Cricket: Vincent turning out at No 3 for Auckland

By TERRY MADDAFORD

New Zealand cricket's man of the moment, Lou Vincent, will bat at No 3 for Auckland against Bangladesh, and will not don the wicketkeeping gloves despite Adam Parore's absence.

With an embarrassment of riches at the top of the batting order, the Auckland selectors have opted for Mark Richardson and Matt Horne as openers in the four-day game which starts on Wednesday on Eden Park's outer oval. Left-hander Tim McIntosh is the unlucky top-order batsman to miss out.

Vincent's century and half-century double as an opener on test debut in Perth this month catapulted him into the international limelight.

But the thorny issue for Auckland was where to play him, given that Auckland coach/selector Tony Sail also had at his disposal one incumbent test opener in Richardson and a former one in Horne.

"We did not want to bat Tim McIntosh lower than three, so we have gone with Richardson, Horne and Vincent," Sail said.

There was no pressure from the New Zealand selectors, although he had talked to New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart.

"In the end, though, it's still our call. We want Lou to bat at three and he's happy enough with that. He would bat at 10 if we asked him."

Of the wicketkeeping duties, Sail said he had spoken to Parore, who would have played if asked. Vincent, a classy fielder, has done the job in the past.

"He [Parore] had a concentrated workload in Australia," Sail said. "We thought it was right he should have a break. We did not look at Lou taking over because Reece Young has done enough to hold his place."

Of more concern to Sail was the paucity of cricket his players have had.

Club cricket was again washed out on Saturday. A comfortable win over Central Districts in their opening State Championship match and the washout after just one day's play against Wellington in the second meant only four Auckland batsmen have had two representative bats this season. The rest have had one.

"All our players are a bit underdone, which is disappointing not only for those who are playing but for others such as Llorne Howell, who are getting no chance to put their hands up," Sail said.

Nick Horsley will bat at No 6 for Auckland, edging Rob Nicol out of the middle order.

Chris Drum has come into the team in place of left-armer Richard Morgan.

Mark Haslam, 12th man for the game against Central, is likely to again carry the drinks, although Sail will wait until the day of the match before deciding that.

"With the rain we have had, we are likely to go in with one spinner [captain Brooke Walker], but with the game to be played on the part of the block which has deteriorated in the past, we might look at that again."

Auckland (from): Mark Richardson, Matt Horne, Lou Vincent, Aaron Barnes, Kyle Mills, Nick Horsley, Brooke Walker (capt), Reece Young, Andre Adams, Tama Canning, Mark Haslam, Chris Drum.