KEY POINTS:
Pencil in two spinners for New Zealand in the first test against Bangladesh, and Jesse Ryder's test debut to be at No 3.
But hovering over the test, which starts in Chittagong tomorrow, is real concern at the state of the pitch, which sits alongside that used in New Zealand's series-winning ODI on Tuesday night.
New Zealand coach John Bracewell started to sound like a geologist last night as he explained the "plated" nature of the pitch.
It has an appearance of large dinner plates, with cracks which widen with heat, can turn up at the edges, and are sitting at different levels. Translation: big problems for the batsmen.
"It's more plated than the one we played on [on Tuesday night]. It was flooded last night and rolled to flatten it," Bracewell said. "We're hoping they can get the wicket a little better than how it looks. If it plays like it looks we could be in for a fairly short test."
Bracewell said picking offspinner Jeetan Patel alongside captain Dan Vettori to provide a twin-spin option was "a given".
"We're extremely pleased with the way Jeetan bowled yesterday and we're delighted with his progress."
Tim Southee is in a three-way contest with Mark Gillespie and Iain O'Brien as Kyle Mills' new ball partner, but likely to get the nod.
Bracewell confirmed wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum will get his wish to bat at No 5 and suggested the only real issue was deciding where Ryder and Ross Taylor will bat.
They will be at No 3 and 4 and Bracewell said the key would be what worked best for the team. However he hinted broadly that it would be Ryder followed by Tuesday's centurymaker Taylor.
Bracewell does not believe there is much difference between the requirements of the two roles, other than one having a greater need to be comfortable against quicker bowlers; the other to have confidence against spin.
"In that light, Jesse likes the ball coming on; Ross is quite adaptive in playing spinners now and it may be easier for Jesse to come in at No 3."
However, Bracewell said things might change when New Zealand get to Australia for their tough two-test campaign next month, pointing out Peter Fulton's strong form with New Zealand A in Australia and India would put him into the reckoning.
The batsmen had been given specific tasks to work on, primarily hitting straighter rather than working it too square. He singled out Jamie How, who hit 73 on Tuesday after looking out of sorts in the first two ODIs, for special praise for his improvement.
Bracewell hadn't been surprised at Bangladesh's performances in the ODI series.
New Zealand's opening ODI loss was put down to not having a leadup game and a tradition of starting a season sluggishly.
