Nash happy with progress and looking forward to Sunday
By Lynn McConnell
From www.nzcricket.co.nz, January 26, 2001

Don't be surprised if one D J Nash's name appears among the bowling contributors to Sunday's Sri Lankan tour opener against the Selection XI at Pukekura Park in New Plymouth.

It would be a long shot, and only in a change bowling role, but it can't be ruled out. And that has to be exciting news for New Zealand cricket in the longer term.

When he returned home from Zimbabwe, injured with back problems, it seemed Nash could be headed for the bowling scrap heap, a tragic loss at a time when he was gaining the reward for so much hard work to get back onto the international scene.

In hindsight, he believes he made the wrong judgment call in making himself available for the tour.

He feels he was a month short of where he should have been and having made such a big effort in New Zealand's second Test win over Zimbabwe, he paid the price.

"There was only a month in it. I felt very low afterwards. It was a pretty big blow after all the work I put in.

"But my mood has picked up now and I am a bit more positive," he said.

"Things are going well. I'm back at the bowling crease and bowling at a reasonable clip. It's the best news I've had for awhile."

The only problem has been his Selection XI and Auckland teammate Lou Vincent who has been hitting him and others around, and probably a few more players in the country around before the end of the summer.

"I would dearly love to make it back to the New Zealand side. I'm working up quite good heat off a short run.

"Though it is hard to say when I might be right.

"I'm still looking at my feet, I haven't lifted my head to look into the future yet," he said.

Being asked to captain the Selection XI against Sri Lanka was a boost.

"Particularly with the side I've been given. I know the Northern Districts and Auckland guys from having played with them and the team is an exciting one with strokemakers and wicket-takers," he said.

Having to get back into the first-class grind of four-day play interspersed with one day matches had also made it difficult for him to get the rhythm he likes into his play.

While selected as a batsman, and despite his back problems still one of the most competitive fielders in the game, he said it took some early failures to make him work harder at his batting.

That he'd done in the nets with his Auckland teammates and in pre-match situations.

He found the constant jumping from pitch to pitch around the country a concern because of the lower standard of pitches to those he had been used to on the international scene. And there was not the consistency of match play and practice that touring with the international side allowed.

"That is a little difficult to get used to. The pitches are certainly not what you get used to on the international scene. The pace is not as quick or consistent and the bounce is not as consistent.

"In international play you get used to bowlers bowling good lines on good pitches.

"If we had better wickets I think New Zealand cricket would benefit from it. Strokemakers would get rewards and bowlers would have to work harder for their wickets," he said.

Nash had not had any miracle cure to effect his recovery. It was just a case of playing cricket, and doing some abdominal strengthening and giving the back a chance to heal.

"Apart from that it is really just a case of wait and see," he said.

It won't be only Nash who is waiting. His presence has always lifted the New Zealand side and gives it not only a healthy dose of experience, but there is his fiery bowling, his down-the-order batting solidity and his never-to-be-under-estimated fielding.

Sunday is the clearest sign yet that the national selectors still have Dion Nash very much in their minds.

The selection XI does have an exciting look to it and specific interest will be taken in the batting form of Lou Vincent and the Marshall twins, James and Hamish, the all-round play of Tama Canning and the return to a higher level of play of swing bowler Simon Doull.

Tour opener it may be, and a late addition to the itinerary it may be, but there is reason to believe the national selectors are probably just as happy as the Sri Lankans to have the opportunity to play this game.

The full side is: Dion Nash (captain-Auckland), Chris Nevin (Wellington), James Marshall (Northern Districts), Lou Vincent (Auckland), Hamish Marshall (Northern Districts), Tama Canning (Auckland), Brooke Walker (Auckland), Andre Adams (Auckland), Daryl Tuffey (Northern Districts), Simon Doull (Northern Districts).

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