Cricket: Batsmen in bullish market so take stock

Martin Guptill

It is fair to say McLean Park, Napier, is a pit-stop for international cricketers who desperately need to resurrect their flagging form.

False starts at other venues can rapidly be converted to tons of confidence on Phil Stoyanoff's offering.

For the wicket savvy, such as Kane Williamson (112 from 88 balls) and homeboy Ross Taylor (102 not out from 88 balls), it might as well be decent net practice across the road from Nelson Park.

In the world of positivity, it's a great exercise building in the lead up to the ICC World Cup starting on February 14 in Christchurch.

But for blokes such as New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, it is where they'll receive a standing ovation for holing out to long off for 76 runs from an Ahmed Shehzad delivery.

Just as it can help pull batsmen out of a mind swamp, it can lead to a false sense of security.

It is a strip where a batsman throws away his wicket in 30C-plus heat, more than a bowler beats his bat.

In many respects, it's like exchanging the Kiwi dollar for rupees in the subcontinent.

Anything a batsman scores has to be pragmatically devalued to make the books balance in a stable economy.

For argument's sake, Guptill's 76 off 88 balls in 116 minutes isn't the best exchange rate going around.

When you start crunching the numbers in the conversion Magic Bullet it'll come out probably more in the vicinity of 33-38 runs.

Conversely, you could argue every run Pakistani batsmen eked out last night should be worth marginally more simply because they are coming to terms with conditions in this part of the world.

The fluency with which they drove, hooked and pulled shots again painted an ominous picture of how much they have incrementally gained in just two games.

Bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed assured everyone they needed a fortnight to pull themselves out of a bearish market to wade into a bullish one at the business end of the cup.

Anything shy of that will be tantamount to short-changing cricket fans.