McIntosh treads the Richardson path

New Zealand's latest Test centurion Tim McIntosh has had to wait in a long queue before being granted an opportunity to open for his country. His ride to Test cricket follows a similar path to another resolute left-handed opening batsman Mark Richarson.

Since Richardson retired at the end of 2004, New Zealand have struggled to find a suitable replacement at the top of the order, and McIntosh, with his ability to bat for long periods and stylish stroke play, looks to be the man to fill the void. After his classy 136 against West Indies at Napier, it seems mystifying how a player with a record as impressive as McIntosh was not selected before now. At 29, he is the same age as Richardson was when he made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in September 2000.

McIntosh has an enviable first-class record for a New Zealander which features 14 first-class hundreds, including his maiden Test century against West Indies. Before his Test debut, McIntosh's first-class record read 76 matches, 4061 runs at 34.41. His conversion rate is equally as impressive, converting 14 of his 28 scores of fifty or more into hundreds.

His ability to bat for long periods of time and occupy the crease is perhaps his most treasured asset, as is his ability to convert those hundreds into far bigger scores. His maiden first-class century of 182 against Canterbury in December 2000 was definitely a sign of things to come. He has scored two first-class double hundreds, quite a feat in New Zealand domestic cricket. His top score of 268 was made in March this year against Canterbury at the Eden Park Outer Oval and was notable for the fact that no one else in the same innings managed to make fifty.

Richardson's record prior to Test selection is very similar in that he scored 4518 runs in 77 matches at an average of 40.34 with ten centuries. While Richardson began his career as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler and turned himself into an opening batsman later in his career, both players are left-handed and both have the ability to bat for a long period of time.

In his final first-class innings before making his Test debut, he scored a magnificent 306 against Zimbabwe A at Kwekwe. In this sense he shared the same thirst for long innings as McIntosh and as a consequence neither was ever considered a genuine one-day player. McIntosh has only played 20 domestic limited-overs matches in nine seasons and, while Richardson played 91 domestic one-day games, he only managed to play four ODIs.

Amazingly, McIntosh's hundred was just the second century made by a New Zealand opening batsman in 37 Tests since Stephen Fleming made 117 against England at Trent Bridge in 2004. The only other opener to score a Test hundred during that period was the recently discarded Matthew Bell, who made 107 against Bangladesh in Dunedin in January 2008.

Before his selection earlier this month, McIntosh was second behind Michael Parlane (14) on the list of current first-class players with the most centuries yet to play Test cricket. McIntosh has more first-class centuries than Craig Cumming (13), Michael Papps (13), James Marshall (10), Lou Vincent (10), Jamie How (9), Peter Fulton (7), and Aaron Redmond (7) yet they were all given an opportunity to open the innings for New Zealand before him.

In fact, since Richardson's departure, New Zealand have used 15 different opening combinations in 33 Tests, with 11 different players making up those combinations. The number of opening combinations tried by New Zealand in the last four years is not helped by the selectors recent penchant for change at the top. Bell was dropped after the England series in New Zealand in March this year.

His final Test match innings was a gutsy 66 in which he battled psychological demons after his previous four innings included three ducks. Redmond, the latest opening batsman to face the axe, scored 83 and 19 in his final Test but was widely criticised for gifting his wicket away with loose shots in both innings.

With Jamie How struggling for runs at present, scoring 160 runs in his last ten innings, it seems the opening combination is due for another change in the not-too-distant future. If the selectors recent liking for change at the top of the order is anything to go by, How's 54 in the fourth innings of the final Test will not be enough to keep his spot. The question is: Who will the selectors look to next? Not once in the last 33 Tests have they gone back to an opening combination.

Bell has begun the domestic summer well once again, as has Cumming, but with both players in their early thirties, will the selectors go back to players that have been tried before, men who have faced and probably still hold onto the demons of failure at international level? Or, do they give Redmond another chance after chastising him for surrendering his wicket so meekly on two occasions in Adelaide?

Do the selectors stick with How and hope his poor run of scores ends shortly? His 54 off 65 balls in Napier shows how cleanly he's striking the ball at the moment and perhaps a big score isn't too far away. So many questions for the selectors; questions which won't be answered until the end of March when India tours for a two-Test series. One thing is for sure though, McIntosh will be facing up to the new ball.