Cricket: Bracewell scouts fresh blood in domestic ranks

By TERRY MADDAFORD

John Bracewell (right) does not officially take over his coaching role with New Zealand Cricket until Monday, when he will be in Hamilton watching the first-round championship clash between Auckland and Northern Districts.

By choosing to stay home rather than go on the tours to India and Pakistan, Bracewell has been able to spend time at the academy at Lincoln in Christchurch, so he already has a dossier on many of the country's first-class players.

"That has been extremely beneficial," said Bracewell.

"I owed it to the domestic players to spend time there.

"By the time I watch the game at Westpac Park next week I will have seen all the domestic players. If I had gone away that opportunity would have been lost.

"Once the international series get under way I will not have too many chances to see these players.

"I wanted to show some respect to players who want to be Black Caps rather than those who already are.

"Watching these matches has been the chance to watch as a selector rather than coach," said Bracewell.

"It is different looking on in a non-judgmental manner [as a selector] as opposed to a coach who is always involved in the outcome.

"I think we are well served in our selection process. In retaining the same selectors and now having a group of first-class coaches who are very open in assessing their own, and opposing, cricketers, I'm getting the honest input I want."

Bracewell will spend much of his summer with the Black Caps, but he and his fellow selectors Richard Hadlee, Ross Dykes and Brian McKechnie will also name a New Zealand A team for a series against Sri Lanka A. Form in pre-Christmas State Championship matches will play a key part in that selection.

Beyond that a tour to England beckons. At the end of next year there is also the tour to Bangladesh.

"The New Zealand A concept is one I fully support. It is the carrot and one in which players should have pride in being involved."

Bracewell is determined all four-day matches should come under selector scrutiny, but at times that might be aimed more at one player than the 22 involved in the match.

"It might be a special visit to watch one player for a whole day," said Bracewell. "Selectors are not always looking at everybody all the time."

Bracewell said he had been "pleasantly surprised" at the standard of spin bowling.

"It would be unfair to name names," he said.

"While I have been happy with what I have seen, I have not been surprised at how they have been used at times."

Little surprise in that. In 149 first class matches he took 522 wickets (at 26.66) to take 15th place on New Zealand's all-time list. In 41 tests, "under captains who encouraged me", he took 102 wickets (at 35.81).