Cricket: Trist not pushing A squad to make top side

By RICHARD BOOCK

The dangers of promoting young cricketers beyond their level of competence has been occupying the mind of national coach David Trist.

Whatever the success of the New Zealand A squad in England, Trist is wary of fast-tracking any of the younger brigade into the senior side, and suggests the tour should be instead viewed as an investment in "tomorrow's" team.

Speaking yesterday from Cheltenham, where the A cricketers were preparing for their one-dayer against Gloucestershire, Trist said the touring exercise had proved extremely useful for his side in terms of development and experience.

"This tour's never been about finding some quick-fix solution for the senior team, but rather about making a long-term investment in our player-depth," he said.

"Barring a couple of places, the New Zealand team looks pretty settled, so the next step for most of these guys will be to return to their provinces, to apply what they've learned on tour, and to build on the experience."

Of the 15-strong touring party, only the late-blossoming Mark Richardson seems assured of making the next step up, although Scott Styris remains a strong ODI candidate, and Daryl Tuffey will push for a place among the injury-plagued pace force.

The 29-year-old Richardson has emerged as a possible solution for New Zealand's top-order batting problems after scoring 544 first-class runs at 77.71 in his new opening role, including an unbeaten 212 against Sussex.

Apart from his contribution, however, few of the other batsmen used in the first-class section of the tour have scored heavily enough, with the young Michael Papps and Jarrod Englefield so far totalling 175 at 29.16 and 215 at 26.87 respectively.

At the other end of the averages, promising Northern Districts right-hander James Marshall has been plagued by leg-before problems (129 at 18.42), while Central Districts' Jacob Oram has scraped together just 93 runs at 13.28.

Ironically, Central batsman Glen Sulzburger has impressed as the most successful bowler of the tour, his off-spin not only responsible for 23 first-class wickets at 17.08, but a complete reassessment of his all-round potential.

"Glen has a possible future at the next level," Trist said. "He's not quite there yet, but he's dismissed a lot of left-handers over here and is an interesting prospect.

"He's taken this opportunity to re-present his case and, like a lot of the other players, he now needs to continue his development in New Zealand and make the most of his opportunity.

"We're confident this tour will pay off in terms of enlarging our pool of potential candidates. Players have been given an insight into the demands and standards required at this level, not to mention the various strategies and tactics we covet."

The tourists play their final match against MCC at Oxford starting tomorrow, before departing for New Zealand on Saturday.

A slightly-altered New Zealand A squad will then tour India in September, under the guidance of manager and new national convener of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee, and coach Dayle Hadlee.