Mark Richardson: Versatility is the key ingredient

Players such as Corey Anderson are crucial for the future success of NZ cricket. Photo / Getty Images

When I was a kid things were so much easier: Wright, Edgar, Reid, Crowe M, Crowe J, Coney, Hadlee, Smith, Cairns, Bracewell, Chatfield ... that was the New Zealand cricket team.

Sometimes it changed a bit with injury, positions three and five fluctuated a bit, and maybe the spinner's spot was contested but mostly it was stable and, more importantly, it was mostly reliable.

Times have changed though and, with them, our cricket team. An abundance of 50-over and T20 cricket led to specialist teams with specialist players and as a result, naming Black Caps teams is a complicated business.

Could it be simple again like the 80s?

Probably not - but it's my belief that is the ideal for any selector. What we have to do is create international players - not test players, not ODI players, not T20 players ... international players.

They should be players capable of making that jump to the international stage. This is because, in our little pond of players, we do not have the numbers to front comfortably with three vastly different teams.

You will always end up with your specialists - you just have to look at the way my career panned out - but that is something that should develop in the latter stages of one's career.

Most promising cricketers in this country are key in all forms at provincial level and any young cricketer should be striving to be a step ahead of the rest in every game of cricket played for their province, regardless of which form of the game is involved. These are players we must be looking for; people who perform.

We are looking for the Kane Williamsons, the Daniel Vettoris, the Ross Taylors, the Jesse Ryders, the Tim Southees ... these are our true cricketers. These are the guys who 'work it out'. Before them, it was the likes of Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle.

These kind of players do exist; the key is to grow this core because the more international cricket a player can play, the more likely he is to become world-class.

This is why players like Hamish Rutherford, BJ Watling, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, Nathan McCullum and Corey Anderson are so crucial for the future success of New Zealand cricket. These are players capable of growing the core and ensuring our talent at the international level is not spread too thinly.

This will always be a philosophical debate of selection. Are your best cricketers your best cricketers regardless, or is it easier to ask a player to focus on the key skills of one form of cricket to accelerate learning?

The answer to the first part of the question is 'ideally' and the answer to the second part is 'most likely'. But factor this in - no young player in this country wants to be a specialist.