Cricket: One change likely for second test

James Franklin would be a bold choice as No. 3 batsman for the second test. Photo / Christine Cornege

Getting back on the bike after a heavy fall is usually considered the right approach.

So it is likely to be for the New Zealand test team when they get to Wellington for the second test against Pakistan starting on Saturday.

The 13 from Hamilton remains intact and that means there is only one change that might be considered out of the wreckage of the three-day defeat by 10 wickets at Seddon Park on Sunday.

The two who missed out for the first test were lefthand allrounder James Franklin and Auckland medium pacer Daryl Tuffey.

The bowling unit generally performed tidily - in Tim Southee's case certainly better than that; in Brent Arnel's only poor fielding deprived him of a first five-wicket bag in Pakistan's first innings.

So Tuffey is likely to be free for Auckland's third-round one-day game against Canterbury in Christchurch on Sunday.

However Franklin's position is different.

Opener Tim McIntosh is distinctly vulnerable after a double failure at Hamilton.

He edged to second slip in the second over of the match, then laboured 52 minutes and 35 balls over three before being stumped, moving down the pitch to push defensively at spinner Abdur Rehman.

That takes McIntosh to 18 single-figure dismissals in 33 test innings. That's only partly offset by two hundreds - one three tests ago in Hyderabad - and four half-centuries in an average of 27.54.

The one option for the selectors is to sit the 31-year-old out, bump Martin Guptill up to open with Brendon McCullum and introduce Franklin, a capable batsman but now a less effective medium pacer than in past seasons. The intriguing thing then would be settling on the No 3 batsman - Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson or, in what would be a bold move, Franklin.

He is a capable batsman, averages only 21 in his 26 tests batting round the lower-middle order, but 34.82 in first-class cricket with 12 hundreds.

If McIntosh is to be dropped it might be worth a crack. After Sunday, no options should remain unexplored.

That would leave Taylor is his usual spot, ditto Williamson, as he finds his way in the test game at No 6.

However captain Dan Vettori, now no longer a selector after the managerial reshuffle, defended McIntosh.

Quizzed on possible personnel changes, Vettori initially said: "That's a question for the selectors."

Pressed, he went in to bat for McIntosh, and the other batsmen.

"It's not my place to talk on those things. Brendon's [McCullum] obviously been outstanding since becoming an opener and Tim got a century two tests ago.

"I know you always look for answers and sometimes change is the answer. But there's been good performances from everyone in that top six. We've just got to become more consistent."

Vettori put the fault squarely on the batsmen's collective decision-making as they flopped to 110 all out, all 10 falling for 74 in a tick over 26overs.

New Zealand only got to 100 courtesy of last man Chris Martin's seven not out. When he stroked a three through covers, the president of cricket's Tailend Charlies Association drew a standing ovation to mark his 100th test run in his 87th test innings.

Martin might have been tempted to salute the crowd but, given the circumstances, wisely thought better of it.

New Zealand have been dismissed for less than 100 22 times, on five occasions by Pakistan.