Cricket: Off-field crises add to tension

Coaching crises and off-field anarchy are usually Pakistan's domain, although New Zealand have attempted to level the playing field with Andy Moles' untimely demise on the eve of their three-match one-day cricket series.

Add in Brendon McCullum losing the vice-captaincy and for once New Zealand can rival their opponents in the controversy stakes.

Pakistan's preparations have been laced with rumours of match-fixing, talk of a fallout between senior players and the skipper's resignation then reinstatement.

New Zealand leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today coach-less although by no means rudderless, as Daniel Vettori's powers are all encompassing for the time being.

Captain, selector, leading allrounder and for now, acting coach. And it seems Vettori will remain the master of all trades for the three test series against Pakistan starting in Dunedin on November 24.

"Now every single person in the squad has to pick up a little bit of the slack," Vettori said. "People will still expect us to win, there's no reason why we shouldn't, and that's the mindset that we have to have going away.

"We need to win these games to take some pressure off what's happening here."

New Zealand Cricket does not want to rush to find Moles' replacement and is targeting the home series against Bangladesh in February for the new man to start work.

Moles walked away from his three-year contract on Saturday, just days after it emerged he had lost the confidence of the team during a fluctuating tour of Sri Lanka and South Africa.

The New Zealand players will be eager to prove Moles will not be missed by safeguarding their fourth ranking on the one-day international ladder on neutral ground in Abu Dhabi from November 3.

They cannot afford a slip-up, with Pakistan one point behind in fifth.

Vettori can take solace from the fact that his side are on a five-match winning streak against their most enigmatic opponents, a sequence culminating in their five-wicket Champions Trophy semifinal victory on October 3.

The manner of that Pakistani defeat briefly raised questions about their professionalism, particularly the conduct of captain Younis Khan, who was among the soft dismissals before shelling an easy catch.

Younis resigned in the wake of unproven allegations of match fixing only to return last week.

Shahid Afridi had captaincy ambitions had Younis not returned and has subsequently been forced to deny a rift between the pair.

"Younis and I go a long way back as friends, we are mature enough to discuss and sort out any problem in an amicable way," Afridi said. "Rumours of discord, they surface every time Pakistan lose a key match or tournament."

Talk of discontent is par for the course for a side who won the ICC World Twenty20 final in June but faded at the Champions Trophy.

"They've got a lot of issues going on but they've dealt with them in the past and they're used to it," Vettori said.

"We'll face a near full-strength side and we know they can be a great team. In a lot of ways we resemble them with our own inconsistencies."

Both squads are missing key personnel. New Zealand are without the injured trio of Jesse Ryder, Grant Elliott and Daryl Tuffey, defections that have seen new cap BJ Watling plus veteran Scott Styris and young quick bowler Tim Southee drafted in.

Pakistan's pace attack has been weakened by the unavailability of Mohammad Asif after he was found in possession of a quantity of opium at Dubai Airport in June last year. He is barred from entering the UAE.

Pakistan can still field a threatening pace attack in Umar Gul - who took Twenty20's maiden five-wicket bag at New Zealand's expense in England in June - and fellow right-armer Naved-ul-Hasan.

Teenage left-arm tearaway Mohammad Amer is an up-and-comer although the pitches - prepared by a Pakistani groundsman - are unlikely to encourage the quicks.

"No doubt they're going to be the standard subcontinent style wickets," Vettori said.

Shane Bond also expected lifeless surfaces tailormade for a batting line-up headed by Younis and Mohammad Yousuf.

"Their batting is not as explosive as the Indians but they're no less dangerous," Bond said. "There's a little bit of inexperience in the middle order but some good players up the top."

- NZPA