Mark Richardson: Kane can bowl but he'll be watched very closely

Tom Latham is a strong World Cup contender. Photo / Photosport

I sat down the other day to try to work out the perfect Black Caps team to play the first World Cup match.

In my perfect team, in my perfect world, I hoped I would not need Kane Williamson to bowl.

It's good news he's allowed to bowl again but I worry that, in time and after enough competitive pressure, he might revert to what came naturally for so long - throwing.

And so I pencilled some names in batting order: Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Cory Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills.

This is my A team right now.

I'm sorry, Brendon, but if you aren't going to play Tom Latham as an opener then you have to do the job. If the plan is to have an aggressor at the top to alleviate the early scoring pressure off Guptill, then McCullum is the perfect man.

But the game has changed and, with small boundaries, big bats, improved hitting techniques and the mid-innings powerplay, a gradual acceleration can be just as effective as the fast start.

My A team is light in bowling.

If Williamson doesn't bowl, then I have only five bowlers and it would be an outrageous risk to ask all five to bowl their full allotment of 10 over each.

I've come to realise I have no perfect world to work in and, so, Williamson must bowl.

I could bring in Mitchell McClenaghan for Latham.

I don't like that option because, all of sudden, I have a long tail and you must have batsmen in the batting power play later in the innings.

I'm loathe to drop Ronchi and have Latham keep because Ronchi has just started to become a really good international player and I don't want to see him regress through lack of play.

So once again I'm scratching my head and thinking, 'what if Williamson's bendy arm comes back?'

Have no doubts, the ICC will be watching very closely with their showpiece just round the corner.

With Williamson on report and the search for an opener a major priority, a great opportunity exists for Anton Devcich.

He must, however, prove he's more than a stop-gap measure because there are other, more classy players who it would be foolish to leave out just for the sake of a bits-and-pieces cricketer.

Then I started looking further afield and deeper at the squad of 30 and one name popped out at me - Grant Elliott.

If I want a specialist top-five player who bowls well, Jesse Ryder is my first pick. But that's not going to happen.

Williamson comes next but that's risky and, given I want to play both specialist spinners in McCullum and Vettori, then a top-five batsman who bowls seam up would be great. After all, how useful was Scott Styris?

Keep your eye on Grant Elliott this season.

He's been pivotal in Wellington's limited-overs success. I prefer Latham or McCullum at five but I'd be quite comfortable with Elliott's experience and overs in that spot.