Lou Vincent lines up a catch against Otago in their State Shield encounter at Eden Park last month. Auckland won by six wickets. Photo / Martin Sykes
Black Caps Lou Vincent and Scott Styris were not searching for any mental-health leave after their side's early exit from the tri-series in Australia.
The batting duo told Auckland coach Mark O'Donnell they were keen to play in the State Shield final tomorrow and both were included in
the squad for the Dunedin match against Otago.
"It is always nice to have our Black Caps, "O'Donnell said.
"It is not a disruption having them come in and out of the team as they have this season but it is tough on Martin Guptill who has been good for us since Lou's departure. It was a case of replacing one opener with another.
"This is the way cricket goes these days and we would have been mad or stupid not to take our test blokes when they said they both wanted to play."
The squad will have a final net session today at Eden Park.
Auckland would take some confidence from their recent Twenty20 final win against Otago but the result of that game was as relevant as the records which showed it was 20 years since Otago won their solitary one-day provincial crown.
O'Donnell said he had been encouraged by the judgment his batsmen in their Shield semifinal when the slower strip demanded more caution.
"Otago are a good one-day side, they are a good group of players who have a pretty settled lineup without any changes through the Black Caps. Their strength is in their batting and they back that up with a very capable string of bowlers."
Auckland v Otago
University Oval, Dunedin, tomorrow
Auckland (from): Richard Jones (c), Lou Vincent, Paul Hitchcock, Scott Styris, Rob Nicol, David Houpapa, Reece Young, Andre Adams, Mayu Pasupati, Roneel Hira, Chris Martin, Colin de GrandHomme.
Otago (from): Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Chris Gaffaney, Craig Cumming (captain), Gareth Hopkins, Jordan Sheed, Nic Turner, Greg Todd, James McMillan, Gareth Shaw, Matt Harvie, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom, Craig Smith.
