McMillan faces stern test

Craig McMillan will face an acid test in the forthcoming days as he struggles to keep his place in the New Zealand Test side. McMillan has had a lean trot in his last eight innings, which included the latest struggle against Australia in the first Test at Christchurch.

While trying to analyse McMillan's problems, Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, suggested a method. "He's in a situation where if he's over aggressive it's frowned upon, and if he's too defensive it's frowned upon," Fleming told New Zealand Herald. "He's trying to find a middle ground where it suits him and the team.

"There's a fine line between aggression and recklessness, and Craig's working hard on the right options. He's got to have a good defensive technique first, get in, then only he can be the judge of what's risky and what's not."

The second Test at Wellington, where the first day was abandoned due to rain, will be McMillan's 55th and though he averages 38.70, just marginally less than Fleming's 39.03, he has clearly been short on confidence in the last few months. Also, with James Marshall, Peter Fulton and Ross Taylor trying to force their way into the side, McMillan needed to get some big runs to retain his spot.

However, McMillan didn't think his career hinged on the next few games and added, "I'm 28 so I don't think the next five years of my career is going to stand on the next month. I think I've still got a lot of cricket in me. I look back three knocks ago I scored 60 against them in Napier. For a lot of people that seems to be a long time ago. For Craig McMillan it's three bats ago."