Nash set for comeback
From www.stuff.co.nz, September 7, 2000

It's been a wait of nearly 250 days and almost as many net sessions, but Dion Nash will at last don the New Zealand cricket cap again in Zimbabwe on Thursday night.

The 28-year-old Nash, a key member of the New Zealand bowling attack, was confirmed in the side for the three-day tour match against Zimbabwe A.

His selection ends a prolonged spell dating to January 8, the fourth one-dayer against the West Indies in Wellington, when his back stress fracture flared again.

While Nash has already been ruled out of next week's first test in Bulawayo, he is in the frame for the second and is on trial.

"I feel good but it's an important stage tomorrow. It's all very well bowling in the nets but until you get into the pressure of a game you don't know," Nash told NZPA.

Nash will share the new ball with Chris Cairns in a shadow test side, and said he was relieved to be back at last.

"I'm just happy to be on tour. It was always going to be difficult coming over here, a bit of an unknown quantity.

"The first test was always probably going to be out of reach but I'm still hopeful of the next test if I can take my chances here."

Nash has returned from prolonged injury before and said this time he was as hungry as ever to taste more success in away series here and in South Africa.

"I'm pretty keen. I want to get back and play test cricket. I've still got things to do there.

"It gets harder every time you come back from injury, but for this team the next two years are going to be pretty exciting.

"I haven't played the last eight years of my career to miss out on the top end where we're finally putting it together."

Nash's workload will be limited and captain Stephen Fleming faces a precarious task managing his frontline bowlers.

The others have various niggles - Cairns a troublesome knee, Daniel Vettori a sore back from the tour opener in Mutare, and fellow spinner Paul Wiseman a swollen knee, which ruled him out of the Mutare game.

The good news is that Craig McMillan, with a revamped side-on action and longer run-up, is also seen as useful bowling option on this tour.

Coach David Trist said his players were still easing into a match situation after their winter break.

"Everyone came out of that first game needing a bit of recovery. They've worked hard, they're physically fit, but match practice is a different scene."

Trist said it was a difficult balancing act with the bowling lineup, with fit pacemen Shayne O'Connor and Daryl Tuffey on the sidelines after impressive starts in Mutare.

"We're giving Nashy an opportunity to play the second test. We think he's ready and that's why he's playing."

Zimbabwe A have three test players - batsmen Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell and pace bowler Henry Olonga - as well as promising 17-year-old wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu, who toured England this year.

Former test legspinner Paul Strang was set to return after suffering nerve damage in his bowling wrist but a bout of tonsillitis has made him a doubtful starter.

The pitch in Kwekwe, a gold mining town between Harare and Bulawayo, should provide New Zealand's top six batsmen with an ideal surface to prepare for the first test.

Teams:

New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (captain), Matthew Horne, Mark Richardson, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Chris Cairns, Adam Parore, Dion Nash, Daniel Vettori, Paul Wiseman.

Zimbabwe A: Grant Flower (captain), Alistair Campbell, Mark Vermeulen, Dion Ebrahim, Gregory Lamb, Trevor Madondo, Tatenda Taibu, Paul Strang, Henry Olonga, Everton Matambanadzo, David Mutandere.

- NZPA

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