This is getting greedy, but New Zealand fans might consider asking captain Brendon McCullum to bowl Kane Williamson in one-day internationals.
It only has to be an over or two but, since Williamson remodelled his action to remove illegalities, he has averaged 88.50 with the bat at a strike rateof 93 in matches he bowls, compared with 65.67 at 90 in matches he doesn't. He has bowled one over for seven runs at the World Cup so far.
Williamson spent five months modifying his action to be less round-armed and more over-the-top. He remains on probation until July 21, 2016, two years after the date of his first suspension, and will be suspended from bowling in international cricket for a minimum of 12 months if he is charged again. His 24 wickets at 34.50 have been a useful ODI wicket-taking option. His economy rate of 5.57 is relatively expensive but he has dismissed batsmen such as Graeme Smith, Faf du Plessis, Ian Bell and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"Once it [my bowling] was taken away, it made me want it more," Williamson said upon his return in December. "It's still important I get opportunities in matches to put the action under pressure, so it becomes more natural."
Williamson's one for 117 from 19 ODI overs at an economy rate of 6.15 has had minimal impact since renewing his "bowling licence", mainly because specialists are delivering.
Another factor to consider is every time Williamson bowls is an opportunity lost in the field - his work rate, particularly as a catcher and pinball within the 30m circle, saves numerous runs.
Bowling might have been far from Williamson's mind yesterday as he shrugged off the remnants of a gastro bug which, much to the envy of several international bowling attacks, had ripped through him.
He missed yesterday's training but is expected to be fit for tomorrow's World Cup pool match against Bangladesh. He has the best New Zealand batting average at the tournament with 182 runs at 60.66.
Daniel Vettori and Grant Elliott had both recovered enough to train yesterday after suffering a similar illness after the victory over Afghanistan in Napier.
Wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi was relatively frank yesterday when describing what the trio had gone through. "It's a bug that comes out from certain places at simultaneous times," he explained.
Adam Milne trained lightly yesterday after bruising an A/C shoulder joint against Afghanistan.
