Latest from Best of Sport Analysis

Jacob Oram: Black Caps have talent to go the distance

I was fortunate enough to play in three World Cups, yet I think the current Black Caps squad would easily dispose of any of those World Cup teams I played in, writes Jacob Oram.

Dylan Cleaver: I feel sorry for Halberg judges

I once wrote a really angry column when a football team that didn't win a game won the Halberg supreme award.

Steven Holloway: Asia move not viable option for NZ football

Football in New Zealand is suffering from a bad case of Asian envy.

Dylan Cleaver: Nelson may see final sinking of West Indies

When talk turns to salivating opening-round match-ups, it usually centres on Melbourne, where Australia meets England, or Adelaide, where those great foes India and Pakistan will meet.

David Leggat: Sri Lanka's Malinga factor shifts the balance

New Zealand will know what to expect if, as expected, Lasith Malinga marks out his runup against them in the World Cup opener on Saturday.

Chris Rattue: Hot Spot moments add thrill to game

How can the international cricket mob expect us to take the World Cup seriously when they don't? Come on, troops, get with the programme.

Scotty Stevenson: Leading a horse to water can have consequences

Teddy McCafferty, out of Henry and Beryl McCafferty of Strathmore, a trainer of some distinction with a string of champions to his name, was scratching his head outside the stables at Alexandra....

Dana Johannsen: Time to ditch the word WAG

In 2015 it is still considered acceptable to define women by their relationship with men, writes Dana Johannsen.

Steven Holloway: Asian Cup success bodes well for U-20 event

The infectiously vibrant Asian Cup football tournament being contested in Australia is an encouraging portent for the Fifa U-20 World Cup New Zealand is to host this winter.

Chris Rattue: Oz mocking Anzac spirit

Australia's fallen Kangaroos are running scared of the Kiwis all the way back to Brisbane, but this time they have gone way too far.

Chris Rattue: Test side good enough to topple Aussies in their own backyard

Scotty Stevenson: Time with the rallies at Caroline Bay courts

He was 30-love up in the final game. The winner was taking all. The court was of the public variety, and the net sagged in the middle, blown about through spring by the winds that whipped off the grey waters of Caroline Bay.

Chris Rattue: Vicelich keeps popping up in right place

The All Whites' much-celebrated victory over Bahrain in Wellington, their boarding pass to the 2010 Fifa World Cup finals, is the game Ivan Vicelich recalls most fondly from his long football....

Chris Rattue: Women footballers can't fight genetics

Chris Rattue writes to dissatisfied women footballers: "If Fifa is the misogynist devil you portray it to be, set up your own world football organisation."

Dana Johannsen: Team NZ challenge hangs by a thread

Jaw-dropping decision to stage America’s Cup racing off Bermuda may see event disappear off Kiwi radar writes Dana Johannsen.

Mark Richardson: The bouncer must be left alone

The day I accepted the bouncer was the day I went from being a flaky tail-ender to beginning my journey to becoming a test batsman.

Wynne Gray: Golf's a giggle but Ko could be the greatest

Everything about Lydia Ko astounds. She has put the giggle into golf and stunned her contemporaries while her direct credit entries have given her a flurry of investment opportunities.

David Leggat: What ifs now reality for Abbott

Many years ago a young teenager was batting in a school match.