Cricket: Bracewell goes for spinners

New Zealand have taken the unusual step of shortening their batting order for the second test against Australia - despite being dismissed for 76 in their most recent innings.

Chief selector and coach John Bracewell last night announced two changes to the side who were cleaned out by an innings at Brisbane, bringing in paceman James Franklin and spinner Paul Wiseman at the expense of Craig McMillan and swing-bowler Kyle Mills.

The changes mean New Zealand will field just five front-line batsmen at the Adelaide Oval, with Brisbane century-maker Jacob Oram moving up to No 6 and wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum taking over at No 7.

McMillan paid the price for some outrageous batting in the opening test at the Gabba.

He was possibly fortunate to have received a chance at all, considering he came over to Australia only as cover for Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, and now could face a huge task in trying to turn around his fortunes.

That Bracewell baulked at bringing in Hamish Marshall for McMillan was another interesting move, in that it raised questions about why the Northern Districts' right-hander was included in the squad and what his future might hold back in New Zealand.

Mills, to be fair, gave his all at Brisbane but came up short as the day lengthened, and was always likely to be replaced by Franklin, who has now evidently recovered from the groin strain that ruled him out of the first test.

The only question that hung over Franklin's inclusion was the fact that he hasn't trained much at full speed since suffering the injury and was apparently omitted from the one-day squad so that he could have time to fully repair.

The different balance of the New Zealand team will mean Oram takes another step towards genuinely filling the gap vacated by allrounder Chris Cairns, who retired from the test arena at the end of the series against England last winter.

The gentle giant of the New Zealand side has long considered himself more of a batsman than a bowler and would have been delighted to learn of the promotion last night when the side was announced at the team hotel.

The other main point of interest will surround the selection of Wiseman, who was included in the squad almost specifically for this test, and now faces a challenging task in attempting to subdue, never mind dismiss the Australian top order.

Wiseman has so far taken 55 wickets in 21 tests at an average of 43.98, but is not viewed as a serious threat on the hard and batsmen-friendly Australian surfaces, and can expect an especially tough time at Adelaide, where the side-on boundaries are relatively short.

Whatever else happens, the New Zealanders can at least be assured of raising one milestone today when Fleming becomes just the fourth player to captain his side in 50 consecutive tests.

Fleming, who took over the captaincy from Lee Germon in 1997, will lead New Zealand for the 65th occasion when he walks out on to Bradman's old ground, including an unbroken sequence at the helm since recovering from groin surgery in 1998-99.

Australian left-hander Allan Border, now a national selector, holds the record with an astonishing sequence of 93 tests as captain, followed by England's Mike Atherton with 52 and Border's former team-mate Mark Taylor, with 50.

Fleming was replaced by Dion Nash for three tests against South Africa, but since then has strung together a sequence of 49 appearances as captain and barring something dramatic, will overtake Atherton in the opening test against Australia in March.

Already the third-most-capped test captain behind Border and West Indian Clive Lloyd (74), he could easily move up a place before the end of his captaincy days, as he is only 31 and may well be in action for another four or five years.