Sizing up the jackets (and nearly $3m bucks)

Firstly, apologies for the lack of communication. I have made the fatal mistake of agreeing to a family break in a residence which does not receive Sky TV, and I have proven myself technologically incapable of getting Sky Mobile TV working on my phone. As a result, I have not yet seen a ball bowled in anger in the ICC Champions Trophy, although I do have a sore ear from sleeping with my head on the radio under my pillow.

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The radio commentary has actually been very good - New Zealand is represented by Simon Doull who at least provides us with a Kiwi voice that is not as cantankerous as Bryan Waddle. Sure, it's not Test Match Special but at least it is crystal clear and being done from a genuine booth not some Third World phoneline riddled with static.

So a beige bouquet to Radio Sport to carrying the coverage though the night. In that regard their programmers and deal-makers have been miles ahead of their counterparts in the UK - the BBC has had to rush to cobble together a radio commentary deal at the last minute.

No live radio coverage was provided for England's run to the semi-finals, and the reason was no doubt because the Beeb though the Poms would be rubbish (and England has not won a one-day tournament for more than three decades apparently). Given the dire state of New Zealand's recent one-day cricket, Radio Sport would have been well within its rights to kick this tournament's coverage to touch as well.

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On a related note, the pessimistic view seems to have taken over at our major media outlets. Aside from Doull who may not be on the payroll of anyone in New Zealand these days anyway, to my knowledge there are no NZ media in South Africa for the tournament. That is poor form - if we beat Pakistan at the weekend there will need to be some extortionate airfares paid in order for our reporters to be on the ground in Africa for the final and a live-eye view of what would be one of the greatest form turnarounds in New Zealand sporting history.

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New Zealand will not only be playing for pride in the semi-final this weekend (by my calculation it will start at about 12:30am Sunday morning: a bloody early start to a day that will finish with the NRL Grand Final) but also for some reasonable dosh. The tournament has prize money of NZ$5.5m in total on the table, and the winners take home half of that. Second snares about NZ$1.4m. Having made the final four, we're already guaranteed NZ$550,000. India and Sri Lanka take home a paltry NZ$140,000 for their 5th/6th placings while the hapless West Indies and the host team take him the grand total of zero, nada, nothing.

The best bit of the prize is the winner's jackets though. According to the fish-heads at the ICC: "[E]ach member of the winning team will win a unique ICC Champions Trophy winners jacket which only a champion will be entitled to wear." The Champions Trophy jacket is white with an edge of gold beading, designed in Mumbai and "highly fashionable".

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Despite accusations of cheerleading, I'm not a big fan of commentators who are adamant we can win the tournament, or any tournament for that matter. That is not to say I am not optimistic but I think we stand our best chance if we keep our heads down, fly under the radar, and align with the rest of the sporting clichés that will essentially secure us underdog status.

Wally Lees was quoted today as saying: "I think we've got a great chance of making the final. The thing about one-day cricket is we're the team that's on a bit of a roll. Once you get on a roll in one-day cricket you can quite often stay there for four or five games." I

t can also come to a pretty quick halt - and remember we have only won two in a  row! The last time we had two wins under our belt and needed to win three-in-a-row was at Sydney against Australia to secure the Chappell-Hadlee series in February. The result? We got beat up.