Adaptability has become a byword for New Zealand teams over the last 10 years, and it will be required again of the side captain Stephen Fleming leads into the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo
Lynn McConnell24-Apr-2003Adaptability has become a byword for New Zealand teams over the last 10 years, and it will be required again of the side captain Stephen Fleming leads into the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.For a country, headed only by Zimbabwe as the least-resourced in terms of player numbers in the cricket world, New Zealand have had to demonstrate their quick-fix, or in the local vernacular, their No 8 wire mentality where doing things on the cheap has become an art form, time and again.Injuries hit a country like New Zealand hard. When they involve key players, they are a double loss – not only for their own value for their contribution of skill and experience but also because their replacements tend to be still finding their feet while attempting to learn their craft at international level.The absence of key players has been probably the one constant in Fleming’s 49-Test career as captain.He’s learned how to cope and even if he doesn’t enjoy not having his first choice firepower to call on, he at least understands the problems his newer charges are having.So it is again, as New Zealand go into a match, in the tough conditions expected in Sri Lanka at this time of year, without Chris Cairns, Nathan Astle and Craig McMillan – only the latter missing on matters of form rather than injury.For all that, the use of stand-ins over the years has given New Zealand a wider pool of players to have at least experienced more than a few Tests, and it is drawing on this resource to get results that will determine the fate of Fleming’s men in this series.In all respects, runs are the greatest requirement, and they have been the most inconsistent aspect of New Zealand’s play throughout their Test history.Nothing has changed. Fleming needs to continue on the scoring spate that has marked his play of the past summer. Mark Richardson needs to maintain his Test average of 47.17, if not improve on it. Matt Horne needs to regain the touch of a few years ago when at least one century a Test series was not too much to ask. Mathew Sinclair needs to remind his side’s supporters why he has scored two double centuries in Tests.To do that in Sri Lanka means coming to grips with spin challenge that will be mounted by the home team with Muttiah Muralitharan leading the way. In recent times, New Zealand have done better against spin bowling than might earlier have been the case in its history. Doing it again will be a key again this time around.The bowling attack is possibly stronger than has been fielded in Sri Lanka since the days of Richard Hadlee and his supporting metronome in Ewen Chatfield.Shane Bond gives Fleming an artillery barrage considerably more powerful than in recent times. Whether Ian Butler gets the chance to support him, and to build on his still developing international stature, will be determined on the choice of bowling attack for the match.It is certain that Daryl Tuffey will open with Bond, and probably fit more into the support-type role for the fast man that was so successful for Hadlee and Chatfield.Daniel Vettori has already shown his appetite for the action that will make his tour and he should offer New Zealand the chance to at least gain some semblance of parity in the spin-bowling stakes.Paul Wiseman may partner him with his off-spin if Butler is not chosen. Should Wiseman get his chance, it may well be a career-defining opportunity for him.The New Zealanders know they are unfashionable on the world Test front, and they know their status as third-ranked side on the International Cricket Council Test Championship table is under-rated by many.Fleming is especially conscious of this. But at the same time, he knows New Zealand have gained results worthy of that standing. They have been unbeaten in a Test series in Australia, they have beaten the West Indies away, they have beaten England and Zimbawe away. They have beaten India and the West Indies at home and they have shared series with England and Pakistan at home.If they can win the first Test of this series, they will have enhanced their position on the Test ladder.Most countries would be fearing the worst with players like Cairns, Astle and McMillan missing, but New Zealand go into the first Test far from an already beaten unit.