Kiwis ready for long road back

Jacob Oram is keen to come up against West Indies star Shivnarine Chanderpaul

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New Zealand against West Indies may not be the draw card it once was, but for new Black Caps coach Andy Moles and his players the start of the first Test in Dunedin on Thursday cannot come soon enough.

John Bracewell’s time in charge came to an inglorious end in Adelaide as the Black Caps slumped to an innings-and-62-run defeat which saw them slide further down the Test rankings to sit above only Bangladesh.

The desire to banish the batting nightmares of that match is strong and changes to the line-up have been made in the hope of drawing a line under the Australia series and lifting the team out of the doldrums.

Gone are Aaron Redmond and Peter Fulton and in comes Tim McIntosh to open the innings alongside Jamie How. Daniel Flynn has been promoted up the order to number three with Jesse Ryder dropping to five behind Ross Taylor.

The return of all-rounders Jacob Oram (back and finger) and James Franklin (knee) from injury also ensures there is plenty of batting down the order, too, with bowlers Iain O’Brien and Mark Gillespie or possibly Jeetan Patel, if he plays, left to fill the 10 and 11 positions.

“I’m personally a big believer in the lower down your batting can go the better,” Oram said.

“I know the top order and the middle order are supposed to be the ones doing the bulk of the run-scoring, but just to have that safety net of having someone come in at eight, nine or 10 where they can score runs or at least hold up an end for a partnership, I believe that can always help.

“You don’t want to sacrifice wicket-taking ability but at the moment we’ve got a really good blend.”

West Indies are seventh, one place above New Zealand, in the Test rankings and, like their hosts, are also in a rebuilding phase. According to Oram, it should make for a competitive series.

West Indies’ main threat will come from their big three – International Cricket Council player of the year Shivnarine Chanderpaul, captain Chris Gayle and the in-form Ramnaresh Sarwan, who scored 158 against Auckland in the tourists’ only warm-up match, which ended in a draw.

Ramnaresh Sarwan batted himself into form ahead of the first Test © Getty Images

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“Those three are obviously their big three and our guys are going to have to be well aware of them because their records suggest they are damn good players who have the ability to score big runs and win Test matches for the West Indies,” Oram said.

Chanderpaul, in particular, has had a superb year and, while he was below par when West Indies toured New Zealand in 2006 and made only 22 in the three-day match against Auckland, he still looms as the biggest threat.

Oram added: “He’s had such a good 18 months-two years I wouldn’t expect anything less than him preparing the same way, planning the same way and trying to score the runs the same way.

“We’re just hoping we’ve got our plans in place to overcome him and get on top of him early in the series.”

The bowlers will also have to contend with his unusual stance.

“It is different. If you’re unaware or not sure about where you are delivering or where you are focusing it can be an issue,” admitted the 30-year-old medium-pacer.

“But you’ve just got to be on top of things and be well aware and stay focused on what you’re doing so what he’s doing doesn’t become the issue.”

The New Zealand batsmen will also face something of an oddity in fast bowler Fidel Edwards, whose round-arm action makes his deliveries difficult to pick up.

“Someone like Lasith Malinga is similar and we have had trouble against him in the past to be honest,” Oram admitted.

“We’re going to have to train for it a bit differently, maybe set the bowling machine lower or get guys to throw side-arm.

“We’re just going to have to be well prepared for coming up against him because he has got a different action but he also swings it and he’s got good pace which makes him a handful.”

West Indies come into the Test at the University Oval with one main goal, to stay above New Zealand in the rankings.

A win or a draw in Dunedin will ensure that. “We want to make sure that we stay ahead of them and move up the ladder,” Sarwan said. “We need to keep pushing hard.”