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Tom Latham - Source: Photosport
Canterbury's Tom Latham will be given a chance to cement a spot in the Black Caps' top order on the tour of Sri Lanka.
In the absence of Martin Guptill, who has been rested for the limited over component of the tour, Latham is likely to see plenty of game time and head coach Mike Hesson said it was likely to be at the top of the order.
In Latham's nine international matches, he has batted between No 5 and No 9 but Hesson and assistant coach Bob Carter are clearly Latham fans.
"In the one-dayers we've got options but we'd like to see Tom Latham bat towards the top of the order," Hesson said.
"He's had some good results for New Zealand A."
Hesson said Latham would be given every opportunity to deliver on some of the potential the Black Caps' management knew he had.
"Sometimes it's also an easier way to introduce a new player to the top of the order when the ball is hard and the field is up so he can get a bit of momentum that way."
Latham could find himself opening the batting with Canterbury team-mate Rob Nicol, with Brendon McCullum coming in at first drop.
Surrounded by hitters, Latham's job would be to keep the strike ticking over and bat time, while the fact he's a left-hander is a clear plus for both Hesson and Carter, who like that variety.
After a solitary Twenty20 international next Tuesday, the New Zealand side play five ODIs, followed by two tests.
It will be Hesson's first 50-over matches in charge.
"We've got a number of initiatives to introduce [in 50 over cricket]," he said.
Spin will again play a big part on this tour and the coaching team said plenty of work continued to be done to help the side improve against slow bowling.
"We saw what [the pitches] were like at the [Twenty20] World Cup," Carter said.
"This is a few weeks on and they would have dried out more."
He expected the conditions to be set up even more in the home side's favour now.
"They're the home side, so why wouldn't they?"
Hesson re-emphasised how important it would be to not only survive against spin, but to score off it, too. "Probably about 70 to 80 per cent of the overs we'll face on this tour will be spin."
But spin could also be used as an attacking weapon, he said.
That is why Hesson will be leaning on the world's most successful bowler for advice.
New Zealand Cricket have struck a deal to use Muttiah Muralidharan as a specialist coach during the tour.
Hesson said the details of the arrangement had not been firmed up, but he expected the spinner, who took 795 test wickets, to be involved.
With three left-arm medium pacers in both the limited overs and test squads, Sri Lankan left-armer Chaminda Vaas will also be used on tour.
Hesson has always said he would bring in specialists where needed and hinted that the side were still looking at someone more permanent in the spin capacity.
"We've used [Pakistani] Saqlain Mushtaq in the past but he's aligned with Bangladesh at the moment, but that's something we're looking into."
New Zealand's first game on tour is their only T20 international, in Pallekele, where they were eliminated from the Twenty20 World Cup at the start of the month.