Mark Richardson: We've done the hard slog

Adam Milne of the Black Caps. Photo / Getty Images

It's time to chill out. In athletics terms, it's time to taper.

There's been so much talk, and we are all guilty of it, about the Black Caps. Are they ready, are they good enough to win the World Cup and have they got the team sorted?

Quite frankly, the time has come to sit back, accept the work has been done and go with what you've got.

The amount of changes made to the team who played Pakistan yesterday suggests to me the Black Caps have reached a point where they pretty much know what they're doing and who will be doing it.

While playing cricket is not exactly like running 1500m, there still must be a point when you understand that pushing harder in training will no longer help. In fact, it can do more harm than good.

The World Cup will be a pressure-filled environment, relentless in the intensity players must bring game after game. The Black Caps need to be good from the start and grow throughout.

The best thing management can do now is make everyone aware of what their role will be and allow them to freshen up for the intensity of what is to come. Not everyone can rest but you can't have people exhausting themselves as they feel they are playing every warm up game as a trial game.

Tapering for peaking is a difficult period for athletes, I hear. You don't want to loose fitness but you don't want to tire yourself both physically and mentally. This period usually means short bursts at race pace and large chunks of easy recovery. It's time to understand exactly where you are at, what you are capable of doing and then game plan accordingly. I see the Black Caps at this point.

The uncomfortable grind of what athletes call 'quality' is done. It was tough, it was focused and it was tiring. It's now time to remain sharp but get fresh. So that means plenty of rest for key players, particularly the bowlers.

Don't ask me to pick the starting bowlers because I could only speculate but what I hope is that the bowling attack is firm in the mind of Brendon McCullum and Mike Hesson because any training now must be short, sharp and totally focused on preferred roles.

What I will say is that Kyle Mills was fabulous yesterday and I fully endorse the use of him straight through from overs one through 20. This puts pressure on the three who bowl overs 35 through 50 but every over is important and I'd always take a cheap 10 when it's on offer.

Adam Milne looked good, too, and definitely demonstrated why they want his extra pace in the camp. His rib injury is a risk - so too is his inexperience and tendency to get hit from time to time. He could be a horses-for-courses addition and played against teams who can be flustered by pace.

Finally, I have to say, thank goodness for Pakistan. A change is as good as a break and, while Sri Lanka were good on Thursday, it was all getting a bit stale.

But throw Lasith Malinga into the mix on February 14 and that Sri Lankan bowling team will feel nothing like the one the Black Caps have spent the last month facing.