Cricket: Class warm-up has NZ aflame

KWEKWE - New Zealand, buoyed by a monumental innings from rookie batsman Mark Richardson, head into the first cricket test against Zimbabwe tonight believing they could not have prepared better.

The New Zealanders completed their test build-up at Kwekwe yesterday with a draw against Zimbabwe A in a three-day match they dominated throughout.

After scoring 677 for seven declared and then bowling out Zimbabwe A for 168 in 65 overs, New Zealand opted for batting practice in their second innings before a final hour's bowling.

Richardson, finally brought into the New Zealand side as a 29-year-old, ground out 306 in 785-minutes - slightly less than two days - as New Zealand made their highest total in first-class cricket.

It was the second highest innings by a player representing New Zealand, behind Ken Rutherford's 317 against DB Close's XI in England in 1996.

The Otago left-hander, whose previous highest score was 212 not out for New Zealand'A' against Sussex two months ago, struck 43 fours before the bowlers took their turn to impress.

Spinner Daniel Vettori helped to run through the home batting, taking six for 43 off 23 overs.

Captain Stephen Fleming said there were no complaints about the buildup.

"We couldn't ask for much more. We batted five sessions which we identified as the key to winning a test match and bowled them out pretty comfortably," Fleming said. "We're secure in the knowledge we've done everything we can."

A slight concern was the lack of time in the middle for key batsmen Fleming and Nathan Astle. Fleming had a double of 21 and 27, opening the batting in the second innings, while Astle scored six and 21.

"That's four starts for me for no real return, so I'm very hungry for the test match," he said. "I'm in pretty good touch, Nathan's the same way. We'll hit a lot of balls in the next couple of days and in the test it could be one of our turns."

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe selectors named their squad of 14, most of whom played in one of the two warm-up games. Pace bowler Heath Streak captains Zimbabwe in a test for the first time.

Zimbabwe squad: Heath Streak (capt), Grant Flower, Gavin Rennie, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Guy Whittall, Craig Wishart, Mluleki Nkala, Paul Strang, Bryan Strang, David Mutendera, Henry Olonga, Mpumelelo Mbangwa.