The BLACKCAPS have one full One Day International against Pakistan tomorrow, with warm up matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa before the tournament opener on 14 February against Sri Lanka.
It seems ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 has been coming forever, and the mantra from the camp has always been simply ‘we’re focused on the next match’ – but the big tournament questions are getting harder to dodge.
Typically, Head Coach Mike Hesson takes the long view.
“Our key is getting all 15 players available and confident heading into that first game, our focus is not just on the first game against Sri Lanka, it’s on the next two months,” said Hesson.
Mike Hesson isn't keen to finalise a first XI.
“It’s a two month tournament, everyone will want to play the first game, but if they miss out, they have to be ready for the second.
“Have things gone to plan? Probably uncomfortably so, yes. We’re tracking really nicely but we still have one more international and a couple of warm up games before that first game, and I understand the focus is always on that first game, but our focus is very much on being on top of things for a couple of months.
The first thing Hesson does when arriving at a match venue, generally, is walking out to take a good long look at the pitch – crucial for finalising who takes the field that day – so is there an actual BLACKCAPS first XI?
“If we’ve got everyone in form, then we can be a little picky about how we go about things. As we’ve seen through this summer, we have players that get little sore parts of their bodies here and there, so we’re in a position to choose a fully fit player A rather than a 90% B is pretty helpful for us. We’ll have pretty close to a first XI, but conditions will dictate that,” said Hesson.
Mohammed Irfan - tall order.
In the seven matches against Sri Lanka, the BLACKCAPS arguably weren’t presented with a serious seam bowling examination – that all changed on Saturday in Wellington in the form of seven foot one inch Mohammed Irfan.
“Yeah, there were a few ice bags out! He certainly hits the bat hard, to call it trampoline bounce is fair, considering where he releases the ball from, he poses different questions than other players around the world,” said Hesson.
Grant Elliott, who saw a fair amount of Irfan in his match-winning partnership with Ross Taylor at Westpac Stadium enjoyed the challenge.
Elliott is keen to keep playing his part.
“It’s something I’ve never faced before – it’s really special, for someone of that height to bowl the pace that he does is a real find. There’s a lot of spinners who are difficult as well, but the more you face it, the more you’re out there in the middle, the more you can get a game plan. I think we played him pretty well in Wellington,” said Elliott.
Elliott made 64 not out on Saturday night to help get the BLACKCAPS home, showing his experience and doing just the job he was brought in to do – he’s satisfied with how the group is tracking.
Everyone’s had a bit of a go out in the middle, and everyone’s looking in good form, the environment’s great, the guys are pretty chipper, we’ve been winning a lot of games going into the World Cup – we just can’t be too results driven and take one ball at a time.
“We’ve all played enough to know that you just stay level in this game, you don’t have a lot of time to celebrate these things, you’re back on a plane the next day,” said Elliott.
