KEY POINTS:
The speculation that strike bowler Shane Bond would rest out the coming tests against Sri Lanka to preserve his back for the coming summer of one-day cricket may be off the mark.
Bond's much-publicised injuries or threat of injury were expected to keep him from the test series
so he could be operating at full steam for the VB series, the Chappell-Hadlee series and World Cup.
However, the right-armer confirmed to the Herald on Sunday he was available for the tests and expected to be picked, form pending.
He sat out the State Championship match that ended yesterday, but is available for Canterbury's next match.
He said he had no escalation of the back pain he experienced in India. He bowled during the lunch break and appeared to do so without discomfort.
Bond's appearance in the tests would mean he would not be sitting idle on the sidelines and, meanwhile, the first round of the State Championship has all the makings of 'Openers Idol' as New Zealand's selectors search for that most elusive commodity - a partnership to see off the new ball.
A spanner has already been thrown into the works with the unavailability of Canterbury opener Michael Papps, who was tipped to get an opening spot against Sri Lanka for the first test beginning at Christchurch Thursday week.
Instead, in all likelihood, John Bracewell and his selectors will have to manufacture another partnership with players who would rather occupy numbers one through six.
With Scott Styris' injury - he has not yet been ruled out but it is unlikely he will be available - a middle order spot is open for, in all probability, Peter Fulton. That means two of the following are effectively on trial to face the new ball: Mathew Sinclair, Jamie How, Hamish and James Marshall, Craig Cumming, Lou Vincent - with a long shot a recall for Wellington's former skipper Matthew Bell.
Cumming looked in good touch on a batsman's paradise in Christchurch last week but the smart money would be on any two of Sinclair, How and Marshall H. - as long as they perform over the next few days. While Marshall's international form has been a train wreck recently, there is a reluctance to discard him, having invested so much time in the right-hander.
It is worth noting he scored an excellent century against the Sri Lankans when they last toured.
Bracewell and Sir Richard Hadlee were in attendance on the first day of the first-class season, ostensibly to debrief on the Champions Trophy, but no doubt the pesky question of formulating a test side for the two weeks was raised.
In a season that is so heavily weighted towards developing a World Cup winning side, the two test matches are almost an irrelevance.
Sad, but true.
Apart from the opening partnership, the rest of the side almost picks itself. Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle will form the core of the middle order, with Jacob Oram at six, Brendon McCullum at seven and Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Kyle Mills and Shane Bond to fill up the tailend of the innings.