KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand selectors will have their wishes granted as four test batsmen play for a composite side in a two-day cricket match against England starting in Dunedin on Monday.
Stephen Fleming, Matthew Bell, Mathew Sinclair and Peter Fulton will play at University Oval in what is the
first of the tourists' two pre-test warmup matches.
The quartet, plus second string wicketkeeper Gareth Hopkins and Wellington pace bowler Mark Gillespie, have been included in an invitational side who were originally intended to be an Otago provincial lineup.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) approached Otago officials to slot some test players into their team, a request made easier to comply with after Otago progressed to the domestic State Shield semifinal against Canterbury in Christchurch on Sunday.
The short turnaround means the Otago side would not return to Dunedin in time for the two-day practice game, which is followed by a three-day first-class match at the same venue starting on Thursday.
The second game will also be affected by the domestic one-day competition, should Otago make the final against Auckland in Auckland next Sunday.
If they do they will remain in limited overs mode and not play England, leaving NZC to cobble together another team at relatively short notice.
The test candidates playing the first match are likely to stay on, more could be added, while Dunedin-based players could at least give the team a local flavour.
The matches - originally scheduled to give English test reinforcements Michael Vaughan, Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Monty Panesar a competitive hitout before the first test starts in Hamilton on March 5 - now also form an important part of New Zealand's buildup to the three-test series.
New Zealand's test players have not had an opportunity to play anything other than one-dayers and Twenty20 since the second test against Bangladesh finished in Wellington on January 14.
New Zealand coach John Bracewell has admitted the lack of four-day cricket was a concern.
The domestic State Championship four-day competition has been on ice since December 13 and does not resume until March 6.
The New Zealand team have already paid for a lack of preparation this summer.
They arrived in South Africa last November having been able only to train in New Zealand. They paid the price for such minimal preparation with two heavy defeats in the tests.
Ironically, Otago's success has had an unfortunate side effect for incumbent test opener Craig Cumming.
The Otago captain had been expecting to have a useful sighter of the English attack on his home track next week but may now miss out altogether.
Invitation 11 squad for two-day match against England starting in Dunedin on Monday:
Matthew Bell, Stephen Fleming, Peter Fulton, Mark Gillespie, Shaun Haig, Gareth Hopkins, Leighton Morgan, Gareth Shaw, Jordan Sheed, Mathew Sinclair, Will Somerville, Nic Turner, Sam Wells.
- NZPA
