Top order to put Martin Crowe plan to action

BY JONATHON MILLMOW

The theme this week is can New Zealand's top order bat for five minutes.

Martin Crowe's been in town, pretty much told the batsmen to push forward, swim between the flags and don't come back until they've got 100.

One suspects he meant 100 each but 100-3 might not be a bad return given the pressure on the rookie trio of Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling and Peter Ingram, who total 14 tests between them.

New Zealand has worked hard to prepare for today's opening test against Australia at the Basin Reserve.

They have tried to simulate test match conditions with long open wicket practices, but you had to smile when one player said sometimes they had been batting twice in a day.

Left-armers James Franklin and Neil Wagner were even summoned to the nets yesterday to help familiarise the top order batsmen with the angles of Australian lefties Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson.

Ross Taylor is the key – his magnificent 154 not out against England at Old Trafford in 2008 the type of innings Crowe has asked for.

"The guys have really warmed to him," Vettori said of Crowe's input this week.

"He's come in with some really good common sense ideas and he uses a lot of his own experiences on how to bat for long periods of time."

We may have to wait for the batting though. New Zealand likes to bowl and Australia likes to bat and let's not forget Ricky Ponting won all five tosses in the one-day series.

For much of the test New Zealand's bowling will be in the hands of men from the Northern Districts – Tim Southee, Daryl Tuffey, Brent Arnel and Daniel Vettori.

Only Chris Martin doesn't support the Chiefs.

In a perfect world Arnel and Tuffey would not appear alongside each other in a national team because they operate in similar fashion, but the situation is compromised by concerns over the form of the second spin option Jeetan Patel.

Patel has lost his length through too much limited overs cricket where the requirement is to fire the ball in at the toes. Yesterday Patel worked with visiting Australian spin guru Ashley Mallett, but it may be too late for the first test.

Arnel, 31, will debut with 106 first-class wickets at 24.05.

"He [Arnel] is pretty consistent. He puts it in the right areas for the majority of the time and on a wicket that's got a bit of something in it, that's pretty crucial.

"He bowls the right lengths so we just hope he's ready for the step up," Vettori said.

Australia are overwhelming favourites and are over their only hiccup now that Michael Clarke has settled back into the team system.

Ponting still wants to see how Ryan (Rhino) Harris wakes up this morning after a side strain, but tips him to play.

The captain does not play cat-and-mouse with the opposition. He said Marcus North has the nod at No6 ahead of up-and-comer Steven Smith.

Ponting expects North to silence his critics after a lean summer.

"I've done a lot of work with him actually, one-on-one stuff the last couple of days, and spoken a lot to him."

Ponting revealed Clarke was at the nets when the rest of them were still digesting their breakfast yesterday and in his words is "ready to go".

Ponting said his side was excited about the pitch conditions. "When we trained there the other day it was like we were batting at the Waca [in Perth]. That's encouraging for our guys."

BOOK YOURSELF IN FOR AN EARLY START

The early birds at the Basin Reserve get a free book tomorrow.

The first 3000 people through the turnstiles for the first test between New Zealand and Australia get author and cricket statistician Don Neely's latest book marking 50 tests at the Basin Reserve.The book includes updated statistics from the 50th test at the Basin, which was played against Pakistan in December.

HOW THEY LINE UP

What: New Zealand v Australia, first cricket test

Where: Basin Reserve, Wellington

When: Starts today, 11am

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Tim McIntosh, BJ Watling, Peter Ingram, Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Daryl Tuffey, Tim Southee, Brent Arnel, Chris Martin, Jeetan Patel, Mathew Sinclair

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, Doug Bollinger, Phillip Hughes, Clint McKay, Steven Smith

TV: Sky Sport 1, from 10.30am

TAB odds: New Zealand $7, Australia $1.40, draw $3.85

Umpires: Ian Gould (England), Asad Rauf (Pakistan).

TV: Aleem Dar (Pakistan)

Weather: Fine with some cloudy periods for the next three days.

- © Fairfax NZ News