An upbeat England go into the series-deciding final cricket Test against New Zealand today with an added bonus after New Zealand lost two frontline bowlers through injury.
Winning the second Test in Wellington on Monday to level the series had already put a spring in the England step and helped paper over batting short-comings.
But if the expected the flat McLean Park wicket was incentive enough for England's out-of-sorts top order, the news that New Zealand had lost allrounder Jacob Oram and opening bowler Kyle Mills would have further boosted their confidence.
PHOTO: AFP
They have been replaced by two debutants -- swing bowler Tim Southee and allrounder Grant Elliot.
Oram, who pulled out yesterday with a hip injury, had taken eight wickets at 14.87 in the first two Tests while Mills had 10 wickets at 22.20.
England, looking for their first overseas series win in three years have yet to put together the complete package on their New Zealand tour which they regard as the start of their build up to next years Ashes series.
In the first Test which New Zealand won by 189 runs, England's fielding was excellent but their batting and bowling were below par.
Come the second Test, which England won by 126 runs, the performances were reversed, with the batting and bowling good enough to win despite numerous dropped catches.
But the sole century in the second Test was from wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose while the recognized batsman have not been able to kick on after getting a start.
If any player is desperate to score a century it is New Zealand's elder statesman Stephen Fleming playing the final Test of his career.
He needs to score 113 over two innings in Napier to retire with an average of 40, the benchmark figure for a recognized batsman.
The 34-year-old, who led New Zealand a record 80 times before Daniel Vettori took over last year, said he wants to end his 111th and final Test with a "substantial" score contributing to a New Zealand win.
"It's not about me getting a badge of honor with 40 on my chest to wear for the rest of my life, I'm not that fazed," Fleming said. "But if I can get it up over 40 it means I've scored another hundred and we've got a score that enables us to put pressure on England."
In the New Zealand squad, in addition to the withdrawal of Oram and Mills there is one other change with spinner Jeetan Patel brought back at the expense of seamer Mark Gillespie.
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