Under pressure Parlane needs to hit form

Michael Parlane wants to be among the runs when he bats in the second innings of the Northern Knights match against the Central Stags at Cobham Oval.
Parlane believes his days as a first class batsmen are numbered if he doesn't score some runs soon.
The Northland cricketer's form this season has mirrored the Northern Knights' own stuttering efforts in the domestic competition and "Bear"- as he is affectionately known to his teammates - is running out of time.
"I'm doing all the right things and I know a good performance isn't far away but you only get so many cracks at it in this team, there's the two Marshalls to come back in so it's up to the selectors really but I think I've got one more chance in the second innings so I'll see what I can do," he said yesterday.
He looked set for a good score in the first innings of the Knights' current match with Central Districts at Cobham Oval, scoring a patient 19 from 59 balls before he was trapped lbw by Michael Mason.
He rates himself a chance to kick on and improve on that in the second innings and remain in the side when captain James and Hamish Marshall rejoin the team for the match against Auckland.
"I'm batting well enough, I'm just not scoring the runs and just finding ways to get out and the added pressure of almost playing for your career hasn't helped things," he said.
Parlane knows he is short of scores and puts it down to failing to hold down a regular spot in the side.
"It's been difficult for me, yeah, up until the last couple of years I've never really been exposed to being under pressure for selection but I've just got to work out how I fit it in around everything else that's going on," he said.
"I've always been one to do well when I'm playing a lot and that hasn't been the situation this year and if I want to keep on playing - which I do - I've got to find another way to prepare."
It hasn't been the easiest season to plan for the 38-year-old, who with wife Tracey have a newborn son, Austin, to care for. He's staying with his mum in Whangarei - far away from his Christchurch-based family. Parlane wasn't needed for Twenty20 cricket this year and that left a big gap in his season and finding a way to get back into it after that has been difficult for him.
"Playing a club game doesn't really prepare you to play first class cricket, so I spent a lot of time preparing for the one-dayers over Christmas, by facing a bowling machine," he said.
Parlane knows only too well how the system works and says loyalty only goes "so far" in professional sport.
"The selectors will make a decision on what they think is right and there'll be a couple of unhappy boys but that's the nature of the competitive environment at Northern Districts."