Hockey: New blood, old worries

Kevin Towns is taking a mix and match approach for the four-test Malaysian series.

Forced, for a number of reasons, to include a number of young and inexperienced players, Towns is using the matches as a chance to cast his selectorial eye over many players, including the 10 who will make their international debuts.

Towns is keen to give every player game time. He has already named the teams for each of the four tests, guaranteeing every player of at least two matches.

"We are determined to get as much as we can from the series and that means looking at all the players as often as we can," Towns said.

"It is the chance for the players to put their mark in the sand and for us to see what they can do and what they have to do.

"The series is a bit of a mixture. The players have the opportunity to consolidate their place in the national squad and, at the same time, press for selection for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia."

That tournament takes place in a couple of months.

It will be a balancing act for Towns and his co-selectors with the 21 players named to play Malaysia to be considered along with the 10 players unavailable for these tests.

Two of those players, Ryan Archibald and Gareth Brooks (both out because of work commitments), have been named by Towns in a Northern Region X1 for a warm-up match against the visitors on Monday night.

"Not since 2000 have we had the opportunity to look at so many new players," Towns said. "We could be looking at around 35 players in training squads after these matches which will give us time to come up with a national squad to take us through to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"After the Azlan Shah tournament we will have a training camp, in part to prepare for the European tour. Playing four matches against a team of Malaysia's ability at this time of the year will be hard work but we have to take any chance for international hockey we can get.

"They deserve to start as favourites. In Wallace Tan, Malaysia have a new coach who was in Pakistan to watch us, and other teams, at the Champions Trophy in December," Towns said.

"Under German coach Paul Lissek they were seen as under-achievers. This series will give Malaysia the chance to get back to playing their own style of hockey under a Malaysian coach.

"I'm expecting a more Asian style. They will go man-to-man and play a zonal game with three up front. They will go back to a more traditional style of hockey."

Led by defender, and captain, Kuhan Shanmuganathan who has played an amazing 272 internationals, the visitors have amassed 1529 internationals between them at an average of 85 each. New Zealand, headed by Darren Smith's 179, have 763 between them at 35 a player.

For Towns the challenge will be in moulding his mixture of old and new.

The series starts at the new-look Crown Relocations Stadium at Albany on Tuesday. They will play again in Hamilton on Thursday before two tests in Auckland.