Black Caps spearhead Trent Boult is relishing the opportunity to push for a spot in the national team to face the top-ranked one-day side in the world on home turf later this month.
With the first of two one-day internationals against South Africa scheduled for Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval on October 21, Boult is pulling out all the stops to be included in the New Zealand side.
"Obviously I'd love to be in that selection to run in at the Bay Oval," Boult said before flying out with the national team for a 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup launch earlier this week.
"It would be something pretty cool. As a kid I always wanted to play at my home ground in front of my family and friends, so it's great the Bay Oval is coming along and it looks like it's going to turn into something great."
A number of leading Northern Knights players who performed well at the recent Champions League in India are busy making the transition between the two short forms of the limited overs games, before shifting to test mode in the coming months.
Boult said that was the reality of modern cricket and that players were becoming more adept at making the transition.
"There's so much cricket being played, and so many formats, that the best players are the ones who can adapt quickly and change those things.
"I'm still learning, don't get me wrong ... you've got to be quick and that's the exciting part.
"My passion lies with test cricket. There's no better feeling than grafting away for five days and then walking off the park with a win ... I've grown up wanting to play test cricket for New Zealand and putting that black baggy hat on.
"But there's a big focus on this white ball cricket coming up and having a World Cup in your own backyard is not something I can see coming around very often."
He expressed disappointment in the alleged match-fixing scandal revolving around Chris Cairns, saying the ICC was now very vigilant in educating players about the ways in which players can be approached.
"I haven't really been following it with too much interest. I try to stay clear of it until things are finalised I guess, but it's a bit of a shame isn't it?"
The 11th-ranked test bowler in the world was unsure whether he would be available to play club cricket this weekend for Element IMF Otumoetai Cadets' against Whakatane United.
"I've got this weekend off anyway, so we might see me running around with the Cadets cap on the head.
"I think we've got Whakatane this weekend. Obviously we've got a pretty busy schedule so I have to be smart with where I can get rest and when I can play, so we'll see what happens."