The Black Caps selectors will tomorrow name its A-team to tour Sri Lanka in September.
The team will be coached by Auckland's Mark O'Donnell, while Vaughn Johnson will lend assistance. Sir Richard Hadlee will manage the team.
Black Caps manager Lindsay Crocker said the panel will be meeting with O'Donnell
and Johnson over the next few days to discuss objectives for the tour.
"We're making sure they understand the Black Caps structure and how it works, so they can replicate it to a certain extent," Crocker said.
The idea of using the first-class coaches is also to build up a wealth of experience, or intellectual property as it would be termed these days, so there are several succession options when the current regime stands down.
Crocker said New Zealand would send a strong team to Sri Lanka, including several contracted players who have not been picked for the controversial tour to Zimbabwe, including Michael Papps, who has been in excellent form on the emerging players tour to Brisbane.
Also pressing his case is gifted batsman Jesse Ryder, who scored a century last week despite having his innings interrupted while he had stitches administered to a blow on the chin.
The tour, involving a one-day tri-series with Sri Lanka A and South Africa A and then 'tests' against the Sri Lankans, is viewed as vital in the build-up to the 2007 World Cup.
"We want them playing in a certain style and adjusting to the new one-day rules," Crocker said. "Add to that the 'test-match' component, which is the form of the game you'd have to say we need the most work on, and it is an incredibly valuable exercise."
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
