Cricket: England wary of dropping concentration

By RICHARD BOOCK in Queenstown

England are guarding against a new menace as they prepare for the first test at Jade Stadium - good old New Zealand hospitality.

Having settled into the alpine wonderland of Queenstown, the tourists are conscious of the need to keep their minds on the job and make full use of the two first-class games before the test in Christchurch.

A common theme of most post-mortems involving the one-day series was that England, having finally escaped the rigours of a tour to India, subconsciously relaxed after arriving in what seemed like the land of milk and honey.

Now they find themselves in the holiday capital of New Zealand, a place where it is hard to go anywhere without noticing people jumping off bridges, leaping out of perfectly good aircraft or hurtling down rivers.

Test batsman Mark Ramprakash said that though the visit to Dunedin and Queenstown was very relaxed, the side appreciated the need to stay focused with the test looming.

"It's been very pleasant, very much so," Ramprakash said yesterday. "But I think all the players know they're in for a tough test against New Zealand, who have a nucleus of very experienced players.

"For the one-day players who've been on a long, arduous tour of India I think it's good that they can chill out here and switch off mentally.

"Of course, for those players who have come out to join the tour, they're very much wanting to get out there and get started, so there's some balancing going on."

Ramprakash, almost certain to bat in the middle-order at Christchurch, said there was no shortage of motivation in the England camp as the memory of the 1999 series loss against New Zealand was still keen.

New Zealand won that series 2-1 after beating England in the fourth test at the Oval and Ramprakash was one of the scapegoats, being dropped for the subsequent tour of South Africa.

"They beat us in 1999 and that's still a very bitter memory," he said. "It went down to the last match of the series and the result was certainly a low point for my career.

"So we know we're going to have to play very well to win this one."

Seen as something of an enigma in England, the 32-year-old right-hander made his debut in 1991 and has been in and out of the side since, playing just 49 matches in 11 years for a modest return of 2273 runs at 28.06.

During that time, however, he has fashioned an impressive record against the might of Australia, scoring 933 runs in 24 innings at an average off 42.40, including a career-best 133 in last year's fifth Ashes test.

A member of the Surrey county side, he was recalled for that series after spending 12 months on the outer and went on to play in all three tests in India, scoring 159 runs at 31.80, including 58 in the drawn test at Bangalore.

"I was pleased with the way I was approaching my batting and hitting the ball in India," he said. "I felt confident, but unfortunately didn't go on to a big score - although I was pleased with my partnership with Michael Vaughan in the last test at Bangalore.

"Since the Ashes series I've been happy with the way I've been approaching my batting. I've been going for my shots and have been relaxed at the crease. If I can just keep that up the scores will come."