Mark Richardson: Pressure on to deliver a quality State Shield

With two rounds of the State Shield completed since the Black Caps have been free of international duty, so many absences concern me.

You see, it's that time of the year again. A tricky and sensitive time when New Zealand Cricket (NZC) must balance the physical and mental wellbeing of top players with the need to ensure our domestic game is as strong as possible.

There's no denying that a strong domestic competition develops strength and depth at international level and, wherever possible, NZC have tried to ensure national players are available to play for their provinces. In fact, in a six-team competition from a country of only four million, you simply can't remove 11 of your best players and expect a top-flight level of competition. Second-tier players need to benchmark against the best and the national incumbents need to compete against each other.

With the Sri Lankan series over and the first game of the West Indies tour not until February 16, the Black Caps are available for the second half and business end of the State Shield limited overs competition. It is arguable as to whether or not this is the premier domestic competition in this country. It is the one that brings in the most crowd interest and the finals are televised and, with the way international schedules seem to work, all our cricketers are available for a good chunk of it - if NZC allows them.

It caused a rift last season between senior Sky TV commentators and the NZC when the standard of the domestic game was continually questioned and it boiled over when New Zealand withdrew top players from the North Island vs South Island fixture, which essentially cheapened what should have been a showcase game.

We need quality cricket played between now and the West Indies arriving as we develop an extended squad for the World Cup.

While, at this stage, I give NZC the benefit of the doubt and accept that the absences are a result of legitimate injuries, I also say that now - with quite some time until the World Cup in the Caribbean - is not the time to be precious with our cricketing resources.

Styris, Oram, Vettori, McCullum, Vincent, Cairns, Franklin, Adams, Mills, Fleming and Bond have all missed games in the last week. At this stage, while I accept that probably couldn't have been avoided, I hope NZC is not beginning a 'cotton wool' approach to player development.

An Auckland team that goes from Lou Vincent, Paul Hitchcock, Richard Jones, Scott Styris, Rob Nicol, Tama Canning, Kyle Mills, Andre Adams, Reese Young, Kerry Walmsley, Chris Martin to a team that does not include Vincent, Styris, Mills, Adams and Martin is not good for New Zealand cricket, if you get my drift.