Tuesday, December 24, 2002 The advent of the one-day series finds both teams in an interesting situation. They have to name their 15-man teams for the World Cup on December 31. In that context, the opening two matches will be crucial, especially for New Zealand. The selectors will therefore have to look at a couple of players in the opening games that they might not otherwise have considered. If they had all seven matches to play with, they may have thought, "Let's pick our best team now and make changes only if there's a loss of form or injuries".

New Zealand now have two matches to find out whether Brendan McCallum and Kyle Mills are ready for inclusion in the 15. There's been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between New Zealand cricket and the ICC about extending the December 31st deadline and I think you'll find that if New Zealand announce their squad and India don't – in contravention of the tournament rules – you will have massive repercussions that might force the ICC to punish India in the strictest possible way.

New Zealand have won only four of their 21 matches over the last 11 months. Just prior to that, they did well against Australia in Australia, winning three of four matches, and having a chance to win the last match as well. From then on though, they've not performed at all. I believe there has been far too much experimentation instead of basically picking 14 and sticking with players in key positions. Either the selectors and captain have got it wrong or there's been a lack of communication between them.

There is also a feeling that Stephen Fleming, who averages barely 30 as a batsman in the one-day game, is more of a Test player, not necessarily guaranteed a place in the side on merit. And recently, he seems to have dropped the ball a bit on the field. He's patient, he's tolerant and has a very good temperament but is perhaps not aggressive enough for one-day cricket. The only alternative as captain though would have been Chris Cairns and he's not playing. So, there's little doubt that Fleming will retain the captaincy for the World Cup.

As for India, I believe this side can go through to the semifinals of the World Cup. Their recent record suggests that they are more attuned to the one-day format and their batting has had a fair bit of success chasing big targets and setting them. They're also a much better fielding side than before and some of the credit for that must go to John Wright. Their weakness is that they don't have a lot of allrounders.

They have a great top six, including Rahul Dravid doubling up as wicketkeeper. Sanjay Bangar should play at number seven here and perform the third seamer's role but they may have to go with just one spinner in the conditions here – either Harbhajan Singh or Anil Kumble.

Of all the countries in the world, Australia and New Zealand have the pitches that are similar to the ones that will be used for the World Cup, so in that regard, these matches will be ideal preparation for both teams. The bouncy, seaming pitches will be similar to the ones you get in the high veldt in South Africa.

The pitch at Eden Park was dropped in about a month ago and it looks good. It should play true but because it's new, there will be some pace and bounce. It won't deteriorate over the course of a day so if I was captain, I'd want to bowl first. You get two cracks at the whip that way whereas if you bat first, and badly, you're almost certain to lose. The pitch is certainly not the slow, low piece of mud that we played on at the World Cup in 1992 and the one where Sachin Tendulkar blazed away to 84 in his first match as an opening batsman.

Tendulkar is now at the centre of India's opening conundrum and I'd ask him what he felt was best for him, and the team. If he says he should open, I'd agree to that. If he says he's comfortable batting behind Virender Sehwag and coming in no lower than three, you have a compromise that would work as well. It's not a wise man that goes against the wishes of his best player.

I've always believed that the best things you can take out of a series prior to the World Cup are the negatives, the things that you realise you should never try. It might be bowling someone at the death, or fielding someone in a particular position. Such disastrous experiments teach you more than the positives. In any case, the positives will usually be the same, the usual suspects scoring runs and picking up wickets.

This is not a time to experiment. I would look instead to settle my batting order and work out the bowling changes. New Zealand haven't really done that for almost a year now. Leave the new ideas and innovations for the World Cup when you can spring them on unsuspecting opposition.

Guide to the pitches
Auckland: This pitch has been laid in and is fresh. There should be some pace, bounce and a touch of lateral movement. Unlikely to deteriorate. Napier: This track will be slow and low, reasonable for batting. The bounce will be tennis-ball-like and that may discomfit some batsmen who find that the ball doesn't come on to the bat as they expect it to. Christchurch: As we saw in the Max International, Jade Stadium has a beautiful cricket wicket, ideal for one-day cricket. The Indians will love that. Queenstown: Being a new venue, no one knows much about it. My prediction is that it will be slow and low, with not many runs scored. Wellington: Very average pitch, slow and uneven. It's a rugby ground and no one's ever scored many runs there. Hamilton: The Indians know about Hamilton now but the pitch for the one-dayer should be a lot better. I expect a flat pitch, with a lot of runs scored.

Martin Crowe is a former captain of New Zealand and one of the most technically accomplished batsmen of his time. From 1981 to 1994, he played 77 Tests and made 5444 Test runs with 17 hundreds. He will be giving his expert opinion on India's seven one-day matches against New Zealand. He was talking to Dileep Premachandran.

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