KEY POINTS:
Daniel Vettori looked to put a positive spin on a spot of unfortunate timing ahead of the deciding third test against England starting at McLean Park today.
There is no such thing as a good time to lose two leading players, but the absence of Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram due to injury leaves New Zealand short on test bowling wisdom.
Mills has a calf tear, and Oram joined him on the sideline yesterday with a hip problem, which flared late in the second test at the Basin Reserve.
He faced a few balls at practice yesterday before pulling out in discomfort.
They have been New Zealand's two most reliable bowlers, but Vettori hopes their replacements, debutants Tim Southee and Grant Elliott, will rise to the task.
"You want your best XI on the park," Vettori said. "I don't want to take too much away from Grant and Tim but you've got guys who have performed pretty well throughout the series.
"I'd love to have them in the team, but we've been through a lot of injuries in the past and it always gives guys an opportunity to step up."
As a sidebar, Mills and Oram are among the five New Zealand players signed for the Indian Premier League, which starts on April 18. The early weeks of the England tour clash with the IPL, which has prompted robust debate on where the five should be on day one of the England trip.
But Vettori, another of that quintet, was unambiguous yesterday.
"We have to wait and see how they are in two weeks' time when the IPL is up and running," he said.
"If they are fit it shouldn't be a problem. If they are not, then the New Zealand team is the priority. They have to make sure they're fit for the England tour."
In the third change, offspinner Jeetan Patel replaces fast-medium Mark Gillespie, who while taking six wickets, was up and down in quality and his fielding was poor.
With the pitch strongly in favour of the batsmen, there is a belief swing is the way to go, and both Southee and Elliott move the ball in the air.
England have a couple of minor worries. Fast-medium James Anderson is battling the ankle injury he picked up during the second test, and batting anchor Paul Collingwood is recovering from heavy bruising on a calf. Both are expected to be fit.
And then there's Stephen Fleming's last hurrah.
The player is low key about it; Vettori said Fleming wanted to go out on the right terms "and that's a win and good personal performance".
"We want to send him off in the right way," he added.
NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND
McLean Park, Napier, starts 10.30am today
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (c), Matthew Bell, Jamie How, Stephen Fleming, Mathew Sinclair, Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Brendon McCullum, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin.
England (likely): Michael Vaughan (c), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.
