Cricket: Test team of last men standing

By RICHARD BOOCK

BLOEMFONTEIN - Another town, another injury.

Just when it seemed the New Zealand cricketers had put the worst of their fitness problems behind them, all-rounder Scott Styris was laid low by a knee injury yesterday and is now in doubt for the first test against South Africa.

Styris missed an optional practice at Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein because of the problem and will have his knee examined again today before a decision is made on his availability for the test, which starts tomorrow.

The only redeeming factor was that Styris was unlikely to make the cut anyway because New Zealand seem set to play Daryl Tuffey and Chris Martin alongside the team's most senior paceman, Shayne O'Connor, in a bid to find enough penetration to bowl the powerful Proteas out.

With that in mind, the New Zealand side for the test is becoming fairly simple to predict, because only 11 genuine test prospects are fully fit.

Of the squad of 15, Styris and Paul Wiseman are carrying injuries, while Hamish Marshall and Kerry Walmsley are unlikely to be required, leaving the tour selectors with one of their more simple tasks on this four-month-long odyssey.

The only remaining question surrounds whether Tuffey or Martin will partner O'Connor with the new ball, and on recent evidence it seems Tuffey might get the responsibility.

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said yesterday that Styris was still in the frame, but made enough positive comments about Tuffey to suggest his side would embrace as many attacking options as possible.

"We put more of the onus on Daryl at Potchestroom and he did the job well, I thought," Fleming said. "I believe he is more of a new ball bowler because he has got the height and the bounce and, if he gets that little bit of movement away, he can prove quite awkward.

"I've been quite excited about his progress and it's just a mental game for him now. If he can stay in the channel for long enough he is going to be a threat."

Apart from the scare over Styris, the main concern for the tourists is whether they can come up to speed over the next day or two to match a South African side who completely dominated the one-day series.

The two practice games so far have not exactly extended Fleming's men, with Boland proving mostly harmless and North-West a huge disappointment in what was supposed to be a test dress-rehearsal.

While all top six New Zealand batsmen were able to take advantage of the situation, and the bowlers were similarly dominant, the fear is that South Africa will be playing on a different level when the test starts.

"The batting has been good, but I guess you've got to question the calibre of the opposition," Fleming said. "South Africa have four or five quality seamers, who will provide a genuine challenge, but I think we've done all we can under the circumstances."

As for the bowling attack, which is shaping as the greenest combination since Nandor Tanczos and Jeanette Fitzsimons joined forces, Fleming said there was an opportunity to surprise the hosts with a disciplined and patient approach with the ball. If the line-up is chosen as expected, O'Connor's 14 test caps will amount to 13 more than Tuffey, and 14 more than Martin or leg-spinner Brooke Walker.

"The bowling still lacks experience, which could play a part at some stage," Fleming said. "But I think there's now an opportunity for us to take 20 wickets where, only a week ago, there were some question marks over that.

"It looked to me that we had more penetration in the last game, so if we get conditions in the test which provide pace and bounce, we will be in the game, which from my point of view is fairly pleasing."