Cricket: Tip for top - Play the man, not the country

Playing the man, not the country, will be key for New Zealand's top order batsmen like Tim McIntosh. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's inexperienced top-order batsmen could do a lot worse than take a good hard look at the men they will face when the first test starts against Australia tomorrow.

Amid the doom and gloom perspectives that openers Tim McIntosh and BJ Watling and under-pressure No 3 choice Peter Ingram face a rough time, it's worth remembering that they're not up against Lillee and Thomson; McDermott and Hughes; or McGrath, Gillespie and Lee, Australia's new-ball champions of the past 30 years.

The new ball is likely to be in the hands of Doug Bollinger, Clint McKay or Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson.

While left-armer Johnson is a class operator, as 143 wickets in 32 tests at 28.45 - including 29 in his past six tests - amply illustrates, the others, whichever permutation Australia opt for, are skinny on test experience.

Playing the man, not the country, will be key for New Zealand's top order.

Bollinger, 28 and raw, has taken 27 wickets at 24.11 in six tests, and did well against the West Indies and Pakistan in the early New Year. But at times he bowled like a drain in the limited-overs segment of the New Zealand tour.

McKay has played one test - one for 101 against the West Indies at Perth - and was only called in for the dead-rubber ODI at Wellington last weekend.

Harris is uncapped in tests, but has made a strong fist of his ODI debut in the past couple of months.

Between them, McIntosh, Watling and Ingram can muster 14 tests. McIntosh has been in good domestic form for Auckland; Watling and Ingram are starting their third and second tests respectively. They all have much to prove, but should not fear Australia's new-ball heavies.

"Bollinger is a hustly, bustly type of bowler, he hits the deck, but I think we've played him reasonably well," key New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor said yesterday.

"[McKay and Harris] are good bowlers in their own right. We've got inexperience at the top of our order. Is it a weak link [for Australia]? Yes it probably is, but any Australian side is going to be tough."

Both teams will need to find someone to do the donkey work into the anticipated breeze, which is an ever-present element of Basin Reserve cricket.

Fast-medium Iain O'Brien made himself first cab off that rank for New Zealand until his premature retirement before Christmas.

Daryl Tuffey and Tim Southee can expect to do their bit, plus captain Dan Vettori and, if he plays, local offspinner Jeetan Patel.

New Zealand's bowling coach, Shane Jurgensen, pointed out yesterday that although the wind can be a chore, it is not necessarily a hindrance.

"It's really about the bowler himself being as balanced as possible," the former Queensland and Tasmanian seamer said yesterday.

"There can be a lot of positives bowling into the wind. The ball will swing.

"But it's a bit of a drain on the brain obviously, because it just wears you down. It's a matter of trying to create consistency.

"Once you get used to the wind, it can be a useful weapon."

Even so, it's unlikely bowlers on both sides will be putting their hands up for what can be a physically exhausting exercise.

New Zealand's batting backup, experienced Mathew Sinclair, is expected to be released tomorrow morning back to Central Districts for their Plunket Shield game against Auckland starting on Saturday.

Either Patel or fourth fast-medium contender Brent Arnel will miss the final XI.

FIRST TEST
* New Zealand v Australia
* Basin Reserve, Wellington
* Starts 11am tomorrow