NZ Cricket in position to put tour before IPL

First it was burnout - deemed the crime of the century until the players saw the colour of India's money. Now it's test match preparation. Overrated apparently. Not needed at all, if you listen to the New Zealand captain. If it wasn't so nauseatingly transparent it would be funny.

Particularly so this weekend, when England's dominance in the second test has only highlighted their unpreparedness for the series opener at Hamilton. They made the same mistake at the start of the 2006-07 Ashes series in Australia. Geoffrey Boycott wonders whether people will ever learn. Probably not, if Daniel Vettori's comments last week are anything to go by.

According to Vettori, there should be no concern over suggestions that New Zealand's five Indian Premier League players (including himself) might be allowed to turn up as late as possible for the tour to England, starting late next month. He could take or leave the warm-up games, apparently. Reckoned they were unimportant.

In fact, New Zealand's greenhorn skipper, who stands to profit to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars if he can stay on the IPL tour for as long as possible, went as far as saying "we go on most tours and don't have any warm-up games". Pardon? They played practice games on their previous two test tours to South Africa. They played practice games in Australia in 2004-05, and in England before that.

And in any case, the plain fact is that New Zealand needs to grab every advantage on offer. They're not languishing at seventh in the world for nothing. Outside Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, they haven't won an away series since 2002. Their touring record is poor. Why would anyone want to preserve the status quo?

I know memories are short but for goodness' sake, on their most recent test tour, to South Africa in November, they were annihilated in the first warm-up game, hung on for grim death in the second and were promptly vapourised at Johannesburg and Centurion. Their excuse? Insufficient preparation, they complained. Not up to speed.

This is what Sir Richard Hadlee told the Daily Telegraph after the tourists' meek effort in Hamilton: "England have major problems with some players being underdone and not yet fully prepared for test cricket.

"As a bowler, I needed to play at least four first-class matches and bowl 100-130 overs to prepare for a test series. It appears that some bowlers today do not bowl anywhere enough overs to be ready for international matches."

Call me old-fashioned but the idea of moving in the space of a week from sub-continental to English conditions, from a 20-over shoot-out to five-day tests, and from a white ball to the red Duke (which demands more of an adjustment than the Kookaburra), appears a tad delusional. But I guess money can do that to you.

The onus now is on New Zealand Cricket. They should insist that all selected players arrive in time for the first tour match against the MCC at Arundel on April 27. They are within their rights to do so; in fact, IPL organisers won't allow any individual to play in their event unless they can produce an official release from their respective board.

This is no time for misguided appeasement, or for making compromises with the self-serving and increasingly out-of-touch New Zealand Cricket Players' Association. This is a time when NZC simply must stand its ground.

- © Fairfax NZ News