Cricket: Fulton to open with Marshall

It might look like a poisoned chalice to just about everyone else, but to Peter Fulton it's apparently just another opportunity.

The tall Canterbury right-hander yesterday was the subject of the latest experiment for the New Zealand selectors when he was picked as an opener for the first test against South Africa tonight.

After all the talk of wanting to establish a specialist opening partnership and including three front-line openers in the touring party, coach John Bracewell appeared to throw Plan A out the window when it came to the crunch.

Jamie How and Michael Papps were both passed over, as Bracewell opted to pair Fulton with another born-again opener, Hamish Marshall.

But Fulton is unfazed by the assignment, the most perilous in the New Zealand team by far. He will at least head into the fray with a substantial innings of 73 behind him - against the Rest of South Africa at Benoni - and some good memories of batting at Centurion.

The 27-year-old toured South Africa with New Zealand A two summers ago and performed well in both forms of the game, scoring a couple of half-centuries in the four-day match and 98 in the one-dayer.

"I've always been happy to bat anywhere," he said this week.

"There's been quite a bit in the media lately about the top order in particular but I'm happy to bat in whatever position the team thinks I'm best used in.

"I feel in reasonable shape. It was good to get runs at Benoni. It was a tough game for us physically, in terms of jet-lag, but to spend some time in the middle and to make a reasonable contribution was pretty useful for me."

Fulton is realistic about what he can expect from a South African attack led by in-form fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, and still smarting from the lashing it took from a dominant Australian batting line-up.

"I think they're very disciplined as a national side. Even playing against their A side, that was apparent," he said.

"They certainly don't go missing when times get tough. They seem to thrive on adversity and rise to challenges, which makes it imperative that we stay in the game for as long as possible and try to wear them down."

Apart from the top-order, the other nagging concern for the New Zealand team is the status of fast bowler Shane Bond, who has nursed a knee problem throughout this week, and has not recovered as quickly as expected.

In a match that will herald the 100th test appearance of not only New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming but also South Africans Shaun Pollock and Jacques Kallis, the availability of Bond is shaping as a key factor for the tourists. However, Kallis said yesterday that after such a trying four months against Australia, the South Africans would not be taking anything for granted against the New Zealanders, whether Bond was playing or not.

"It does tire you out, playing them day after day for four months," he said of Australia. "But I'm glad there hasn't been a clean-out. We've got the same guys playing who had to go through that Australian ordeal and I think that will stand us in good stead for this series. Now it's up to the players to repay that faith.

"We've got to put up our hands and take responsibility."


First test

New Zealand:
Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Stephen Fleming (c), Scott Styris, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills (12th man).

South Africa (from):
Graeme Smith (c), AB de Villiers, Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Jacques Rudolph, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Nicky Boje, Andrew Hall, Garnett Kruger, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn.

Umpires: Mark Benson (England), Daryl Harper (Australia).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).