KEY POINTS:
Maybe it's time for Gareth Hopkins to hang up the gloves.
It's not that his wicketkeeping is slipping - quite the opposite, in fact. It's just that it's probably not doing his international ambitions any favours.
Hopkins may be the presumptive fill-in for Brendon McCullum while the Black
Caps' number one gloveman is preoccupied with hauling in the rupees at the start of the forthcoming England tour, but his recent batting form for Auckland suggests he could fill more than just a stop-gap role.
As the national selectors cast around the first-class scene looking for middle-order batsmen to fill the void left by the departures of Stephen Fleming, Scott Styris and Nathan Astle, they could do worse than turn to the 31-year-old Hopkins.
Certainly he's in form, with four half-centuries - including a 99 and an 86 - in his last six innings. It's not so much the number of runs, but the manner in which he's scored them that has impressed.
Hopkins is a vastly improved player from the light-hitting keeper batsman who suffered by comparison with the likes of Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Fleming and Astle during his five seasons at Canterbury either side of the millennium.
He is also made of pretty stern stuff. When coming to the crease for Auckland this season, he has often been asked to stall a snowballing collapse. Usually, as he did yesterday with an untroubled 86, he has succeeded.
Before being run out to end a 167-run stand with Rob Nicol that began with Auckland teetering at 35-3, Hopkins had been in complete control. His timing and uncomplicated strokeplay was the equal of any seen at Eden Park's outer oval this season.
By the time he departed, followed shortly after by Nicol for 73, Auckland were safe, their hopes of overhauling Canterbury's six-point lead to earn a place in the championship final against Wellington kept alive into the final round.
Auckland, who took first innings points in yesterday's drawn encounter, must now beat Wellington and hope Canterbury slip up against Otago.
Had it not been for Hopkins, Canterbury might well have wrapped up the second final berth already.
A diminutive figure, Hopkins nonetheless radiates calm at the crease. Given the Black Caps' penchant for crises, he would seem a sensible selection to contend for a middle-order batting spot in the England test matches.
The national selectors have dabbled with using him as a batsman before, in the one-day series against South Africa and Australia last year. The move was hardly a resounding success, with Hopkins bowled for a golden duck by Andre Nel in his only innings against the Proteas and making just nine in his lone Chappell-Hadlee knock.
His game, however, would seem more suited to test cricket. With 98 first-class games and seven centuries to his name, he is one of the more experienced campaigners on the first-class scene. These days, as a batsman, he is also one of the more convincing.
The same can't be said of Peter Fulton. Two-metre Peter was two-minute Peter yesterday, trapped lbw for a first ball duck by Andy McKay as Canterbury edged to 38/2 at the close. Michael Papps, who was fined 50 per cent of his match fee for his show of dissent over his first innings duck, was unbeaten on 18.
