It's said the truest and toughest test of an international player is that he not only be one but look like one. In any lesser company he should stand head and shoulders above the crowd, that his quality should be so clear that it is transparent by the most uneducated observer.
Good players stand out.
From that perspective, no-one at the Basin Reserve today who saw the innings of Roger Twose and Stephen Fleming or enjoyed their unbroken partnership of 244 for Wellington against Otago which was a record for all wickets by all teams in the Shell Cup, could have doubted their international status. Matthew Bell had been out to the first ball of the second over, bringing Fleming to the wicket with only eight balls of the innings bowled, and Chris Nevin was out to the second ball of the seventh over, bringing Twose to the crease. They remained together for the next 43 overs and four balls, scoring at an even pace and reaching each of their innings' milestones almost simultaneously. It had to be remembered that Fleming had missed Wellington's match against Auckland two days ago with a groin strain and hadn't entirely erased doubts about his fitness when he came to the crease today. That he batted 195 minutes, through almost 49 overs and took many of his runs from hard-run singles and twos, that he seemed free in his movement, poised and decisive, would have seemed to allay those doubts entirely.