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PERTH - While expressing a desire for his struggling New Zealand side to play more test matches, skipper Daniel Vettori has also pleaded with Australia cricket bosses to maintain the annual Chappell-Hadlee trophy.
Vettori and the New Zealand squad arrived in Perth yesterday ahead of a tour which will see them play one Twenty20 clash, three one-dayers but no test matches - with March 2005 the last time the two sides have met at test level.
But with the future of the annual Chappell-Hadlee trophy under a cloud following the scrapping of the one-day tri-series, Vettori said his countrymen would be bitterly disappointed if it was scrapped.
"For us, it is the chance to compete against the best annually, and we have not always had that," Vettori said.
"For New Zealand it is pretty important when we play Australia we play well. It is probably the series New Zealanders probably most get up for.
"I know within the team... they view it as one of their most important series. We hope the Chappell-Hadlee is around as long as the Bledisloe and builds up that sort of aura.
"If it did go we would be bitterly disappointed."
While the Kiwis arrive in Australia third in the one-day world rankings, they wallow in seventh in the test pecking order, partly because of the sparsity of test fixtures in recent times.
And while the rest of cricket debates whether international players will burn out because of excessive commitments, Vettori said he hoped to play more in the future.
"The fact we have played very few test matches in the past two or three years has not helped us in that form of the game," Vettori said.
"I think guys feel more comfortable in that form of the game, they know their game a lot better than they do in test cricket.
"At the moment we have got another dose of one day cricket, so we will concentrate on that and not only stay third in the world but exceed that ranking."
But their hopes will not be helped by again being without fast bowler Shane Bond, who will miss the tour with a stomach injury.
Reports in New Zealand suggest another injury setback could spell the end of Bond's stop-start career.
And while Vettori said he could understand Bond's frustration, he would be surprised if he did call it a day.
"I know Shane pretty well, and he is one of the most determined people I have ever met. He ... has been battling injuries for a long time," Vettori said.
"I would be surprised if he retired, but saying that I have been through a few rehabs myself and they get pretty boring and pretty tough.
"If it does happen again I am sure it will be a decision he makes at the time, not a case of saying if I get injured one more time that will be it."
As for Vettori's difficult introduction to the captaincy - following test and one-day series losses in South Africa - the 28 year-old spinner admitted he, and the team, could be missing the influence of former skipper Stephen Fleming.
"(The captaincy) has been good, at times, but a little bit tough in the test matches, we played particularly poorly there," Vettori said.
"We are going to miss him, he was one of the finest captains I ever played under and to hear the accolades go on about him ... I think he is going to be a loss to any side."
- AAP
