Greater intensity at higher level hit home to Blair

Bruce Blair's exposure to the preparation and planning required for international play was greatly enhanced by his stint as a coaching observer with the New Zealand team during the recent Test series with India. Blair was sent, at New Zealand Cricket's expense, to India to be part of the tour management team. Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell is there now, and Wellington coach Vaughn Johnson will be in Pakistan for that leg of the tour.

Blair had been to India before, but many years ago, and said as always India had been an awakening, a life experience in a culture so diverse from New Zealand that it was pretty eye-opening.

But as far as the playing and preparation was concerned he felt there was a lift in intensity from that he had experienced on the first-class scene in New Zealand with his Northern Districts side. "When you go into a Test series, you know who you are going to play against and that is different to domestic cricket. The level of planning for the Tests was extremely comprehensive and New Zealand's effort was no accident."

Blair said he felt the New Zealanders had surprised the Indians in terms of how competitive they were. "It was quite disappointing at the end of the second Test that we had not been able to force a victory. We were right on the money with where we wanted to be during the Test but just couldn't finish it off. It was a quiet dressing room afterwards because we were so close.

"But the plan turned out to be a good plan and I think that did surprise the Indians. As a batting unit we left New Zealand with no player having scored a Test century in India and now five have scored them, while Jacob Oram added another against India A," said Blair.

Everyone had contributed from a bowling point of view while the fielding had also been good. Blair said from a coaching point of view having observed Daryl Tuffey working harder at his own game and fitness, which didn't suggest he hadn't worked hard before, to lift himself to a new level and then get the results, such as on the last morning in Mohali, had been most enjoyable.

For medium-fast bowlers having to run in and bowl hard on flat tracks, Tuffey, Ian Butler and Jacob Oram couldn't help but come back as better bowlers for the experience. Butler had hurried up some good bowlers in those conditions which was a demonstration of his capabilities. With speed guns in India showing Butler constantly bowling around the 147 km/h mark, Blair was not surprised that he showed up faster than he had in New Zealand.

"I knew he was bowling too briskly onto batsmen for the New Zealand speed figures to have been slower." Another of his Northern Districts charges, Daniel Vettori had been highly respected by the Indians. He had a good economy rate and the batsmen were playing him into the safety zones to minimise the risks.

Asked what he felt the benefits might be for Northern Districts from his trip away, Blair said that his goal had always been to have all the players in his side capable of stepping up to international cricket. He said he came away from the tour with the view that cricket can only be enhanced, not only for the Northern Districts Knights but also for all the other cricketers he comes into contact with.

"There are various systems I saw that I will introduce straight away, there are some that I will explore to a new level but there was plenty of good to come out of it overall," he said. "It was fantastic to have the opportunity to go and if it is ongoing then the next time they need to select a New Zealand coach there should be six first-class coaches who put their hands up. If it goes ahead, it can only be good for New Zealand."

Blair was full of admiration for Nathan Astle's effort to overcome illness to go out on the last afternoon of the first Test in Ahmedabad and help save the match. "He was physically sick with not a lot of control. But he adjusted to batting in extremely difficult conditions of 37-38 degrees. He showed tremendous courage and determination. I think they can take great heart out of the way they performed. They scored a lot of points over there," Blair said.