KEY POINTS:
New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton says the anger of the cruellest selection cut of all sparked him into action to win back his test cricket spot.
Now he's just hoping for some kindness from coach John Bracewell and captain Daniel Vettori on a batsman's paradise at Adelaide Oval.
Fulton, 29, is favoured to be recalled for his eighth test - after an 11-month absence - as New Zealand try to level the series against Australia in the second test starting tomorrow.
But he's rightly gun-shy and has yet to officially get the nod. He was named to face England in the third test at Trent Bridge in June, but was shoulder-tapped by Bracewell just before the toss to say wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins had taken his place due to Brendon McCullum's back problems.
Then a week ago he looked likely for a recall but allrounder Grant Elliott was preferred as New Zealand tumbled to a 149-run defeat in Brisbane.
Fulton admitted the pain of Trent Bridge still burned.
"I'd dealt with all the nerves the night before and the morning of the game. To walk out to warmups and be told I wasn't playing was a bit surreal, I guess," he said yesterday. "It wasn't until after the test finished that I started to get a little bit angry and frustrated about it. It took probably a month to get over that."
Things worsened when he was overlooked for New Zealand's subsequent 3-1 win in the one-day series, but the tough tour hardened his resolve for the 2008-09 summer.
"I was in a pretty bad frame of mind and ready to come home. I didn't really have a break, I got straight into training three-four days after we got home. In a way it gave me a little bit extra motivation, subconsciously it gave
me a bit of a kick in the arse and
got me back on the right track."
Fulton led the way with the bat on the New Zealand A tour of India then made a solid start to the home summer with 27 and 64 for Canterbury against Auckland before crossing the Tasman.
After watching New Zealand struggle to post scores of 156 and 177 in Brisbane, Fulton admitted his hopes were high of getting a run.
"It was disappointing to miss out and if you look at things realistically I'll be disappointed if don't get a chance in this test, given the way we batted in the last game. It's obviously a great ground to play on, it's got a lot of history and traditionally it's very good for batsmen."
The only question is where does Fulton fit in a team without the balance of injured allrounder Jacob Oram?
Andrew Symonds won't put himself on a pub ban despite the risk incidents like Sunday's brush with a hotel patron could pose to his international cricket career. However, the trouble-prone allrounder says he's learned a valuable lesson and will try to make "clever decisions" about when and where he goes out.
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland yesterday cleared Symonds of any wrongdoing over the incident in a Brisbane pub after Australia's first test victory over New Zealand at the Gabba. But he made it clear he thought Symonds should not have been in the pub in the first place.
- NZPA
