Marshall under pressure to perform

Under immense pressure for his poor batting form, Hamish Marshall has been instructed by John Bracewell, his coach, to raise his performance in the third Test against West Indies at Napier or face the axe. Marshall, New Zealand's makeshift opener, has endured a lean period in the last 11 months and was included in the Test squad mainly because of his willingness to open the batting.

Bracewell has taken a few drastic decisions of late with regard to New Zealand's batting order, particularly with Lou Vincent's controversial omission from the Test squad. The selectors have been keen on blooding new players and the advent of batsmen like Jamie How and Peter Fulton has increased the competition in the batting order.

However, Marshall remained confident when asked about dealing with pressure. Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Marshall said, "If you're not scoring many then there's always going to be people commenting on your game and the selection issue will always come up as well; that's just the reality of cricket and sport. I just have to go out and hopefully get some runs, and if things go my way hopefully I can hang in there and make a decent knock of it."

Marshall would have fond memories of Napier, where he scored 160 against Sri Lanka last April, rounding off an impressive home season, which included a productive series against Australia. However, Marshall's lean trot began with the tour of Zimbabwe in August, scoring just 20 and 13 in the two Tests. He was promoted to open the batting in the first Test against West Indies at Auckland with debutant How, but has flattered to deceive, averaging just 12.66.

He said he was not averse to opening the innings and that he would require more time to get settled in his new role. "I'm still getting used to the mindset of opening, and instead of being so defensive in terms of survival I just have to go out there and play my shots. If there's a bad ball I need to hit it, rather than defend it.

"It's a new role and I'm still getting the feel for it. I was probably a little tentative in the way I approached it, but in the second innings in Wellington I thought 'what the heck' and just played the bad ball."