And now to Adelaide

The second test assumes significance as Matthew Hayden's hundredth, and John Bracewell's last as coach. The fact that NZ may drop to the very bottom of the test rankings if they lose this game is, unfortunately, an appropriate reminder of the impact Bracewell has had on the side. I look at the combination NZ could consider going into this game.

Unless NZ bat first and someone rises above himself to post a big hundred, I don't hold out too many hopes for this game. Defeats resulting from batting collapses have generally left recent NZ sides scarred; recall the Manchester and Nottingham tests earlier this year. The batting lineup bleeds mediocrity and the bowling is unable to land the coupe-de-grace after doing the hard work and removing most of the opposition's top order. Also, the Adelaide pitch likely won't suit the attack. But all this under-performing has got to change at some point, so perhaps the flat Adelaide wicket may restore some confidence to the batters.

As expected, Peter Fulton returns and I hope he cements his place. While he may not be the automatic solution to the batting problems, given the options at the moment he is too good a player to be sidelined. Mathew Sinclair's game was laid to waste after being ignored repeatedly and the selectors should have learned from it. It's also good to know that McCullum is dropping back to number 7. While he is a good enough player to be batting at number five, his game has been adversely affected by the hype surrounding a few T-20 and one day performances at the top of the order. He needs to be more selective in his shotmaking and concentrate on building an innings rather than knocking the cover off the ball.

The bowling lineup presents a selection headache. Since Jeetan Patel will come into the lineup as the second spinner, who among Chris Martin, Tim Southee and Iain O'Brien would you leave out? It isn't a decision I would want to be responsible for. I understand they are tending towards leaving out Southee, since he relies more on swing and sideways movement than the others. The consensus is that at the moment he is a bit of a one-trick pony who still has time to develop his skills, being only nineteen. Fair enough, but instead of saving him for the greentops back home I'd rather he start developing some new tricks by being asked to bowl on surfaces on Adelaide. Experience is the only way to develop skill after all.

We know the selectors' dilemma, but it seems to me whatever they decide we won't approve their solution. If I were to decide the lineup, I would actually play five bowlers, leave Aaron Redmond out, and ask Jesse Ryder to open (as justified in my previous post). This would leave the batting looking thin, but this could be balanced out by the flat wicket and the latent batting abilities of Vettori and Southee at 7 and 8. Five bowlers on this wicket might be the only way to bowl Australia out twice. It is highly unlikely that NZ might be thinking on the same lines, but I would still rather see them going for the win than take the safety-first approach.