Early season central venue worthy of debate - Reid

Utilising the generally drier conditions of New Zealand's east coasts, and especially the better quality pitches at the High Performance Centre at Lincoln University for early-season State Championship matches was worthy of debate.

New Zealand Cricket operations manager John Reid said the idea was one where the first question had to be: "Can we get better cricket from it?"

He hadn't heard the concept of playing a round or two of the Championship at Lincoln before today and said it was probably something that would be discussed when reviews are held with provincial coaches over the next few weeks.

Reid did wonder if there would be savings in accommodation costs with a centralised venue for all teams playing away games, instead of having the benefits of players staying at their own homes for home matches that would be lost in order to play at Lincoln, or another venue.

"But it is something we will probably debate," he said.

Also under discussion is the philosophy of coaching at all levels in New Zealand, what is done with players are various levels, the playing structures for their age-groups, the analysis of the game with the aids now in use and how this can be developed further.

There would also be discussion on umpiring and its relation to the game, in terms of umpiring standards and the relationships between umpires, players and administrators.

This would be based along the requirements being pushed under the Spirit of Cricket system which is aimed at improving relationships in the game.

"It is about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable," Reid said, "and we will be pushing the International Cricket Council's message with renewed vigour."