Nash's words of wisdom lift Vincent
By Peter Bidwell
From Stuff, 15 April 2003

Lou Vincent will have the words of Dion Nash ringing in his ears as he leaves today for the cricket tour of Sri Lanka seeking to revive his sagging batting fortunes for New Zealand.

Vincent's spirits were low when he returned last month from a miserable World Cup. He felt he had let the team down and by not performing his career had taken a knock.

He sought help from Nash, a friend and former Black Caps teammate.

"Having gone through a rough time lately I had a decent chat with Dion, and he has been a big help," Vincent said yesterday.

"I believe my batting problems over the last summer have been mental rather than technical, and Dion's such a great motivator.

"He has made sure I'll be going hard in Sri Lanka. Cricket's such an individual game. I know I need to be more disciplined when I'm batting."

Vincent counts himself lucky to be chosen for the two-test series after his recent lack of results. His highest score in the two home tests against India was 21 not out, his only 50 of the summer was an unbeaten 53 in the sixth one-day international against India, and he averaged 5.66 in three innings at the cup.

"I could quite easily be in the same shoes as Macca (Craig McMillan) and not been chosen for Sri Lanka," he said. "I know I'm good enough to play for New Zealand, and after the season I've had I have to be pleased the selectors still have faith in me."

Though Vincent has opened in his 11 tests, for 558 runs at an average of 29.36, he knows his recent horror run has put his spot in jeopardy. Mark Richardson is certain to fill one position and Vincent will be competing against Matthew Horne and new cap Richard Jones for the other.

"I've no right to claim a spot. I'd love to stay at the top of the order, and be in a position to do the hard work straight away," he said. "I've prepared myself mentally though for batting in the middle order. I've sort of heard that unofficially."

The uncertainty has ensured Vincent will be trying to make the most of the two two-day warmup games in Sri Lanka, starting on Saturday, leading up to the first test from April 25.

Vincent is vying with Jones and Mathew Sinclair for one batting spot remaining in the side to play a one-day tri-series afterwards against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

However, Vincent said he was not thinking of that. To him test matches were the ultimate and they were the immediate concern as he strived to keep alive his international career.

Captain Stephen Fleming said the tour would be an exacting one as the Black Caps attempted to maintain their ranking of third on the test ladder.

"We're not used to playing in Sri Lanka with their pitches and humidity, and in Murali (spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan) they have arguably the best bowler on the world scene," Fleming said.

"Last time (1998) we won the first test but couldn't come to grips with the conditions and the way the Sri Lankans played."

New Zealand lost the series 2-1 and have not played them in a test since.

Fleming was delighted with the improvements he had made to his batting technique through the summer. He aimed to further develop them in Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Wellington bowler Paul Hitchcock is on standby should anyone be injured in the one-day series.

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