Cricket: Parore targeting century of tests

By RICHARD BOOCK

BLOEMFONTEIN - It started dawning on Adam Parore just how long he had been playing for New Zealand as he kept wicket for a bunch of greenhorn bowlers against Boland at Paarl.

The 29-year-old gloveman began his test career in 1990, the same season as Sir Richard Hadlee retired, and yesterday overtook Ian Smith to become New Zealand's fourth most-capped player, with 64 tests.

Only Hadlee (86), John Wright (82) and Martin Crowe (77) have played more, and Parore has his sights on roaring past them all to become the first New Zealander to play 100 tests.

To be honest, that is not all he has had his sights on in South Africa, as he has proved something of a crack shot with either handgun or rifle, reducing the impala and warthog population by one apiece, while also working on his aim in the firing range.

But it was in Paarl, with the likes of Daniel Vettori, Chris Cairns and Dion Nash out of the tour, that he looked around the field and really started feeling his age.

"It was a bit different out there, I'll tell you now," he said. "In that game at Paarl, you looked around the field and felt a bit strange. I'm just so pleased we had a couple of warm-up games because until then I hadn't even seen some of our bowlers. It felt a bit uncomfortable."

For all that, he was pleasantly surprised with what came out of the game at Paarl and the subsequent test dress-rehearsal against North-West, when Chris Martin, Daryl Tuffey and Brooke Walker effectively cemented their places in the side to play South Africa.

Martin hit his gloves with good pace, as did Tuffey, and Walker showed enough variations to leave the New Zealand wicketkeeper feeling optimistic about the future.

"We weren't supposed to have any depth left in our bowling but a couple of guys who have been sent over here can really bowl."

Parore, who has played 150 one-day internationals and is keen to make it to 200, has been in some of the best form of his life during the tour of Africa, and while not extended the batting opportunities he deserved, remains head-and-shoulders above any rival for the test wicketkeeping berth.

His work behind the stumps has flourished on South Africa's pacy and bouncy pitches, and his batting - what little of it we have seen - seems to be better organised against outright pace than several of his top-order team-mates.

"My fitness is good, and that's probably going to be the only thing that stops me getting to 100 tests," he said. "It doesn't feel like I've played so many tests - it sort of feels like I'm just starting to work it out now.

"I probably expected too much of myself early on, knowing what I know now. I've learned how exactly it should be done and how hard you have to work to get it right. I don't think I really appreciated how difficult this was at first."