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MANCHESTER - As New Zealand cricket captain Daniel Vettori sat down to face the media after his team's six-wicket loss to England, the dulcet tones of Bing Crosby suddenly appeared through the ground speakers.
"Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative," he crooned in a famous tune, part of
an advertising campaign during the Old Trafford test.
Vettori's frown flickered into a smile, for a brief moment at least.
"That's appropriate, isn't it," he said, before the grim post mortem got under way.
In terms of positives to take out of their defeat in the second test, he admitted there weren't many.
In the space of 24 hours, New Zealand went from 86 for two in their second innings and an overall lead of 265 - to despair.
The day in Manchester reflected Vettori's mood as the bone-chilling wind gusted up to 75km/h, shredding the Union Jack flag on top of the pavilion and blowing debris on to the pitch.
"You can always pick a couple of positives out, but the overriding fact is we lost a game we should have won," Vettori said.
"Ross Taylor was fantastic in the first innings, the way Iain O'Brien bowled into a very tough wind, those were the things that stood out but I don't think they really matter to anyone at the moment."
From being favourites to push for just their third test series win in England, New Zealand can now at best only level it in the final test at Trent Bridge, starting on Thursday next week.
In between times the tourists head to Northampton for a three-day match starting on Friday.
It will be a chance for the top order, Taylor aside, to get some welcome runs and confidence, for Daniel Flynn to show off his new teeth and get back in the batting groove, and for young paceman Tim Southee to push for a recall after a virus ruled him out of Old Trafford.
Vettori said Flynn would play at Northampton, pending a medical clearance, after he underwent dental reconstruction of the two teeth he lost when hit by a James Anderson bouncer.
Vettori admitted morale had taken a big hit after their buoyant draw at Lord's and their first innings dominance here.
But he felt the young, tight knit side still had plenty to play for as they eye just their fifth test win from 50 attempts on English soil.
"We're lucky in that we do have that warmup game. If we rolled straight around into a test match three days later there would be some guys who are still reeling from this loss.
"Hopefully that warmup game is a chance to get a few things out of the system to work on a few things and we can come to Trent Bridge thinking that we can square the series.
"We still know if we square the series then it's been a good result for us."
New Zealand still had a good chance of pushing for victory on the fourth day as England resumed 76 for one chasing 294, but the early bowling led by Vettori did not pose enough problems.
Andrew Strauss' 12th test century and backup from Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen ensured England were cruising at 171 for two at lunch.
Vettori went wicketless for 25 overs, O'Brien toiled hard into the wind, Chris Martin and Jacob Oram caused problems for brief moments but it was not enough.
"Maybe we got carried away with the fact the wicket wasn't doing as much for us and so we searched a little bit, and that's not our strength," Vettori said.
- NZPA
