The future's not so bright

Despite New Zealand's resounding win in the first ODI against England, Mark Richardson attributes it to the visitors misreading the pitch and voices his concern over the future, especially in the wake of the IPL and ICL. He writes in the Herald on Sunday:

England look a very useful side but they completely misread the pitch and did not play well at all. The Black Caps won't think this was a bad pitch - they'll love it to death - but it is a portable or "drop-in" pitch and it clearly hadn't been in long enough to be termed a quality pitch.

...

Young players like Tim Southee and Jesse Ryder coming through are great. They really are a glimpse of the future, but you wouldn't want to be playing any more than one or two of them in a side if you can help it.

Yet if more senior players are going to go to India, our lack of depth will be exposed again. We have to find a way to retain our senior and quality players.

In the same newspaper, Dylan Cleaver analyses the ills plaguing New Zealand cricket and points out the factors that have put the game in a crisis in the country.

Cleaver wonders why Chris Martin hasn't played a whole lot of matches for New Zealand.

Okay, so he wouldn't be able to stake a claim as a specialist batsman in the Ratapiko thirds, and his fielding will never be compared favourably to Jonty Rhodes, or possibly even Wilfred Rhodes, but the boy can bowl.

Martin is 33 and yesterday was just his 16th ODI. Given New Zealand's lack of international class players that's a ridiculously low total.

He also says that Jesse Ryder is heading for cult status. Ryder's weight has been a point of debate of late, with a few having expressed doubts while others backed the player who made his ODI debut on Saturday.