Stephen Fleming may not be interested in coaching his nation's cricket team, but he hasn't been lost to New Zealand sport entirely. The former New Zealand batsman turned football motivator this week on the eve of the All Whites must-win World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. "[Fleming] just gave us wee things to make us try and relax, and told us to just try and think of it as another game, get on with the job," said Michael McGlinchey, the New Zealand mid-fielder. "Ryan Nelsen and the more experienced guys pitched in with their thoughts as well and it was nice to hear what sorts of things they have to say." Victory over Bahrain in Wellington on Saturday would propel New Zealand to the World Cup finals for the first time in 27 years.

For the last five years Eric Tindill, a double international for New Zealand at Test level in cricket and rugby, has been cricket’s oldest living Test player. And two days ago, Tindill went past England’s Frank MacKinnon, who lived 98 years and 324 days, to become the oldest Test cricketer ever.

A left-hand opening batsman and wicketkeeper, Tindill toured England with Curly Page's team in 1937. On the way home he had the distinction of catching Don Bradman off Jack Cowie's bowling – the only time Bradman played against a New Zealand side. The match, between New Zealand and South Australia, was played in Adelaide to help cover debts incurred in England. Cowie and Tindill were delighted with their prized wicket, but others reckoned they cost New Zealand Cricket a fortune. Bradman was dismissed for 11 in the opening over on a Saturday morning and thousands of spectators, queuing for entry, simply turned around and left. Tindill also umpired in Tests and was a Wellington and New Zealand selector.

Tindill was also an international rugby referee and is currently the oldest living All Black.

Less than 24 hours after it rained sixes during the first Twenty20 international in Christchurch, New Zealand unearthed their biggest hitter. And it wasn’t Brendon McCullum, Jacob Oram or even Ross Taylor. The batsman who smashed the ball 98.27 metres during the inaugural State Big Hits competition at the Basin Reserve in Wellington was a club cricketer Jimad Khan from the Onslow Cricket Club. He beat off some serious competition: Ian Butler was second with a 94.77m hit while Oram came third with 91.89m. Have New Zealand found their David Warner?

It’s fair to say Peter McGlashan was a surprise call-up into New Zealand’s Twenty20 squad for Sunday’s game against Australia. But his parents didn’t need to make a last-minute dash to the travel agent to get on a flight to Sydney to watch their son play.

They were already going to be at the SCG that day to watch their daughter Sara. You see, Sara McGlashan is part of the New Zealand women’s side that will play a Twenty20 against Australia as a curtain-raiser to the men’s game. In fact she probably has a better chance of playing than Peter, whose fate rests with the fitness of the first-choice wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum.

"Mum and dad had planned to go to watch Sara and we've shouted my little sister to go over as her 21st present,” Peter said. “And I rang mum with the news and said could she track my passport down. She said 'why, are you coming to watch?' and I said 'I might actually be playing'."

One way or another it should be a familial affair for the New Zealanders. If McCullum’s sore shoulder doesn’t keep him out he’s every chance to play alongside his brother Nathan McCullum, who was called in as a Twenty20 specialist.

The once natural sun trap which provided shelter from New Zealand's notorious southerly winds to cricket fans on the grass bank at the eastern side of the Basin Reserve is in danger. The peaceful spot at 'The Basin', as Wellingtonians refer to it, may be disturbed by honking cars and exhaust fumes, if Wellington's administrators have their way.

Anyone with even a passing interest in cricket in New Zealand knows that the Basin Reserve, the gift of nature, is the best cricket ground in the country. But not so Wellington's pen-pushers, who have proposed to build a concrete flyover over the northern face of the ground, apparently to connect the second Mt Victoria tunnel that will lessen traffic jams that often occur at the one lane road in the course of the mountain.

Per the 1873 Deed of Trust which endows the ground to the people of the city, no thoroughfare was to be built across the ground. During the 1990s, it was discovered the actual boundary of the ground was one lane out on the road that encircles the ground. Since then, the venue's custodians have been tempted to solve the problems associated with increasing traffic usage in the city.

This could the most radical move yet, prompting the phrase "car-crash cricket".

The title might fit a countdown show for the latest pop songs but it concerns New Zealand Cricket's latest venture: a search for the batsman who can hit the ball farthest. The competition began on February 2, with the top batsmen from domestic cricket going head to head at Eden Park. A rather surprising winner was former New Zealand fast bowler Ian Butler, whose biggest hit measured 95.98 metres. A not-so-surprising outcome was Billy Bowden developing a special signal for shots over 70m. The competition runs for three weeks - regional public finals held during selected State Twenty20 matches will whittle down backyard batsmen and one representative from each region will be selected for the final - before concluding in Wellington, where six members of the public will go up against Butler and a player from New Zealand's limited-overs squad. Will IPL scouts be watching?

Martin Crowe is shifting to Sky TV's rugby channel, and has rubbished reports that he was ousted from his cricket commentator position because of a clash with New Zealand Cricket. Crowe said he was "flabbergasted" at a comment from NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan in a weekend newspaper that some members of the national team would like to see the back of him.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time I'm incredibly positive about the players, I certainly wasn't that way about the former coach but I felt some of the things he did were very odd," Crowe told the Sunday News."The only time I've been critical of a player was with Aaron Redmond recently and that just didn't come out right and I quickly retracted what I said."

Crowe will continue to commentate on cricket this summer. "I've just found 10 years [as executive producer] a year too long," he told the Dominion Post. "In a new post within Sky Sport I will look to resurrect The Chosen Ones documentary series and also look to increase numbers watching the Rugby Channel among other new initiatives. I couldn’t be happier."

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) chief executive Justin Vaughan is likely to talk to his counterparts at the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) as he explores ways to deal with Jesse Ryder's alcohol problem.

The move comes after the NZRU fronted the All Blacks player Jimmy Cowan and fined him after a series of incidents involving excess alcohol consumption, which helped him cut the booze. NZC took a similar approach with Ryder, dropping him from a one-dayer and fining him after his drinking session in Wellington.

"I would like to speak to the NZRU to understand the protocols the All Blacks had around Jimmy Cowan's publicised problems," Vaughan told New Zealand-based daily, the Sunday Star Times. "I think we can share ideas with each other, although we have to remember every case is different."