Mark Richardson: The ground rules are to keep it slow

In the race between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka this summer to consolidate the number two position on the ICC one-day international (ODI) rankings, Sri Lanka have lost the first battle - they will be without Muttiah Muralitharan. But they still have a sharp attack.

Murali's impact in the Sri Lankan bowling unit cannot be understated. Without him, the Sri Lankans lose a great deal of their ability to squeeze the opposition and put the brakes on the scoring rate during the middle overs of their opponents' turn at bat.

If I were middle-order men Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris and Jacob Oram, I'd be resting a little easier in the knowledge that while Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Chandana are more than adequate slow bowlers, they're deliveries are orthodox.

Now, if the groundsmen could just play their part everything would look good for a Black Caps triumph.

However, I got the shivers when I heard Stephen Fleming say: "We want pitches with bounce and pace." Flemo, you said the same thing when India toured not so long back and do you remember what we got - bounce yes, but high bounce, low bounce, spongy bounce and a hell of a lot of sideways movement.

The theory is that subcontinental players are poor players of the bouncing ball. They tend to fend it with their hands and follow the movement to nick out behind the wicket. Granted they are a little suspect, but believe me, if she is going round a bit it won't be any romp at the beach for Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair and Fleming either. Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa and Dilhara Fernando are a very capable trio of seam bowlers, who thrived in the conditions the last time they were here.

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas. If you think that's a mouthful wait till you face him, he's a real handful too. A record of 321 wickets at 26 and a economy rate of 4.12 is pretty good, but factor in that he has played the majority of these games in batter-friendly, subcontinental conditions and it's a remarkable record.

Then there is Fernando. This fellow has real gas, as Craig McMillan's helmet can testify. He directs the ball into the wicket very hard and will give batsmen a hurry-up. So my message to the groundstaff: Slow, even wickets please. Let's make our own pace on the ball and use Dan Vettori and the other slower bowlers to squeeze through the middle.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY