An asset to the New Zealand team

Published : Nov 15, 2003 00:00 IST

Scott Bernard Styris looks like a boxer. He walks with a swagger but can be deceptively quick on the field. A thinking head on broad shoulders makes this 28-year-old Brisbane-born New Zealand cricketer a man to fear by any opposition.

The Northern Districts player has been one of the main players in this New Zealand side. An allrounder in true sense, Styris excels in all departments of the game. Being an accurate medium pacer with an ability to move the ball on and off the pitch, Styris first hit the limelight not with the ball but with the bat. His cracking 141 against Sri Lanka during the 2003 World Cup shot him to fame and since then everyone began to take notice of him.

A right-hander, Styris made his one-day debut versus India at Rajkot in 1999. If the 141 was his best with the bat, his six for 25 against the West Indies at Port of Spain in 2001-02 was the best with the ball. Styris makes up for his lack of pace with accuracy. A difficult bowler to put away on slow Indian wickets, this New Zealander has been figuring prominently in skipper Stephen Fleming's scheme of things.

His three for 38 in 10 overs against India at Cuttack included V. V. S. Laxman, Mohammed Kaif and Sairaj Bahutule. As a batsman, Styris has been effective without being flamboyant. His 68 off 89 balls with five fours against India not only fashioned the New Zealand victory, but also effectively killed all the hopes of a comeback of the home side.

But for an error in judgment against Harbhajan Singh when on nine, Styris rarely put a foot wrong during the innings and most importantly picked the gaps against the Indian bowlers to keep the scoreboard moving. He is not on Chris Cairns mould but nevertheless as effective especially when the chips are down. His style of play makes the opposition work harder to earn his wicket. In other words, the opposition has to buy his wicket rather than he himself gifting it by loose play

In 68 matches and 56 innings, he has a total of 1158 runs with an average of 24.64. He has hit just the one century and four half centuries. He has captured 66 wickets with an average of 32.41.

Styris' recent showing only augurs a great future for this gritty cricketer. New Zealand is set to gain a lot from this effective allrounder in the days to come.

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