KEY POINTS:
The Black Caps' rotation system involving their top players will get the boot for the tri-series, and good riddance.
Flabbergasted. That's my reaction to John Bracewell's decision to implement the selection merry-go-round this close to the World Cup.
If we turn up half-arsed with a half-strength team against
Australia, we'll get belted by at least 100 runs.
People were calling on the Black Caps to trial players such as Ross Taylor and Jamie How a year ago, but fiddling with the nucleus of the team this close to cricket's biggest tournament is bizarre. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it gets. Even if you find someone, it's too late to get them fully versed in the game plan and Australia is no place to blood a newcomer.
As a policy, there's nothing wrong with rotation. It appears to have served the All Blacks well although I'm sure they will nail down their team in the lead-up to their World Cup.
What it suggests to me is that the Black Caps haven't got themselves sorted the way they should at this point.
Bracewell will no doubt believe he has achieved a few things, including getting Taylor into the lineup and Brendon McCullum up the batting order. That said, almost everyone had seen the potential of these two so he can hardly claim the find of the century should they continue to succeed. The real issue is why he waited until the past fortnight to slot them into the top order?
Unfortunately, it means the Black Caps will be underdone going into a series involving the powerful Australians. For a start Stephen Fleming, has hardly had a bat.
So we are behind the eight ball, and if we have a disastrous tri-series then we may still be paying the price at the World Cup.
There is time to set things right although even on our very best day we're unlikely to be good enough to beat Australia consistently. And while England are ranked eighth in the world, they are better than that.
Still, if we settle on our best line-up quickly, and continue to tinker only with a few of the minor spots, we might just get the odd win over Australia if our best half dozen players fire.
And like just about every other team, we will rely on our top players to be match-winners at the World Cup, while hoping the rest don't lose games for us.
So what's our best side?
I'd open with Nathan Astle, who at his best is about as good as it gets. He is still the one New Zealand opener who can strike the ball cleanly from the outset, and then adjust his game through the innings.
McCullum has delivered enough to date to suggest he will soon join Adam Gilchrist in having rock-star status and I'd probably put Taylor at three, and shift Fleming to four. When you bring Scott Styris and Jacob Oram back into the mix, it looks tidy enough.
Braces may have it right with Craig McMillan at No 7 (it just feels right for some reason) and he is very capable of consistently giving you that quick 30-odd from 40 balls. There's no value in either of the Marshalls there and I'd leave them to fight for top order positions.
Macca looked a wee bit gun shy against Sri Lanka, but he will come right with time.
James Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills complete the list, with Mark Gillespie looking quite likely and able to rotate with Bond, who won't be able to play every game because of his fitness, and Mills. Jeetan Patel interests me and will play when conditions suit.
The likes of Andre Adams and Michael Mason will generally struggle at this level because they are a metre short of pace.
All in all though, the test and one-day series against Sri Lanka have been very disappointing for New Zealand cricket, and a poor lead-in to a very big year.
At the very least, the Black Caps should have won the test series 1-0, and won the one-day series by a game.