Cricket: Styris out to blur selectors' Twenty20 vision

Scott Styris (left) and Shane Bond after beating Australia in Napier. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Scott Styris is not about to take anything for granted.

Indeed, he's keenly aware that for all the robust impact of his return to the New Zealand ODI side against Australia this year, he's still not back in the Twenty20 line-up.

And so, as New Zealand head for the Caribbean today for the Twenty20 world championship, he's on the outside looking in.

Not for long, if he has his way.

"I didn't make it for the home season, so at no stage have I thought I'm in the playing XI," he said this week.

"I have to go out and put good performances on the board, otherwise I'll find myself sitting watching these games, which is not what I want."

At a glance it might seem Styris' return to the Twenty20 side should be a formality - in the sense that having returned so forcefully to the ODI lineup, it should be a natural step forward.

Throw into the mix that his short game for Auckland was central to them making the HRV Cup final, and he sits among the country's best Twenty20 operators, with canny medium pace bowling as a second string.

Styris wasn't wanted for the home internationals against Bangladesh or Australia but made a dramatic statement when his unbeaten 49 off 34 balls carried New Zealand to victory in the opening ODI against the Aussies in Napier.

After that, he could scarcely be omitted from a squad of 15, and one in which a third of the group are getting over injuries which have sidelined them from cricket for weeks and in a couple of cases, months.

Styris, 34, is a veteran of 29 tests from 2002 until his retirement from that form three years ago, 165 ODIs dating back to 1999 and 22 Twenty20s, so there's a wealth of accumulated cricket wisdom.

But he's been an in-and-out figure in the national side in the last couple of years. Styris is not about to tear a strip off the selectors - but it's not hard to detect that he, shall we say, hasn't always agreed with the panel's assessment of his worth.

"The selectors, over the last 12 to 18 months, have shown in their view I'm not in the Twenty20 side, so I've got to change that, whether I think I should be or not. It's up to me to go out and try and change their opinion."

In that ODI series against Australia, Styris hit 199 runs at 49. Point made, you'd think.

He would seem a good fit for the role James Franklin filled in the home Twenty20s, around No 5, but those are the sort of issues being worked through over the last few days in Brisbane and during the two warm-up games against Ireland and the West Indies in Guyana next Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

He was stuck at No7 early in the Australian series behind Franklin and Neil Broom, which simply didn't make sense.

Styris said the focus in Brisbane had been on specific issues, where players would bat, putting them in game scenarios, "lots of situational stuff", he said.

"It hasn't just been about coming over and getting into the nets. We've tried to be as specific as we can and worked hard at the scenarios we're likely to be face when we get to the Caribbean."

Styris had a terrific World Cup there three years ago, hitting 499 runs at a whopping average of 83 average. He remembers pitches being low - but not slow, thus good for batting.

The word is that they will find in Guyana, St Lucia and Barbados pitches more suited to spin, or slow medium bowling than pacier stuff. Styris is expecting the strips to be of reasonable standard, however.

"I'm not sure the International Cricket Council would be that keen on one of their big tournaments being played on sub-standard pitches," he said.

In personal terms, a return to the scene of one of his best New Zealand campaigns should bring a good feeling.

He's had a solid season of cricket behind him, too. "I've had a wee bit of a break and now it's up to me to make sure I hit the ground running."