It is to be hoped in those moments when New Zealand's batsmen face the wrath of Australia's bowlers circling like vultures over the Kiwi carcass in front of them, that they do not have cause to regret the decision to exclude Matt Horne from their batting artillery.

There WILL be moments when New Zealand's batsmen face inquisition. Be assured of that.

New Zealand's history of touring Australia ensures there will come a time when the side faces pressure of a kind it can rarely expect to face elsewhere in the cricket world.

Whether it be Glenn McGrath's relentless accuracy, Shane Warne's probing spin or Jason Gillespie's ability to seize on hesitation or error, the squeeze will go on.

In their haste to legitimise the opening combination of Mark Richardson and Matthew Bell, the New Zealand selectors have left themselves, and the CLEAR Black Caps, open to outright failure should either Richardson or Bell fail to handle the very experienced Australian opening attack.

All New Zealand would love to see them further develop the liaison that proved so effective last year.

But let's remember, they were facing a Pakistan team as shambolic as any side in recent cricket history.

And speaking of history, consider the facts of New Zealand's opening batting in series in Australia since 1987/88.

In 1987/88 the opening batsmen used in three Tests were Ken Rutherford, John Wright, Jeff Crowe and Phil Horne. Their scores: 0, 18, 0, 16, 32, 73.

In the one-off Test in 1989/90, Robert Vance and Wright scored 28 and 11.

In 1993/94, Mark Greatbatch, Blair Pocock and Bryan Young scored 25, 0, 15, 1, 2, 34.

And in 1997/98, Young, Pocock and Matt Horne scored 2, 4, 12, 2, 60, 72. The common factor in the last two innings was Matt Horne who scored 133 and 31 in Hobart.

Yet the rookie category pair of Richardson and Bell have been entrusted with the job while having no cover in the event of injury or lack of form.

Nor, in this time when supposed depth in batting and pace bowling is creating "pressure" on incumbent players, are the pair being exposed to pressure themselves. They are being given an open-ended vote of confidence as the only openers in the side.

Should one, or the other, fail to fire in Australia, the load will go on another member of the squad to step into the make-shift opener's role.

That has been the open-sore of New Zealand's recent Test history and should not be allowed to happen again.

Either Lou Vincent or Mathew Sinclair could be asked to move into an opening position.

That is not fair to either of them.

In announcing the team, coach Denis Aberhart said the pressure had gone on both Vincent and Horne on the recent New Zealand A tour to India to perform.

They were supposedly competing for a tour place.

Horne, an opener, against Vincent, a middle-order batsman? Sounds like an unbalanced contest.

That's not to forget the level of the opposition. Very few international bowlers faced the pair on Indian pitches.

We're talking about Australian pitches here and one of the best sides in cricket's rich history.

Vincent may be an outstanding success in the middle-order, and the way he bats everyone would hope so. Certainly, the middle-order batsmen he will be challenging will know they are in a race. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But, the fact remains that throughout the late-1990s when openers were dime a dozen in New Zealand Test teams, Matt Horne was a solid rock. His average may be lower than he would like at 30.92.

However, he has four Test centuries to his name. It was his century at Lord's in 1999, batting with an injury in his arm, that set up New Zealand's first Test win at the home of cricket and New Zealand's second Test series win in England.

Similarly, in Zimbabwe last year, he scored a first innings Test century before succumbing to injury that forced him out of the tour. He played against Zimbabwe at the Basin Reserve in the Boxing Day Test and had a miserable time of it, scoring 1 and 0. That was his last international exposure before scoring a century on his first outing in the Buchi Babu tournament with New Zealand A.

Horne has a history of batting solidity. He can graft. He can handle a variety of bowling and when he attacks he can hit out powerfully.

And to judge him solely on his average is not a fair reflection of the experience he would bring to the side. Some other notable Kiwi battlers had similar averages: Mark Burgess 31.21, Bevan Congdon 32.22, Graham Dowling 31.16, Bruce Edgar 30.59, Trevor Franklin 23.00, Mark Greatbatch 30.62, Brian Hastings 30.20, John R Reid 33.28, Verdun Scott 28.63 and Barry Sinclair 29.44.

And while Horne may have missed the last part of the first-class season due to a virus, he still scored 642 runs at 35.66.

It would be wonderful if the selectors' confidence is repaid, several times over, but at a time when experience permeates all other positions in the side, the opening spot still looks vulnerable.

You don't have to sit at Australian cricket's radar scope to know which direction the missiles will be coming from and where they will be directed.

© CricInfo