KEY POINTS:
The Test side to face Bangladesh in the New Year could be in for a massive shake-up. An unhappy panel of selectors met in Sydney last week for preliminary discussions about the future make-up of the test side.
Yesterday, panel manager Sir Richard Hadlee fired a well-directed bouncer at the batsmen and hinted domestic form could sway selectors into making changes.
The team for the first test against Bangladesh at Dunedin will be chosen between the second and third one-day internationals and most likely be named on Saturday. Some players will be playing for spots in that test team in the opening ODIs.
Hadlee was particularly scathing of the efforts of the batsmen on the recently completed tour, saying Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla taught the Black Caps a lesson in fortitude, and a disappointed panel wanted only batsmen who had proved they could bat for long periods of time and "take a few blows to the body".
The inference was clear: the selectors - Hadlee, coach John Bracewell, Dion Nash and Glenn Turner - do not believe New Zealand showed enough courage under fire in South Africa.
"There is huge concern," Hadlee said. "We want some results and we have to find methods of getting results.
"If we need to reward players at domestic level at the expense of the incumbent players, then that's the professional environment.
"Clearly, we've been disappointed by a number of the performances in the one-dayers and a number of those guys are a part of the test set-up, so we need to see some improvement in both the batting and bowling. They've got a couple of games to really impress," Hadlee said.
Realistically, only four of the side that took the field for the second test against South Africa at Pretoria last month are safe.
Captain Daniel Vettori is one, predecessor Stephen Fleming another, while Brendon McCullum and Chris Martin must surely hold their places.
However, the previously untouchable Scott Styris is no longer safe. The battling 75 he scored against Australia at Hobart just might have given New Zealand's total a smidgen of respectability; it could also have saved his season.
New Zealand cricket bosses were unhappy with the shape he returned in after a spell at Middlesex and a dreadful tour of South Africa would have put him further in the bad books.
"I'm not prepared to single out a player," Hadlee said diplomatically. "There's no point getting a headline and annoying people but we want batsmen that can bat time and play a long innings. Either their history or record will tell us that, or there are things we might see in players who are playing domestic cricket.
"A quick 30 or 40 in a five-day match is not the answer.
"The fact we get knocked over for under 200 against South Africa, who are obviously a very good side, is not going to win you games. In fact, it's going to lose you a game in three-and-a-half days.
"We want the team to bat for two days, so we've got to find batsmen who are more geared up for that rather than a quick 50."
Players who have stuck their hands up at domestic level are the season's two double centurions, Mathew Sinclair and Matthew Bell.
Sinclair was rewarded with a trip to South Africa, where he blossomed down the order before being brought back down to earth by Australia.
"You have to recognise performances at other levels, particularly if some of the current players are struggling for form. But what we've got to measure is the standard of domestic cricket up against the top quality of international cricket that our guys have been playing.
"Guys like Matthew Bell and Andre Adams are key performers in domestic cricket, so they'll certainly be up for discussion."
The mention of Adams is particularly interesting. It was thought by many he had cooked his goose when rejecting the opportunity to join the squad in South Africa for the ODI series and following it up with some biting criticism of Bracewell.
Asked whether that would have any impact on his selection for the test series, Hadlee was unequivocal.
"No. He's declared his availability for test cricket."
While quality seam bowling is an issue, Hadlee saves his biggest shots for the batsmen who have repeatedly failed to set imposing targets in both forms of the game.
In language aimed to dent the collective pride of the incumbents, Hadlee wondered whether New Zealand's batsmen had lost the will to put their bodies on the line.
"We knew what they [South Africa] were going to fire at us and that was a pace attack. But we didn't take enough knocks. Kallis and Amla, they took the knocks to the body and ground out hundreds.
"Kallis is in a class of his own but Amla showed a lot of guts and courage and, with the limitations he has as an international batsman, showed what you can do if you're prepared to hang in there and take the knocks on the body, put the bad balls away and stoutly defend.
"He batted time and that is exactly what we want our batsmen to do: bat time and take the knocks on the body. It might not be pretty but we need hundreds. Every time we play a test, there are one or two guys in the opposition that score hundreds. Where are our hundreds?"
Bangladesh's attack could never be compared to South Africa's, so there was opportunity for players to stake a claim for the home-and-away series against England with some big scores.
"No matter what happens in the Bangladesh series, everyone goes in the pot again for the England series and the tour to England, so there's a tremendous amount for players to play for."
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
(?) denotes those under pressure to hold their place for the first test against Bangladesh, starting Friday week at Dunedin.
(*) denotes certainties barring injury.
NZ vs South Africa, 2nd test
Craig Cumming (?)
Michael Papps (?)
Lou Vincent (?)
Stephen Fleming (*)
Scott Styris (?)
Ross Taylor (?)
Brendon McCullum (*)
Daniel Vettori (*)
Mark Gillespie (?)
Iain O'Brien (?)
Chris Martin (*)
Waiting in the wings
Peter Fulton (*)
Matthew Bell (?)
Jacob Oram (*)
Andre Adams (?)
Kyle Mills (*)
Mathew Sinclair (?)
Michael Mason (?)
