There’s no panic in the BLACKCAPS camp as they look to bounce back from their first up loss to Australia in the ANZ Test series.
The team held their first net session at Hagley Oval on Thursday ahead of tomorrow’s second rubber and rookie Henry Nicholls said they weren’t looking to make any major adjustments.
“To be honest I don’t think we need to do too much differently in terms of our preparation and our mindset.
"Sometimes when you lose it can be easy to look into all the things that when wrong and obviously some things did go wrong in Wellington which is why we lost, but I think for us the big emphasis is on keeping it nice and simple,” he said.
Nicholls, who scored an accomplished half century on debut at the Basin will again bat at four in place of the injured Ross Taylor.
Mitchell Santner also hasn’t recovered in time to be available, while Doug Bracewell’s been ruled out with a shoulder injury.
One man who’s sure to be on the park is captain Brendon McCullum as he bows out of international cricket in front of his home crowd in Christchurch.
Nicholls agreed it would be a special occasion, but felt the focus would still be purely on performance.
"We don’t want to get too caught up in the big occasion, obviously it’s Brendon’s last game, but I think his philosophy as captain has always been to go out and enjoy it and give it your best so that’s what we will be focussing on.”
The first two days at Hagley Oval are sold out and the cricket should be a timely distraction for the people of Christchurch, who suffered a 5.9 magnitude earthquake last weekend on the eve of the five year anniversary of the February 22nd shake which killed 185 people.
“It’s always nice to be back in your home town and hopefully we can bring some joy to the locals with the way we play,” Nicholls said.
"It’s a ground I personally love playing at and I know a lot of the guys in the team enjoy playing here so it’s a great venue and usually a good wicket as well.”
The green Wellington pitch garnered plenty of attention in the first Test and the strip at Hagley looks like it will be similarly lively.
"It’s something to be expected here in New Zealand, we’re known for these conditions and we’ve got no problem playing in them - it’s something you kind of get used to."
Trailing 1-nil into the final game of the summer Nicholls knows the pressure is on, but thinks they need only look back on what they’ve done in the past for some inspiration.
“The team has played some great cricket over the last few years, especially Test cricket, so for us it’s about look to keep that confidence we have been playing with the last few years, despite the hiccup in the last game,” he said.
There are still tickets available for the third day and beyond and with the weather set fair for most of the Test - Brendon McCullum’s finale should be a match to remember.
