and then pegged back the Indian first innings there when it looked like ballooning out to a big total.

But they failed to take full advantage on each occasion, with top-order collapses proving a major frustration until the last innings of the series.

Fleming believed the 0-1 result was a fair indication of the difference between the teams.

"India have the best batsmen, I think, in the world and their bowlers know how to bowl to these types of wickets," he said.

He noted that the majority of the New Zealanders had not played a test in India before, and he always believed a tour of the subcontinent was the toughest because of the harsh and alien conditions.

He said a side more experienced in the conditions and in test cricket could have made more of the opportunities that arose.

"It was a huge learning curve for us and there are a lot of ifs and buts, and we're disappointed with that," he said. "But to be put through the wringer a few times and also to have some success is great for making us more rounded players, and we'll go back to New Zealand a better test side."

The top wicket-taker for New Zealand was left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori with 12, including his second-best test return of six for 127 in Kanpur, while Dion Nash's six for 27 in Mohali were his best test figures and the best by a New Zealander in a test in India. Chris Cairns passed his father, Lance, on the list of New Zealand test wicket-takers, his five in the series taking him to 133 and third spot.