Cricket: Vincent talks himself out of test squad

It has to rank as one of the strangest questions: Was Lou Vincent really dropped, or did he simply talk himself out of the test side to play the West Indies?

The startling question was directed at New Zealand coach and selection chief John Bracewell yesterday after Vincent was controversially omitted from the squad for the first test, starting at Eden Park on Thursday.

Vincent, who scored 92 in his most recent test, and only two innings earlier amassed 224 against Sri Lanka at Wellington, has been cut to create room for a brave new top-order.

Central Districts' rookie Jamie How will partner previous No 3 Hamish Marshall in a new but inexperienced opening combination, and Canterbury's Peter Fulton will make his debut in the first-drop position.

The only other talking point is the selection of another new cap - ODI spinner Jeetan Patel - as a second slow-bowling option ahead of Paul Wiseman.

But the axing of Vincent will remain the major issue over the next few days, and particularly after Bracewell seemed to suggest that the decision was fuelled by the right-hander's own preferences.

"Lou continually said himself that he didn't see himself as an opener and would prefer to bat in the middle order," Bracewell said yesterday.

"We weren't prepared to play guys who were reluctant. As it happened Hamish Marshall was more than happy to play the role."

If the decision is seen by some as being ruthless, the reasoning behind it will appear even more so, and is likely to raise more questions about the role of fellow selectors - Glenn Turner, Sir Richard Hadlee and Dion Nash.

Asked if Vincent was dropped because of what he said, rather than his record to date, Bracewell didn't exactly clear the matter up: "No, not at all," he replied. "No, he just made that statement and mentioned it again in Zimbabwe; that he'd prefer to be used as a middle order player."

He said Vincent had been disappointed when advised of the decision, a likely understatement given the bizarre circumstances that conspired to squeeze him out.

Since making a century on debut against Australia at Perth in 2001, the 27-year soon-to-be father has scored 1295 runs at an average of 35, including further centuries against India (106) and Sri Lanka (224).

Two of his centuries, at Perth and two years later in Chandigarh, were scored as an opening batsman.

Bracewell couldn't confirm definitely that Vincent's test career as an opener was now over, but said that he believed the Aucklander's best position was somewhere in the already crammed middle-order.

"And there's no place for him there, simply because of the numbers," he said. "But I think Lou's record and his comfort zone is in the middle order - at least in terms of the longer game."

He said the adjustment from No 3 to opener shouldn't be a difficult one for Hamish Marshall, as he'd invariably found himself facing the music early anyway.

"We thought he was very compact outside off-stump. We wanted to go towards more legitimate top-order players than we have in the past, so opted for Jamie How and a bit more stability through using Hamish.

"Hamish did a lot for us last season, under pretty big pressure against Australia, who probably had the best line-and-length attack in the world."

As for the decision to opt for Patel rather than Wiseman, he said the former's ODI form had swung the day.

"Jeetan's shown some very good development in terms of his ability to provide two angles when he's bowling, and the trouble that he can cause left-handers," Bracewell said. "We want to make sure we give ourselves options, and can make the ball go both ways when needed."

All the New Zealand players were off limits to the media yesterday.

THE TEAM
Stephen Fleming (c), Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Jeetan Patel, Shane Bond, Chris Martin.