Cricket: I'm ready for long haul, says Fulton

Peter Fulton says he's ready to step up to the big occasion. Marty Melville / Getty Images

A defiant Peter Fulton yesterday re-confirmed his commitment to the most difficult and expendable assignment in New Zealand cricket; that of opening the batting.

Following Shane Bond being ruled out of the tour with a knee complaint and Hamish Marshall's chances officially scuppered with a rib injury, Fulton reiterated his determination to make a fist of his new role, come hell or high water.

His next chance will arrive when the second test against South Africa begins at Newlands tonight, and as New Zealand struggle to bounce back from last week's calamity at Centurion, where they slumped to a comprehensive 128-run loss.

Fulton, likely to partner either Jamie How or Michael Papps at the top of the order in this test, said he was not fazed by the size of the task, nor by the rather frightening attrition rate that's accounted for so many batsmen recently trialed in the position.

Apart from the retired Mark Richardson, New Zealand have churned through the likes of Matthew Bell, Craig Spearman, Mathew Sinclair, Stephen Fleming, Lou Vincent, Craig Cumming and James Marshall in the space of five years.

"Someone's got to make it their own," said Fulton. "There's no point in trying to shy away from the job or make excuses. Someone's got to get out there and do it and at this stage it looks like it's going to be me, so I'm determined to try and make a success of it."

The 27-year-old Cantabrian showed some real ability in the first innings at Centurion but was dismissed quickly in the second, and regards the upcoming challenge against the South African new ball as a key factor in the second test.

New Zealand faltered badly last week against the trio of Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock, slumping to 45 for five in the first innings, and a scarcely believable 25 for five in the second.

"We were really disappointed with the effort at Centurion," said Fulton. "The bowlers did enough to keep us in the game and it was unfortunate that we couldn't put together a few more runs at the top, and get through the new ball.

"Naturally I was disappointed with the number of runs I scored, but I see it as a good challenge for me ... It's up to me to knuckle down and to make the best I can of it. The upside is that if I can do well, maybe there's an opportunity there."

Fulton fell to catches behind the wicket in both innings at Centurion, edging a ball from Pollock on the second morning and then falling to man-of-the-match Ntini on the fourth.

Like most of the New Zealand batsmen, he regards the neutralising of Ntini in particular as a key aspect of any success his team might enjoy.

"He [Ntini] used to just come from wide on the crease all the time but now he mixes it up a bit more and he's a lot more effective as a bowler," Fulton said. "He and Steyn are obvious threats; they proved that in the last game. How our top order combat them will go a long way towards deciding the game."

Without Bond New Zealand seem assured of going into the test with the same attack; the pace quartet of James Franklin, Chris Martin, Kyle Mills and Jacob Oram being supplemented by the spin of Daniel Vettori.

South Africa have already made a couple of changes to their squad, dropping Herschelle Gibbs on form and paceman Garnett Kruger because of injury, decisions that will almost certainly result in a different top order.

Favoured to receive a call is Hashim Amla, the first player of Indian descent to play for South Africa in tests, and a devout Muslim who has earlier requested to cover up alcohol advertisements on his clothing.

THE SQUADS

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (c), Jamie How, Michael Papps, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Kyle Mills, Chris Martin, Hamish Marshall, Jeetan Patel, Michael Mason.

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