No first flush of youth

Daniel Vettori tells the Herald that his two new ODI players, Peter Ingram and Andy McKay, may not be fresh young striplings but he’s looking forward to half a decade’s work from them:

Opener Ingram banged a rapid 69, left armer McKay took a couple of wickets. Neither is in the first flush of youth, aged 31 and 29 respectively. But that’s not a negative in terms of time running out before they’ve barely begun in the international game, says Vettori.

“Hopefully we can see another four or five years of them. They’ve got potential to have pretty sound international careers with a bit of longevity. Once you get to that age where you really understand your game it makes it easier taking the step up.”

Source: NZ Herald, 8 February 2010

One eye on the World Cup

Former New Zealand batsman Mark Greatbatch, who played for the national side from 1988 to 1996 and is now a national selector, discusses some of the new and somewhat unorthodox picks for the New Zealand teams to play Bangladesh with Sam Worthington from the Dominion Post.  The teams include new caps Peter Ingram and Andy McKay, who have a combined age of 60.  Greatbatch says they’re picking players with a view to the buildup for the Twenty20 World Cup this year and 2011’s one-day international World Cup:

Greatbatch said McKay had improved greatly over the past three months.

“He’s got a great attitude, he’s fit and strong and he’s been consistent. He’s a wicket-taker and he’s got a bit more pace than some.”

Greatbatch said selectors had one eye on this year’s Twenty20 World Cup and next year’s one-day World Cup. McKay had leapfrogged the likes of Brent Arnel because of his point of difference as a left-armer.

Greatbatch said Ingram was also in contention for the test side, which is named early next month.

Source: Dominion Post, 26 January 2010

The occasional moment of doubt

One of the newcomers to the New Zealand team for the shorter forms of the game, 31-year-old Central Districts batsman Peter Ingram tells the Herald’s David Leggat that he was a little surprised when he was finally called up for national duty.  It remains to be seen if he can establish himself as an opening batsman in the upcoming brief tour by Bangladesh, but he’s just glad to be given the opportunity:

Drums have been thumping for Ingram for some time, based on consistently strong performances over the last few seasons, although more so in the first-class game. Ingram admitted he was not immune to the occasional moment of doubt whether the call would ever come.

“The odd time, but you just kept telling yourself it’s not worth thinking about,” he said.

“I’ve had lots of support from family and friends, who said just keep playing, try to score some runs and if it comes, it comes.”

If there was an eyebrow-raising element to Ingram’s selection, it is that it came in the shorter versions of the game, rather than the test side, where his case is stronger.

Source: NZ Herald, 26 January 2010