Ingram itching to be tested

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

TEST OF CHARACTER: Current Black Caps one-day opener Peter Ingram would love the opportunity to play in the test arena.

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As Martin Crowe explains it, he was working with batting ace Ross Taylor when a bloke sporting a big handlebar moustache wandered over and asked if he could help with some throw-downs.

Crowe said thanks but no thanks.

"As he was walking away I said to Ross `Who was that? The bus driver?' and Ross said `No that's Peter Ingram'."

Crowe like many others, now knows exactly who Peter Ingram is after the Central Districts' scoring machine turned his rampant domestic form into two solid efforts in the Twenty20 and opening one-day international against Bangladesh last week.

Crowe is even going as far as tipping the late-blooming 31-year-old for a test career. "I like him and I like what he's got," Crowe told the Sunday Star-Times.

Crowe is not certain about Ingram's stand-and-deliver approach but says he's got all the other atttributes to make it at the highest level.

"I'm not a big fan of no footwork, fast hands but, technically, what he does very well is that he's got a very good crouch and flex in the knees which means he can easily shift his weight. And he's very still so he can access both sides, which makes him dangerous.

"The one question for him will be his defence in a test match against Australia, coach [Mark] Greatbatch will make him aware that his defence will have to be tight for at least 50% of the balls he will face when he plays at test level."

Crowe's comments suggest a certainty Ingram will get a chance in whites. "He's man in form and I'm pretty sure he will play [the test] against Bangladesh and against the Bangladeshis, who are no more than a first class team, he will get some confidence and feel that he belongs.

"From age 28 to 32 is when you're at the peak of your game as a batsman and he's right in the middle of that so it's a good time for the selectors to give him a go and let him express himself and he's the sort of guy who could have four or five years doing it."

Crowe said comparisons with his old team-mate Andrew Jones were valid because of "his temperament and that he came in [to the New Zealand team] at an age when he knew his game and had belief in himself".

Ingram has also been compared with former Australian opener Matthew Hayden, for the brute force he applies to the ball, and Ingram can emulate Hayden in more ways than one by building a successful career off a late start.

Hayden didn't nail his Australian spot until six years after his debut, when at the age of 28, he made the most of his recall, which started in Hamilton against New Zealand 10 years ago.

Ingram might get his chance at the same venue if he's picked for the only test against Bangladesh later this month.

- © Fairfax NZ News