MARK Wellings PRIEST (Canterbury). 36 years. Born 12 August 1961. Left-hand bat and left-arm leg-breaks. First tour of Sri Lanka. No previous Tests against Sri Lanka. Has played 2 one-day internationals against Sri Lanka returning figures of none for 79, E/R 4.93, no batting.
Made a comeback to international cricket after a gap of seven years and eight months (missing 58 Tests for New Zealand) when he was picked for the second Test v Zimbabwe (Auckland) in March this year. Scored 16 runs, but failed to take a wicket bowling 15 overs. His only previous appearance for New Zealand was on his Test debut v England (Nottingham) 1990. Has been a consistent performer for his province in domestic cricket. Was critical of the New Zealand selectors when they failed to recognise his performances during the 1996-97 season when he scored 357 runs (avg. 44.62) and took 41 wickets (avg. 24.95).
Test Career Record: Debut v England (Nottingham) 1990. Batting - Tests 2, Innings 2, Not Outs 0, Highest Score 26 v England (Nottingham) 1990, Runs 42, Average 21.00, Hundred 0, Fifty 0, Bowling - Runs 81, Wicket 1, Average 81.00, Best 1/26 v England (Nottingham) 1990, 5wInns 0, 10wM 0, S/R 162, Fielding - no catches.
One-day International Career Record: Debut v Australia (Sharjah) 1989-90. Batting - Matches 17, Innings 13, Not Outs 3, Highest Score 24 v England (Oval) 1990, Runs 99, Average 9.90, Hundreds 0, Fifties 0, Bowling - Runs 590, Wickets 8, Average 73.75, Best 2/27 v Pakistan (East London) 1994-95, 5wInns 0, E/R 4.70, Fielding - 2 catches.
First-Class Career Record: Debut 1984-85. In 90 matches has scored 3465 runs (avg. 32.38) with 4 hundreds, highest score 119 for Canterbury v Otago (Christchurch) 1990-91 and taken 275 wickets (avg. 32.29) with 9/95 (match bag 12/162) for Canterbury v Otago (Dunedin) 1989-90 as best, 5wInns 11, 10wM 3, 57 catches.
CRAIG SPEARMAN
CRAIG Murray SPEARMAN (Central Districts). 25 years. Born Auckland 4 July 1972. Right-hand bat. First tour of Sri Lanka. No previous Test experience against Sri Lanka. In 2 one-day internationals against Sri Lanka has scored 41 runs (avg. 20.50) with a highest score of 39 (Sharjah) 1996-97.
A confident opening batsman with a free-stroking style based on front foot driving. His long reach and experience against quality spinners should stand him in good stead on Sri Lankan pitches. Attracted attention with some fast-scoring opening feats with Nathan Astle in the one-day game. Performed creditably on debut against the likes of Pakistanis Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Mushtaq Ahmed. A century (112) against Zimbabwe at home in only his third Test (Auckland) 1995-96 confirmed his potential. Opening the batting with Roger Twose, the pair shared a partnership of 214 enabling New Zealand to draw the Test after trailing on the first innings by 75 runs. A loss of form saw him dropped for the home series against England and Sri Lanka, but returned for the Australian tour only to be left out again for the home series against Zimbabwe. Coach Steve Rixon thinks he is a long term prospect.
Test Career Record: Debut v Pakistan (Christchurch) 1995-96 scoring 40 & 33. Batting - Tests 7, Innings 14, Not Outs 0, Highest Score 112 v Zimbabwe (Auckland) 1995-96, Runs 482, Average 34.42, Hundred 1, Fifty 1, No bowling, Fielding - 5 catches.
One-day International Career Record: Debut v Pakistan (Dunedin) 1995-96. Batting - Matches 31, Innings 31, Not Outs 0, Highest Score 78 off 77 balls v UAE (Faisalabad) 1995-96, Runs 532, Average 17.16, Hundreds 0, Fifties 2, Bowling - no wicket for 6 runs, E/R 12.00, Fielding - 8 catches.
First-class Career Record: Debut 1993-94. In 31 matches has scored 1613 runs (avg. 29.32) with 3 hundreds, highest score 147 for Auckland v Northern Districts (Hamilton) 1994-95, no bowling, 28 catches.
Note: All first-class career records are upto end of 1996-97 New Zealand season.