Black Caps axing shocks Chris Martin

STACY SQUIRES/The Press

DOWN AND DUMPED: Chris Martin has admitted venting behind closed doors after his shock axing from the New Zealand cricket team.

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Fast bowler Chris Martin admits he is not at his sharpest but is still shocked at his dumping from the New Zealand team for the first test against the West Indies, starting in Dunedin on Thursday.

Martin, who turns 34 on Wednesday, dragged his bag to the gym yesterday unimpressed by the new selection panel's decision to demote him to Auckland's first-class match against Otago at Eden Park's Outer Oval starting on Saturday.

As New Zealand's No1 paceman, Martin had hoped he could allay concerns about his pace in the practice nets in Dunedin, but the selectors feel he needs reconditioning after a recent back/leg injury and have turned to Wellington quick Mark Gillespie.

"The selectors feel I'm not doing the job at the moment and I need to get my pace back up, which I accept has been five or so km below my peak, but still I'm a bit disappointed," Martin said.

"They are picking guys who are in form and they have told me they want someone to run in and ruffle the tailenders. Dizzy [Gillespie] is good at that and I didn't do that in Adelaide.

"We struggled to clean out their lower order, but I felt I opened the door a few times against them in the series with top-order wickets."

Martin took six wickets at an average of 36.83 in Australia, taking his career tally to 146 in 45 tests at 33.55.

Martin was at least given the courtesy of being told of his dropping in person, a role performed by selector Dion Nash.

"I'm copping it reasonably sweet at the moment, but behind closed doors I'm doing a little bit of venting," Martin said.

"I was told to get the Auckland game under my belt and that I'm still No1 when I'm going well, but at the moment the feeling is I'm a little off my best."

Convener of selectors Glenn Turner was not dismissive of Martin, but felt Gillespie was in form and worth a punt on a University Oval pitch he described as a "spent offering".

Turner said Martin's lack of batting prowess was not a factor in the decision.

The other major casualty from the Australian tour was opening batsman Aaron Redmond, whose lack of application has cost him his place to Auckland left-hander Tim McIntosh.

Redmond might feel aggrieved after hitting a career-best 83 in Adelaide and playing all his seven tests on foreign soil, but Turner felt that was irrelevant.

"We are trying to get guys who can bat time and be patient, and he seems to have lost that ability of late," said Turner, who hinted at changes in the batting order, with Jesse Ryder moving from first drop to No5 and Daniel Flynn from No6 to No3.

"Jesse plays shots and can be a bit loose for a No 3. Flynn is more compact but is just settling into in the middle order so it's a delicate one," Turner said.

"I'm slightly in favour of a switch but not to the extent that I will be upset if they [coach Andy Moles and captain Daniel Vettori] don't."

Other selection points of interest were the return of all-rounders James Franklin and Jacob Oram at the expense of Peter Fulton and Tim Southee.

Turner expects Franklin to take the new ball and bat "No 8 or 9".

- © Fairfax NZ News