Cricket: Scraping bottom of the barrel for replacements

It should not be the high casualty rate which is embarrassing the New Zealand cricket selectors at the moment, but the paucity of potential replacements.

Whatever the future of key allrounder Chris Cairns, it seems Sir Richard Hadlee's panel has already plumbed most of the Kiwi talent barrel this season, and might now be mounting a close inspection of the bottom.

The insistence on picking injured frontline players as soon as they are approaching full fitness backfired, with predictable and drastic results in Africa, leaving the selectors facing plenty of soul-searching in the lead-up to the series against the Proteas.

After churning through 18 players in the six one-day internationals before last night's mini- World Cup semifinal in Nairobi, the panel will consider the plight of Cairns and a couple of other burning issues before naming their squad for South Africa.

If his dodgy knee permits, Cairns seems likely to be kept on as a specialist batsman for the eight-week tour, given that he has scored 620 runs at an average of 62 in his past seven tests, including New Zealand's two most recent centuries.

However, logic suggests the selectors will soon end the faintly farcical situation which sees the present 14-man squad carrying two wicketkeepers, one of whom - Chris Nevin - has not received enough recent match play to be picked.

The complication facing Sir Richard's panel, particularly if Cairns is forced out of the tour, is that quality replacements in New Zealand are thin on the ground, and that even when there has been a suitable option, the selectors tend to pick someone less qualified.

That, for example, is what happened to Glen Sulzberger, who was selected for the New Zealand A tour of England on the strength of his batting form, and then promoted into the one-day squad as a part-time off-spinner.

While the Central Districts' left-hander might carry some promise in the longer game, he understandably looked like a fish out of water in the one-day environment, where he was asked to play the role of a frontline slow bowler who could slog a few runs late in the innings.

Clearly, given performances in the Shell Cup and on the recent New Zealand A tour, Auckland leg-spinner Brooke Walker would have been far better suited to that role, while his ability in the field could have only sharpened the Kiwi defensive effort.

In terms of batting cover, the selectors have few specialist one-day candidates remaining.

But they could do themselves a favour by considering again the credentials of test rookie Mark Richardson, who has been asked to concentrate solely on his longer-game commitments.

The 29-year-old Richardson seems ideally suited to 50-overs cricket, having already scored more Shell Cup centuries (three) than any other New Zealander who has not been selected for a one-day international, while also putting his left-armers to good use at the bowling crease.

On the pace-bowling front, there will be possibly be a reluctance to rush back the experienced Simon Doull in light of the raft of injuries already sustained.

However, the selectors may find themselves with little choice if Cairns is ruled out.

Former test pacemen Kerry Walmsley and Andrew Penn join Canterbury hopeful Chris Martin on the standby list, with Doull, Chris Drum and Robert Kennedy also hoping to be considered.