Time and place for rock 'n' roll

Time to pull out the coloured clobber, white balls and step back into the short form for New Zealand next week.

But after the events of the drawn two-test series with England it's valid to ask, in terms purely of bat vs ball, will we see much change from New Zealand? Hurtling happily headlong down a bracing, assertive approach to the test game, what, if anything will be different in the next fortnight? The style New Zealand have adopted under Brendon McCullum has drawn high praise from a range of quarters in the game, but also, almost predictably, a sobering thread of thought.

Broadly it goes like this: what New Zealand are producing - and now on the back of a record seven-series unbeaten run - is exhilarating and has given the five-day game a significant jolt. No argument there.

But there are still times when knuckling down to save a situation should be remembered as an important skill which should not be tossed away.

Take the final afternoon of the first test loss at Lord's last month. There were less than 10 overs to play when last man Trent Boult played a stroke straight out of the one-day manual, a ramp shot to be caught at third man. Not to sheet this all down to Boult, a brilliant, cutting edge bowler, but there's a good reason why he comes in at No 11.

At 12 for three, New Zealand needed to give up the idea of chasing down an always challenging 345 for victory, and settle for honours even. Clearly that idea does not sit easily with the players who are now wedded to a specific philosophy, but there is a talent in salvage operations - New Zealand cricket is not short of them down the years - and that was one occasion where New Zealand needed, figuratively, to take a few blows to save the day.

That they bounced back to square the series, wresting the initiative and finishing the job impressively on the final day at Headingley this week, was hugely to their credit. But they will be in jams again where a hard-nosed view would be welcome.

This is a test team growing in stature, self assurance and becoming a trendsetter. Interesting selections lie ahead when their next series happens in Australia in November. Wicketkeeper BJ Watling had a marvellous time with the bat, his 254 runs at 84.66 being headed only by England captain Alastair Cook.

His bung knee gave Luke Ronchi a belated test debut at Leeds and he took his chance thrillingly. But Watling is the man in possession. Can there be room for both? There was, out of necessity, at Leeds. Every other player made a contribution and the collective will invariably prevail over individuals among an erratic group of players.

There are personnel changes for the ODI series against England, notably the return of the World Cup heroes - words you'd never have imagined writing six months ago - Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum and Mitch McClenaghan. A cup reunion is brewing, but there won't be any excessive reminiscing back to the golden run to the final in Melbourne in March.

"With the group we've got, we're never going to go over the top on that stuff," McClenaghan, fresh from his Indian Premier League-winning stint with the Mumbai Indians, said. "We are a very rounded group, led by two level-headed gentlemen in Brendon and Hess [coach Mike Hesson]. "We know we're going to have a tough series ahead of us and it's going to be a good challenge." - NZ Herald