Not all bad at World Cup - Hadlee

Selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee threw a positive spin on New Zealand's early exit from the World Cup today.

Speaking on Radio Sport, the national sport station, he said that New Zealand had gone into the tournament ranked No 8 in the world and could claim to be ranked No 4 or 5 now which indicated the side had made some progress.

The side had also won 11 of its last 16 games which had not happened before.

Hadlee defended the side selected from claims that not enough specialists were named by saying the top five or six batsmen had been selected as specialists while several of the bowlers had been selected on a similar basis.

He said the side had won five games in a row and apart from the last one and a half games, the side had been winning.

The loss to Australia had not been a selection issue, it was one where the players had to take a degree of accountability for what happened, he said.

Hadlee said the balance of the side had been 'absolutely right' and it needed to be remembered that the side had to be picked by December 31, or January 2 in New Zealand's case.

He said the choice of opening with Daniel Vettori as a batsman had been a calculated gamble against the West Indies which had done reasonably well. It was attempted against Australia as an unorthodox move to try and break up the Australian game plan.

It hadn't worked on that occasion, he said.

Hadlee also confirmed that he had been part of the selection process of the side, along with coach Denis Aberhart and captain Stephen Fleming and all teams chosen had been a unanimous choice.

The opening batting had been an unsettled problem for 15 years and the decision to bat Nathan Astle at No 3 was because of the fact he was so crucial to the side. It was done in an attempt to make it easier for him with five overs or more having been bowled when he batted, and when that had happened the tactic had worked. But on other occasions he was facing in the first or second over.

Hadlee added that the failure to go to Kenya had impacted on the chances for players like Mathew Sinclair and Daryl Tuffey. If New Zealand had gone to Kenya and picked up four points, they would have qualified for the Super Six before having to play Canada and that would have allowed those players a chance.

Hadlee had been delighted with the form shown by Fleming who he described as superb while Shane Bond had been electric with his bowling.

Hadlee said he and the selectors now had to look forward to Sri Lanka and it was time to reflect and reassess on the World Cup while also taking into consideration some very good performances in domestic cricket.

"Maybe there are one or two players who may be introduced for the tour," he said.