Cricket: It's crazy to pick two keepers

Needless to say, just when the New Zealand cricketers are crying out for bowling options in their one-day side, the selectors continue to defy logic by picking two wicketkeepers.

It seemed extraordinary enough when glovemen Adam Parore and Chris Nevin were included in New Zealand's 14-man squad for the ICC Knockout Trophy.

But the tour selectors went a bewildering step further last weekend by opting to play both in the first two one-day internationals against South Africa.

Predictably, their experiment of opening with Nevin while still having Parore at No 8 was found to be as hare-brained as it first sounded.

The tactic not only left the opening batting problems unsolved, but led to a squeeze on bowling options.

NZ captain Stephen Fleming conceded afterwards that he could have done with Shayne O'Connor in the second one-day international at Benoni. The presence of Nevin and Parore, and two spinners, left the tourists with Scott Styris as their only specialist seamer.

Clearly, there is room for only one wicketkeeper.

That there was more than one in the squad in the first place flies in the face of all reason - but to contemplate playing both again is ludicrous.

If the selectors wanted to play Nevin to beef up the opening batting, they should have dropped Parore to allow for another bowling option.

If, however, they want to retain Parore because he happens to be in the best ODI form of his career, then they should bite the bullet, open with the man, and drop Nevin.

It is not as if the top order has been problem-free.

Since leaving these shores in late August, NZ's opening batting combination has been a disaster zone, with Nathan Astle churning through so many different partners that sometimes he must have felt like furtively checking his armpits.

At the last count, 11 players have opened the batting for NZ in less than two months, and the tourists are no closer to a solution as they prepare for tonight's third ODI, at Centurion.

Parore, with better experience, technique and form than Nevin, is the logical choice to partner Astle at the top of the order, which unfortunately means he will almost certainly not be asked to do it.

On recent form, Styris could be promoted from No 9, leaving the selectors the option of choosing three more bowlers to go with all-rounders Astle, Chris Harris and Chris Cairns.

As it is, NZ will likely opt for pacemen O'Connor and Geoff Allott, with Parore at No 8 and no room left for either of the spinners.