Cricket: McCullum looks to balance his batting

The second step of Brendon McCullum's development as a test opener begins in Hamilton tomorrow.

He made a decent fist of his first turn at the job in India, hitting a match-saving double century in the second test at Hyderabad in November and the two-match series against Pakistan will be the next examination of his longer-term credentials for the role.

His batting reputation is based on aggressive shotmaking, but McCullum knows to be successful, it's about mixing light and shade into a more complete package for the five-day game.

"My job is to score runs, bat time and make it a lot easier on the strokemakers we've got to follow," he said yesterday.

"We have some quite brilliant strokemakers in our lineup and given the right environment, the right conditions to express their talent, they're as good as any round the world."

So breezy 40s are not the business of the moment, and McCullum, with a deserved reputation as one of the better top order blasters in the shorter forms of the game, knows more is needed.

"It's the ebbing and flowing of disciplines. I've still got to be true to myself in terms of my counter-attacking skills," he said.

"Something I'm lucky I do possess is being able to put bowlers under pressure at times. It's a matter of making sure I balance that out with good defence.

"Mentally I've had to make an adjustment. I'm starting to learn that and hopefully there are encouraging signs for us coming up."

A double century in the warm-up game against Pakistan in Whangarei this week gave him the ideal lead-in, with a good, long look at Pakistan's test bowlers. His opening partnership with lefthander Tim McIntosh is only six innings old, and it's been a mix of good with ordinary so far.

New coach John Wright was among New Zealand's best openers with a focused approach towards the job serving him well over 14 years.

McCullum suspects that McIntosh will benefit more than he will, in purely batting terms, from 82-test veteran Wright's knowledge - partly as both are lefthanders and partly because McIntosh's game is not dissimilar from Wright's for its attritional qualities.

"The way John and I played is completely different," McCullum said.

"We play at the top of the order, but in terms of his mentoring ability it's more suited to Tim than me. He's got some incredible knowledge and John's got a very simplistic view of the game, which is great.

"It's about going out and getting runs, taking wickets and holding your catches, and if you do that you'll be doing okay."

Jesse Ryder is fit again after sitting out the game in Whangarei with an inflamed shoulder.

New Zealand's two selection issues to resolve are the identity of the third seamer, with Brent Arnel expected to get the stock bowling role ahead of late inclusion Daryl Tuffey, and who of Kane Williamson or James Franklin gets the last batting spot.

Williamson should. His first three tests having included a maiden debut hundred and a 69 to help secure a draw in India, and Seddon Park is his home patch. But he missed out twice in Whangarei with the bat - once unluckily given out - while Franklin was given every opportunity with bat and ball in the same game.

Pakistan will trim one of their four fast-medium bowlers for the first test.

Left armer Wahab Riaz and hardworking Umar Gul seem certainties, with the last spot between awkward left-armer Sohail Tanvir, returning from a lengthy layoff due to knee problems, or Tanvir Ahmed, who took six for 120 on his debut against South Africa in Dubai in November, but was ordinary in Whangarei.

MIFFED BATSMAN CALLS TIME

Central Districts batsman Peter Ingram has effectively called time on his brief international career.

Ingram, 32, is miffed at being left out of the 30-strong preliminary group for the World Cup starting next month, describing his New Zealand days as "pretty much gone".

He made his test debut against Bangladesh last year and played eight ODIs, averaging 27.57, one other test against Australia and three T20s, without conspicuous success.

Ingram's recent domestic record has been strong, with his stand-and-deliver technique, big on hand-eye co-ordination but with a minimum of footwork.

"I'll just play for Central Districts and Taranaki if I get a chance," he said. Ingram said he did not get a call from the national selectors after being overlooked. "I was third in the one-day averages last year for New Zealand and I didn't even get a call. It just shows what they [selectors] are like."