"Our overall aim was always to earn the right to win on the final day," said Bradburn. "You can't win a match on the first day: that's where you put in place the building blocks.
"Then you look at holding the momentum - the game is full of swings back and forth in that department - and staying patient. You'll make a few errors but the Plunket Shield points system rewards wins rather than draws or losses.
"For instance, with the bat, it's hard to play expansive shots from the start. You've got to earn the right to play those by spending time at the crease, at least in cricket's longer forms."
Bradburn has seen value in an objective Moneyball-type selection policy. The movie Moneyball relates to a Michael Lewis book where the Oakland Athletics baseball team and their general manager Billy Beane focused on an analytical, evidence-based approach to assembling a competitive team with limited funds.
In cricket, a coach might rely on variables such as strike rates, fitness test results and wagon wheel analysis in combination with traditional measures like averages and intuition.
It is something Littlejohn has been pushing as part of his "selection pie" policy, despite it drawing some derisive comments, usually with reference to his past role as high performance manager at Bowls Australia.
"I can relate to the Moneyball concept," Bradburn says.
"It is a transparent, consistent selection philosophy based on skill sets. Elements like that are an important part of our four-day success.
"The skipper must always have options at his disposal be they swing, seam or spin with the ball or strokemakers and defensive walls with the bat. You don't want to overload any aspect of the [Plunket Shield] team."
Meanwhile, Tim Southee was rested from Northern Districts final match. He had scans on a sore shin after the match against Auckland where he took one wicket for 39 runs from 14.1 overs.
"He faces six to eight weeks rest," Bradburn said.
"He'll take some time off at home and collate all the advice he's sought recently to work on a few areas. He has a firm knowledge and understanding of where he needs to get to. I was comfortable with the way the ball was coming out of his hand against Auckland."
Southee will get a clean break ahead of the West Indies tour starting in late June. He has not received a call-up to the Stephen Fleming-coached Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League like last year.
