Trist defends selection of Nash
From www.stuff.co.nz, September 6, 2000

New Zealand cricket coach David Trist has defended the selection of allrounder Dion Nash for the Zimbabwe tour despite the very real prospect he won't bowl a ball during the first-class section of the tour.

Nash was selected under an injury cloud and his place was confirmed after he passed a late fitness test on a bilateral stress fracture of his back.

However, on arriving in Zimbabwe it was apparent he was not up to speed to play in the tour opener against a President's 11 in Mutare and he has already been ruled out of the first test.

He is bowling in the nets each day and is currently operating at about 85 percent, according to Trist.

"Certainly we always hoped to see him but if that is not the case, that's fine," Trist said from Mutare.

"Some say, 'why pick him?', well I believe it was a wise decision. He is preparing with us in an environment which is far more conducive to his recovery than being back home in the indoor nets."

Trist conceded Nash's prospects of playing a first-class game on tour were dangling by a thread. New Zealand's final match before the first test is against Zimbabwe A at Kwekwe starting on Thursday, and there is no match between the tests.

"He isn't being considered for the first test and to play the second he would have to play in Kwekwe," Trist said.

"He's close, but whether we pick him just yet is a difficult one. One thing for certain is we are not going to be pressurised into playing Nashy for the sake of it," he said.

If Nash is kept in cotton wool in Kwekwe then his comeback should be in the one-day leg of the tour beginning with a match against a Selection 11 in Harare on September 25.

Because of the brevity of the tour, New Zealand has sufficient bowlers to cover for Nash. Fellow all-rounder Chris Cairns left the field in Mutare with a recurrence of his troublesome right knee but the injury is not regarded as serious while medium pacers Shayne O'Connor, Daryl Tuffey and Scott Styris are all fit.

Meanwhile, Trist said it was heartening to see No 3 Mathew Sinclair and wicketkeeper Adam Parore both score centuries against the President's 11.

"Mathew Sinclair and Craig Spearman were competing for one spot and Mathew's put his hand up and said, `it's mine' and it certainly is for the first test," Trist said.

"Adam Parore knows Chris Nevin is breathing down his neck and he has responded well here." - NZPA

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