KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's cricket faithful are no strangers to the concept of patience.
So it should probably come as little surprise that the Black Caps' optimum one-day line-up for the next year's World Cup may be rarely sighted over the summer.
New Zealand's preparations crank up a notch with
the first leg of a Twenty20 double with Sri Lanka at Westpac Stadium tonight, effectively the opening salvo of a programme that could see New Zealand play a maximum of 20 more limited overs games before they head to the West Indies on February 28.
Once the Twenty20 cameo ends at Eden Park on Boxing Day, the focus turns to one-dayers and a five-match series against a Sri Lankan side beaten 4-1 here less than 12 months ago.
A Tri-Series across the Tasman against the Ashes' protagonists spans January and February, while the Australians return for the annual Chappell Hadlee Trophy in mid-February, raising the prospect of the Black Caps playing six games in 10 days if they make the finals in Australia at either the world champions' or England's expense.
Dealt a schedule of that magnitude -- in contrast Sri Lanka have 10 one-dayers before they head to the Caribbean -- skipper Stephen Fleming admitted there would be plenty juggling of personnel before the 15 World Cup tourists were unveiled on February 13.
Obviously there are already automatic choices like Fleming, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Shane Bond and currently injured trio Scott Styris, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills.
But with such a wealth of one-dayers available, fringe candidates will be given plenty of scope to stake their claims even if it compromises New Zealand's chances of building feel-good momentum before they pack their bags.
Fleming could not specify when coach John Bracewell would settle on his ideal line-up, but said as far as he was concerned everything was geared to the World Cup opener against England on March 16.
"There's a lot of cricket so we have to be very smart with the teams that are picked to make sure we have the best players for the key games.
"We have to look at England as being the most important and selections will reflect that."
Fleming estimated 30 players "will feel they have a good chance of going to the West Indies" and hoped that keen competition would translate to good performances on the field.
However, he acknowledged setbacks may have to absorbed as they tested different combinations and rested stars for the greater good.
"We're introducing new talent to pressure situations and that may pay off down the track," he said.
The first Twenty20 clash heralds the start of that process with Brendon McCullum back opening the batting for the first time since his debut series in 2002 -- the last time New Zealand were invited to Australia's Tri-Series.
McCullum often fills the key role of keeping the score ticking over in the latter overs but he has the luxury of having more overs at his disposal -- for the time being.
"If you look at it, maybe he's winning one out of 10 games at the tail. We're hoping we can win four games out of 10 at the top using his talent and skills.
"It may weaken any area that's perceived to be strong for us but we think 1/10 is not a good enough ratio to consider it a massive strength," Fleming said.
"If he does it well he's going to be a real contender later on down the track. It would be nice to put him in the (openers) mix with Nathan (Astle), myself, the (Lou) Vincents and (Ross) Taylors."
McCullum, and Taylor who has a chance to add to his two games against the West Indies in March, were under no pressure to perform instantly, Fleming added.
"It might take a little bit of time that's why the players are being introduced to key roles now.
"There's enough time for them to get established in that role -- it's not one game here and there, it's a series of games that will give the selectors a much better idea of how they'll perform."
- NZPA
