Cricket: Pacemen to share the load against the wind

Short and sharp spells into the Wellington wind are looming for New Zealand's seamers.

The second test against England starts at the Basin Reserve tomorrow and without a clear into-the-wind bowler, all three Kiwi pacemen will be called upon to do the job at some point.

New Zealand will likely carry the same bowling unit for this week's test that they used in the drawn first match in Dunedin last week, where a dead University Oval wicket offered little assistance to the men with the ball.

Pacemen Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee will be joined by spinner Bruce Martin as the players charged with delivering 20 wickets for New Zealand this week.

Gone are the days where New Zealand could rely upon an Iain O'Brien or Daryl Tuffey to provide reliable overs into the wind in the capital.

New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond said his trio of fast bowlers would have to move outside their usual job description, particularly if the breeze gets up in Wellington.

"It's an interesting one because all three bowlers are strike bowlers in their own right and do a different role for their domestic teams. I think it's certainly something you do have to consider when you come to Wellington is who's going to do that role and all three of them probably aren't used to doing it," Bond said.

Left-arm tweaker Martin is likely to take on a lion's share of bowling into the wind but when the ball is new Bond said rapid-fire stints at the crease would get the best out of his quicks.

Bond said the past two days had been spent letting his seamers recover after they sent down 114 overs between them in the second innings of the first test.