Cricket: Black Caps get 12th man for warm-up

1.00pm - By MARTYN WATTERSON

DHAKA - Black Caps coach John Bracewell has the luxury of using a 12th player in their only warm-up cricket match in Bangladesh as he looks to settle the test side.

The Black Caps face the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) 11 in a three-day game starting here on Thursday ahead of the first test on October 19.

At today's press conference, just a couple of hours after the team arrived, Bracewell said the use of the 12th man - approved by the BCB - gave them an opportunity to look at an extra player and also assess the teams' balance.

The side to face the BCB 11, effectively the Bangladesh second 11, should be named after their first training run at the National Stadium tomorrow (today NZT).

The BCB match is being played at Savar, about an hour's drive west of Dhaka, but Bracewell said the team to front on Thursday will not necessarily be the test side.

With humidity regularly topping 80 per cent and temperatures of over 30C, the coach may be tempted to add another swing bowler in the form of either James Franklin or Kyle Mills to work with the spin duo of Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman.

"We have two very good spin bowlers, and we have also picked some swing bowlers who can reverse swing the ball so we think we're adequately supplied in terms of bowling balance," Bracewell told a packed press conference of about 80 media personnel.

Bracewell wouldn't be drawn into whether re-called batsman Mathew Sinclair would partner Mark Richardson as the other opener.

"We'll discuss that over the next couple of days because Mathew has only just got off a flight from South Africa, and we haven't had a chance to brief him or a number of guys who only just caught up with us today."

However, he did hint that Hamish Marshall was favoured to claim a spot in the batting line-up.

"Hamish has performed extremely well in one-day cricket in the opportunities he's had in the past 12 months and we want to look and see how he goes at test match level."

Bracewell was also quizzed on what the local scribes thought was a lack of pace in the New Zealand squad with the absence of speed merchant Shane Bond while Daryl Tuffey is recovery from a knee injury.

"It's the strongest team available. It doesn't matter how fast your bowlers are -- if you don't pick the right players for the right conditions, it can be a waste of time."

- NZPA