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Daniel Vettori contemplates the Test - Source: Photosport -
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New Zealand's test cricketers headed for Sri Lanka on Monday knowing avoiding a series defeat would represent a significant feat against an opponent match hardened by current visitors Pakistan.
Captain Daniel Vettori said two draws or a sneaky 1-0 series victory would be a dream scenario for a side that has well-documented struggles with the game's longest format.
"You always want to go into a series wanting to win but if we could pull off a couple of draws or win the series 1-0, that would be an exciting result for this team."
It would also rank as a remarkable result, given New Zealand's lowly test ranking of eighth and the fact they are coming in from the cold.
While Sri Lanka coasted to a 2-0 triumph in three tests against Pakistan last month, the core of New Zealand's squad spent the last six weeks warding off the winter chill at indoor nets.
Top order test batsmen Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn have not played since the third test stalemate with India at Wellington in early April.
Recalled opener Craig Cumming's most recent innings was for Otago in the State championship against Canterbury in late March.
Fortunately they had a camp in Brisbane last week with similarly underdone pace bowlers Daryl Tuffey, Chris Martin and Shane Bond, who will be among the one-day and Twenty20 reinforcements to arrive from the NZ A tour to India later this month.
A revised itinerary has also seen New Zealand's warm-up schedule
boosted from one to two matches against local opposition - the
first three-day game starts on Friday.
Opportunity to acclimatise
Coach Andy Moles hoped those games would provide enough opportunity to acclimatise to the pitches and oppressive heat before the first test on the southern coast at Galle on August 18.
The team then return to Colombo for the second and final test from August 26.
Vettori, whose last international duty was the world Twenty20 championship in England in June, said the practice matches would be pivotal for McIntosh, Flynn, Cumming and relatively new opening batsman Martin Guptill.
"They've been working hard but you only do so much indoors, it's hard to replicate what you're going to come across," Vettori said.
Vettori then emphasised the magnitude of New Zealand's task when noting Sri Lanka brushed aside Pakistan despite Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga - two of the Black Caps' chief tormentors in recent years - being unavailable through injury.
Unheralded left arm orthodox Ragana Herath proved an able substitute for Muralitharan taking 15 wickets at 26.93, giving New Zealand another adversary to plan for.
Ajantha Mendis - who bamboozled New Zealand in their first meeting during the Twenty20 championship - was dropped for the third test.
Pace bowler Nuwan Kulasekara ended up the series' top wicket
taker with 17, indicating new ball life will go on despite the
retirement of Chaminda Vaas.
Envious
Vettori sounded almost envious when considering Sri Lanka's depth.
"Everyone talks about who's going to replace Muralitharan when he retires and then Mendis comes thorough....
"Herath had a great series against Pakistan, these types of teams seem able to replace players."
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Cricket Players Association (NZCPA) emphasised it was satisfied with the security arrangements in place.
NZCPA executive manager Heath Mills visited Sri Lanka last month to assess security and after some tweaking the measures were approved.
"We've requested a few changes and now it's at a level where we're confident we can travel there safely," Mills said.
"We have a comprehensive security wing around the team, our guys will have a couple of hundred security officers around them at all times."
Sri Lanka has been locked in a civil war between government forces and Tamil separatists during previous visits by New Zealand though hostilities appear to have ceased.
Two Twenty20 matches follow the tests and then New Zealand has a brief Tri-Series involving India in mid-September before the sides head to South Africa for the Champions Trophy one-day tournament.
