Top New Zealand cricketers are benefiting from the winterless north's mild climate.
The usual deluge in Auckland over the past few months saw Black Caps Chris Martin and Jeetan Patel, along with Tim MacIntosh and Michael Bates and New Zealand high performance coach Mark O'Donnell, heading up country to use Northland Cricket's grass practice wickets at Cobham Oval on Thursday and yesterday.
"The usual big wet came through, and it's hard at this time of year to find grass wickets to prepare on. We were struggling to find any in Auckland, so Northland Cricket kindly offered to host us up here where they were ready to use.
"It's good to get a bit of time on grass," Martin said.
Auckland Aces fast-medium bowler Martin and Patel, an off-spinner who plays domestic cricket for the Wellington Firebirds, were named in the 15-strong touring test squad to play at Bulawayo, in the one-off test match against Zimbabwe, next month and getting some practice on grass wickets was a vital part of the players' preparation for the upcoming test match in Zimbabwe, Martin added.
Northland's Tim Southee is also part of the test squad, and trained on Thursday with the contingent, but will miss the test match because his knee injury has not recovered sufficiently so that he can make the trip. Southee damaged the cartilage in his left knee while preparing for the Champions League.
Martin was expecting temperatures of 20-30 degrees celsius in Zimbabwe, along with dry conditions at altitude.
The wickets are likely to be low and slow, possibly with some turn.
"It will be a long test. It's quite hard to prepare for that when you don't have the same conditions at home.
"You might feel like you're not 100 per cent prepared to play in the conditions overseas even though you have done everything you can here. But you have to put that to one side, and make the most of the preparation when you get there," Martin said.
The squad fly out next Saturday, in time for a two-day friendly to get the feel for the conditions in Bulawayo. The test match starts on November 1.
Both Martin and Patel have played a lot of cricket already in the offseason - Patel was part of the Warwickshire team in the Friends Life Twenty20 Cup, while Martin and the Auckland Aces went to India for a disappointing Champions League T20 campaign, but it was always difficult returning to playing cricket after a few weeks off, Martin said.
"I've had a couple of weeks off after the Champions League, and it's always hard starting up again. But I'm really looking forward to getting to Africa and I'm hoping it will be a tough contest - we will need some good competition before we tour Australia at the end of the year."
This year's Black Caps were "not a bad side" and had no injury concerns - except for Southee's knee - which was always a nice way to start the season, Martin said.
"Most of the players have either played or kept fit over the off-season, and the likes of Ross [Taylor], Brendon [McCullum] and Dan [Vettori] have all had some time at home, which means they will be in a better frame of mind, ready to throw themselves back into cricket.
"It can be a bit of a slog for professional cricketers at times," Martin added.
After using the facilities at Cobham Oval again, Martin said it was an ideal ground to host international fixtures, and Northland Cricket would cope well when they host their first ODI with Zimbabwe up against the Blackcaps, next Waitangi Day.
"It's a good ground - Northland Cricket have spent a lot of money on it, and the hospitality has always been great. I was up here when the New Zealand Invitational side played a three-dayer against Pakistan in January - that was a good test for the ground and Northland Cricket will be feeling confident about hosting the ODI," he said.