Cricket: Battle to get Seddon Park pitch right

Reece Young is set to make his test debut tomorrow. Photo / Getty Images

Seddon Park groundsman Karl Johnson is regarded as one of the best in the business but his skills have been tested to the limit in the leadup to the first cricket test between New Zealand and Pakistan starting tomorrow.

Temperatures have been hotter and humidity levels higher during the week preceding this test than Johnson can recall in his seven years tending to Hamilton's beautifully manicured cricket oval.

As a consequence he has had a battle on his hands to ensure the pitch retains enough moisture to last five days, but not too much to render it virtually unplayable for the batsmen on the first morning.

"It's been extremely hot so it's been quite a challenge, a lot of the grass has been knocked around quite a bit with the amount of heat and humidity we've had," Johnson said.

"I'd like to have a little bit in it but also in the back of my mind is that if it gets really humid, the ball can swing a lot, and it has been really humid here. I don't want the wicket to swing and with a lot of zip and movement off the track, but obviously the bowlers would like that."

Johnson has kept the covers on the pitch longer than usual to ensure there is enough moisture in it but he admits more of the same weather on the first two or three days of the test would see a dry pitch later in the match.

That would bring the spinners into play, even though Waikari soil-based pitches tend to hold together reasonably well and do not turn prodigiously.

Pakistan have one specialist spinner, Abdur Rehman, to call on after Saeed Ajmal flew home to attend his father's funeral, while New Zealand also have one in captain Daniel Vettori, although Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill can all bowl offspin.

The balancing act has been a tricky one for Johnson but he is confident something near a traditional Seddon Park surface will be on show, offering a little bit to everyone and lasting the distance.

"It's not going to be a really quick wicket, obviously being a five-day game we'd like to have a little bit in it first up so that's what we're trying to get to," he said.

"If we can get through five days, we've done what we can do and the rest of it is left up to the players. It's been a tough one for us but at the end of the day a test match is the ultimate in my career.

"To host a test here and prepare the wicket is pretty exciting."

Teams:

New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Tim McIntosh, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Kane Williamson, Reece Young, Tim Southee, Brent Arnel, Chris Martin, James Franklin, Daryl Tuffey (two to be omitted).

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Tanvir Ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz (three to be omitted).

Start time: 1100 NZT.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Rod Tucker (Australia).

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (Sri Lanka).