Richard Boock: Selection policy paying dividends

John Bracewell has always been prone to exaggeration.

The New Zealand coach likes to paint in vivid primary colours to accentuate his message, and has never been one to run a mental audit on his thoughts before releasing them.

We saw it last season when he justified his game-plan at Brisbane on the grossly miscalculated theory that Australia won only 33 per cent of their tests when taken into the final day.

Then there were the conspiracy charges against the Australians; accusations that TV broadcaster Channel 9 was doctoring the speed-ball radar and the "hawk-eye" simulations, and that Gabba curator Kevin Mitchell had watered the pitch.

And we saw it again last week when Bracewell explained that Hamish Marshall's retention in the one-day squad was due, not only to the selectors' faith in his ability to bounce back, but also the "fact" that he was worth 30 runs in the field. Yeah, right.

But, while we should probably take his arithmetic with a grain of salt, it's hard to not admire Bracewell's commitment to improving his squad, particularly through his hard-line selection policies.

Say what you like about the axing of Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle, but Bracewell's most gutsy call was his stance on Marshall, who'd been chronically out of form for six months.

Pressure for Marshall's omission had been intense after last week's one-dayer at Christchurch, when reprieved supersub Astle struck a match-winning 90, igniting calls for his permanent recall.

But Bracewell resisted, reasoning that Astle needed more time away from the international arena to work on his game, and that Marshall was showing signs of coming right at Jade Stadium, before being sawn-off by a terrible decision.

He might have added that there was little point in sending Marshall back to the domestic scene, as the compact right-hander had seldom impressed for Northern Districts, and was only chosen for New Zealand in the first place on a selector's hunch.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision, Bracewell has been able to shatter the aura of complacency that hung over senior members of the squad, to the extent that Stephen Fleming admitted last week that "everyone" felt on notice.

That can only be a good development for the New Zealand camp, who for too long have included several established players seemingly immune to demotion.

With that in mind, it would be no surprise to find the hand of Australian sports guru Ric Charlesworth in the mix somewhere.

New Zealand Cricket's new High Performance Centre chief, Charlesworth is one of Australian sports' best known identities, having starred as an international hockey player, a Sheffield Shield cricketer, a double-gold-medal winning Olympic coach, and a six-time winner of the country's "Team Coach of the Year".

A former MP, he was outspoken in his criticism of the Australian selectors during last year's Ashes series, saying the loss could be attributed to persevering with out-of-form incumbents.

Charlesworth told the Herald that the need to look ahead and provide opportunities for fringe contenders was critical to the success of any long-term development programme.

For all that, even Bracewell would be hard-pressed to exaggerate the anti-climactic nature of Sri Lanka's performance in New Zealand, and the lack of genuine competition they provided over the past fortnight.

Once the World Cup champions, they now look a shadow of their former selves, hamstrung by out-of-form top-order batsmen, an unconvincing pace attack and a tail that kicks in after the sixth wicket.

That New Zealand had to find ways of challenging themselves, such as they did at the toss in Wellington, spoke volumes about Sri Lanka's present status.