New Zealand Cricket's board of selectors today named the squad to contest
the one-day tri-series starting in Sri Lanka in mid-July. The selectors have
opted for a number of all-round players, with just two specialist pace
bowlers, James Franklin and Darryl Tuffey. There were choices to be made,
and the selectors have chosen to reward those players who performed well
during the Sharjah one-day tournament. But most discussion surrounding the
team has concerned the injury-status of front-line New Zealand bowlers,
invalided out of the side last year. Included in the fourteen players named
were Dion Nash and Daniel Vettori, both returning after back injuries placed
them on the long-term injured list.
Left-arm orthodox spinner Daniel Vettori, 22, played every Test for New
Zealand since his debut until he broke down in the Second Test against
Australia in early 2000. He returned briefly when New Zealand toured
Zimbabwe in September of that year, but was soon on his way home again with
stress fractures in his spine. Vettori returned to the New Zealand side for
a handful of one-day games last summer, but missed the three-Test series
against Pakistan with continuing back stiffness.
Vettori's absence from the Test was presented as largely precautionary,
despite speculation in unofficial circles that he had come back too soon. He
was placed on what New Zealand Cricket termed a "conservative"
rehabilitation program, focusing on strength training, and an increasing
bowling-workload. At the beginning of the year it was hoped that Vettori
would return to the New Zealand side in a full capacity for the Sri Lanka
tour. Vettori's own feeling that he was on track and ready to return to the
side had been confirmed with his selection today.
All-rounder and medium-fast bowler Dion Nash, 29, has a longer history of
back problems. He lost two years of his international career when he
suffered stress fractures in his lower back in 1996. Written off by most, he
returned to the national side in early 1998. Nash enjoyed considerable
success during his "second coming", which saw career-best performances with
both bat and ball, and a stint at the national captaincy. Nash's injury
troubles resumed in October 1999, however, when he suffered a prolapsed
disc. He returned for the home series against the West Indies, but that
comeback was short-lived, and he missed the entire Australian series with
another set of stress fractures.
Nash, like Vettori, went to Zimbabwe with the New Zealand side. Never
fully-fit, he played the Second Test only because Vettori had been forced
out with injury. Nash broke down again during that game, and has not bowled
again for New Zealand since. Unlike fellow multiple stress-fracture victim
and team-mate Geoff Allott, however, Nash did not give in. He played the
home season as a batsman for his domestic side, Auckland and, towards the
end of the series, began to bowl a few overs.
According to many commentators, Nash's international career was over, but
Nash is best known on the cricket field as a fighter, and he once again took
on the challenge of regaining fitness and getting back into the national
side. Since the end of the New Zealand season, he trained with an ultimate
aim of returning to the New Zealand side for their tour to Australia at the
end of the year. Named in the squad for Sri Lanka, Nash is back earlier than
anyone expected.
What these two players offer the Black Caps in terms of cricketing talent
and fighting spirit cannot be doubted. Having been declared available, that
they would probably both be selected became obvious from Hadlee's comments
over the last week or so. In this sense the selection of Nash and Vettori is
not surprising, but two serious questions linger over their selection: have
they been brought back too soon, and have they returned at the undue expense
of promising, less-senior players?
The answers can be revealed only with time, but one should not forget that
New Zealand was in a very similar position a year ago. During the African
tour, three players - Nash, Vettori, and Allott - made "false-starts" to
their comebacks. Allott retired earlier this year, Vettori, though barely
more than twenty, was absent for most of a year, and grave doubts still hang
over Nash's fitness. Chris Cairns too, though he played substantially more
cricket than the other three, suffered from playing on while injured. His
knee finally degenerated to the point where Cairns required surgery early
this year, and is not expected to be fit before New Zealand's tour of
Pakistan. The same time last year can be read as an inauspicious parallel.
Vettori is thought to be finally over his back trouble, which was perhaps
related to a growth spurt. But for Nash, who has lost half his international
career to injuries, back problems can hardly be described as an aberration.
Nash is currently reported to be bowling only at 80% intensity: almost
exactly the same position he was said to be in during the Zimbabwean tour
last year. While Convenor of Selectors, Sir Richard Hadlee, suggests that
this will lift over the next month, and expects Nash to contribute in an
all-round capacity, surely the horror-story of last year recommends a more
wary approach than the optimism which has bubbled from most quarters over
the last week or so.
It would be foolish to write Nash off, as has been proved in the past. His
determination is universally acknowledged. He took two years to come back
once before, but he did come back and when he did, the results were
certainly worth it. But it is important that his latest comebacks - and the
returns of Vettori, Cairns, and other injured players - not be rushed.
In the mean-time, New Zealand Cricket is wise look to the half-dozen
promising new players trialled in the national side as a result of last
season's injury glut. Lou Vincent, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, James Franklin
and Grant Bradburn have already been rewarded with selection for Sri Lanka.
Off-spinner Paul Wiseman and left-arm pace bowler Shayne O'Connor, both more
experienced than any of the above, were unlucky to miss out. These players
have been placed on stand-by - perhaps betraying the selectors' own lack of
faith in the fitness of the team they have chosen.
Batsmen, too, have missed out. Hit-or-miss Matthew Sinclair will have to
fire, and Craig McMillan will have to continue with the sublime form he
discovered during the home season. Nathan Astle and Stephen Fleming must
find form, or New Zealand will struggle. While New Zealand could field a
side batting virtually down to eleven, the emphasis on all-rounders means
the batting reads a little sparsely. Sinclair is not yet a proven substitute
for Roger Twose (probably retired), and Dion Nash, below full fitness,
cannot fill the gap left by Chris Cairns (recovering from a knee operation).
Also, arguably, the back-up required for bowlers of uncertain fitness has
come at the expense of greater batting depth.
While unfortunate for those players who have missed out, this is also a
positive: for the first time in a long time, New Zealand Cricket's selectors
have the luxury of choice. It is only unfortunate that they do not have the
luxury of taking a larger squad. A rotation policy would be an ideal system
for introducing new players and re-introducing injured players. The reduced
workload on any individual would also help prevent injuries. Naturally,
there has been support for a scheme such as this from players like Dion
Nash.
