Cricket: Trist swift to make his mark

By Richard Boock

The unmistakable mark of David Trist hovers over the New Zealand cricket squad to tour India.

For all the talk of little change, Trist, the new national coach, appears to have made an early impression on selection matters, particularly with the recall of batsman Craig Spearman and spin-bowler Paul Wiseman.

Neither could establish their place in the team coached by Steve Rixon but both have been immediately reintroduced under Trist, who from today begins a two-year contract as national coach.

And considering the pair have not played any meaningful cricket since the end of the New Zealand domestic season, it seems fair to presume their inclusion is the result of a change in the selection personnel, rather than their own form.

For Spearman, in particular, the recall is almost certainly driven by the new coach. An opening batsman, Spearman was first selected by Glenn Turner in 1995 and played in all five tests that year, averaging 35 and scoring a half-century in the final test against the West Indies.

But he could win a starting berth in only three of the nine tests played under Rixon, despite performing reasonably well in two of them (against Zimbabwe), and maintaining a test average around the 31.00 mark.

Spearman shrugs his shoulders when asked about his omission: "He [Rixon] just decided to choose other players, I guess," he said.

"I thought my test record was pretty fair for a guy who had only played eight tests, but I was hardly involved at all under Rixon. I felt I'd been stood down.

"Now it feels like the second part of my test career and in that regard the tour to India will probably dictate how long I last this time."

Spearman said he was unfamiliar with Trist's coaching strategy but was unconcerned that his background was as a former bowler.

"For me as a batsman, it's hardly any different from the last guy, who was a wicketkeeper."

Wiseman too, can probably thank Trist for his recall, after being left out of the New Zealand test side at the end of last summer's series against India.

The Otago offspinner did not appear to have the confidence of captain Stephen Fleming, who bowled him sparingly during that series, and was later left out of the tour to England, with the selectors opting for rookie legspinner Brooke Walker instead.

Chris Harris is another who might owe his touring place to the change in coach, after being assigned only light duties in England and apparently being pigeon-holed as a one-day international specialist.

A player who has been dismissed by almost every spin-bowler in world cricket, Harris was expected to be omitted from the test squad and recalled for the ODI section of the tour.

However, the selectors yesterday reaffirmed his worth as a test prospect, with Trist suggesting he could not only bat in the middle order, but at a pinch, at No 3.