Cricket: Mitchell Santner returning confident for second test

Mitchell Santner is relishing being back in the New Zealand test squad.

The left-arm allrounder missed the first test win against Pakistan in Christchurch last weekend as he recovered from a fractured right wrist.

His latest hand injury mishap - he's had two others in the last year - happened while batting in the Northern Districts nets at the start of the month.

''I've been able to bowl," he said.

''Once the cast was off I was straight back into batting. My loads are up and I've had some time in the nets so I'm feeling pretty good."

He said he has no pain - ''not really" - which is a good sign. He'd had the all clear from a doctor after the x-rays had been studied.

Santner, who has played 10 tests since his debut in the inaugural day-night test in Adelaide a year ago, broke a thumb last summer and an index finger in England during the year.

''Maybe my bones are good at recovering because I've broken them so much," he quipped.

Santner is expecting Pakistan's seamers to target the hand when the second test starts at Hamilton's Seddon Park on Friday.

''There's always a bit of doubt in training but once you have a couple of hits and realise there's not much pain you can get through it. It's about mentally switching back on for international cricket.

''You've got to be quite strong mentally and physically. If they want to target that wrist...they're world class bowlers and you just have to get through whatever they produce," Santner said.

He's averaging 23.46 with the bat and his 25 test wickets have cost 38.48 apiece.

At 24, his best years lie ahead and he'll be keen to improve both those numbers this summer.