Cricket: I'm sorry they feel that way ...

Chris Doig has asked me to apologise for all the nasty things I've reported over the past few weeks, so here goes.

The chief executive of New Zealand Cricket has taken exception to suggestions that the original tour squad might have been picked in a phone-in poll, that the tour selectors were drawing each line-up from a hat, and that the recent selection of identical twin Hamish Marshall was a case of mistaken identity.

Apparently, when it's all boiled down, off-spinner Paul Wiseman has received even-handed treatment throughout this tour and Stephen Fleming's captaincy has been beyond reproach, while the idea of playing two wicketkeepers in a one-day side is set to become the game's latest innovation.

The idea of sending over Ross Dykes - a selector and possible third wicketkeeper - was not a rushed job, as so recklessly described in the Herald on Monday, but rather the meticulous planning of a panel which recognised the need for a fourth representative well in advance.

As for Marshall, the fact that he has the lowest "highest" first-class score of any test batsman chosen for New Zealand since John Beck in 1953-54, is simply a mischievous manipulation of statistics.

I now understand that when selection convener Sir Richard Hadlee next talks of his frustrations with tour selections and his hopes of having more input via another selector, NZC would prefer that the comments be either completely ignored or referred back to their organisation for some last-minute adjustments.

Furthermore, if the chief executive should again respond to a media inquiry by choosing to dish out a wisecrack, this should not be interpreted as a refusal to comment, but rather an invitation to chat sometime later in the week.

Folks, we're not with the Wizard of Oz in Kansas any more.

Having won just four of 13 one-day internationals on this trip so far, New Zealand's triumph in Kenya is fast becoming a distant memory.

Opening problems aside, most of the batsmen have found some form but the weakened bowling attack has proved completely harmless, leading to a first-ever one-day series defeat in Zimbabwe, and then four consecutive losses to the Proteas.

It's been hard to find a positive angle.

Adam Parore's outstanding form throughout the tour only leads to questions about why he has not been offered more responsibility. Wiseman's efforts in the test at Bulawayo and then later in the quarter-final of the ICC Knockout Trophy brings up the small matter of his treatment, and the excellence of Roger Twose starts to beg the question of whether he should be our ODI side's skipper.

NZC, after all, have for some time been making noises about developing a more specialist ODI side, most notably after naming a squad for Africa which included two glovemen, three players under injury clouds, and a couple of batsmen with extremely dubious records.

Twose has shown over the past 18 months that few players understand the shorter game as well as he does, and the appointment of a specialist ODI captain hardly seems inconsistent with NZC philosophy.

Without wanting to take anything away from Fleming's statistical achievements, it's hard to escape the notion that he has the makings of a world-class batsman if unshackled from the chains of captaincy.

As recently as Thursday's fifth ODI in Durban, he showed his peculiar sense of reasoning, with the decision to bring Craig McMillan in for one over at what seemed to be the make-or-break stage of the run-chase, while choosing not to offer Shayne O'Connor his full allotment.

NZC would prefer these sorts of things were not raised, however. According to the Hadlee thesaurus, to highlight such issues is "misguided, sensational, irresponsible, negative, ultra-critical, destructive" and a "disservice" to the game.

I'm sorry they feel that way.