New Zealanders may be riding the crest of a wave with the performances of the Black Caps in the tri-series in Australia but one New Zealander refusing to count his chickens, about making the finals, is selection chairman Sir Richard Hadlee.

Hadlee played through four tri-series in Australia and knows only too well that the halfway stage of the competition is no time to be contemplating a place in the finals.

New Zealand is sitting at the top of the points table at the moment but Hadlee said that it was time to be very wary of both the Australians and the South Africans.

He said all the "hype, interest and expectation" of the New Zealand public was great and he advised New Zealanders to enjoy the moment but to also remember that Australia could never be discounted and South Africa had had the wood on New Zealand for too long for anything to be taken for granted.

There was a chance if results went the right way that all three teams could be on 12 points going into the final round of games before the finals.

But from an overall perspective of New Zealand's one-day developments, Hadlee was pleased with the results achieved.

"There are still areas of concern with the performances but the key thing is the side has planned well and it is scrapping hard for everything. Runs are hard to score against what are two world-class attacks.

"But they are showing a bit of the Australian attitude and there have been some very good individual results.

"However, in this competition you have always got to be wary," he warned.

There were still issues in the team's performance, especially at the top of the order.

"We have given players the opportunity to say, 'This is my position' but so far no-one has grasped it," he said.

Hadlee has been impressed with the way Brendon McCullum, the selection long shot, has performed and he spoke with him in Sydney after his debut performance which sadly ended when he was run out.

"He told me he was just loving the experience. He hadn't felt over-awed and felt good being out in the middle against the Australians. He had a good positive attitude," Hadlee said.

Hadlee said there was still a chance for other players to stake a claim at the top of the order and he said McCullum and Chris Nevin were in the frame with next year's World Cup in mind.

Not surprisingly, for a bowler who battled against all the advantages batsmen previously enjoyed, Hadlee is a big fan of the one bouncer rule that has been introduced this year.

"It is a very good thing and gives quicker bowlers an element of surprise. And we now have guys who are hooking or cutting being caught on the boundary. Previously it could be a free hit ball, but now it is a dismissal ball. It has changed the dynamics of the game," he said.

The other aspect about the shorter ball was that batsmen who were looking to score from every ball could not really afford to let one go. They had to be more innovative.

Another player who had taken the chance an unfortunate injury provided was James Franklin. He came into the side when Aucklander Kyle Mills got injured before the team left for Australia.

"He has been coming back very well with his bowling. He gives us the left-hander's angle of variation. His season was almost lost but he has had a reprieve and taken it well."

Hadlee said the decision to use Chris Cairns as captain against Australia in Sydney last week was based on the fact that he had been appointed vice-captain by the selectors when the team was first named, although this had not been announced.

"He showed a lot of enthusiasm in the role," he said.

And Cairns' century in Brisbane against South Africa had been a special delight.

"It was a magnificent innings. It was well paced, he took control and it was an ideal scenario for him," he said.

It was now clear that when Cairns was in with the time to build an innings from 25-30 overs out, he was a good enough batsman to win a game by scoring 80 or more, such was his control.

Hadlee, who was in Sydney last week, will watch the rest of the series in New Zealand.

© CricInfo