Black Caps coach Gary Stead and bowling coach Kyle Mills inspect the Basin Reserve wicket as Matt Henry of New Zealand looks on. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Black Caps coach Gary Stead concedes they haven't done a good job in reading the wickets in recent tests.
New Zealand is coming off a comprehensive 172-run loss to Australia in the first test at the Basin Reserve, with the second and final test starting in Christchurch on Friday.
In Wellington, Australian spinner Nathan Lyon took 10 wickets, while New Zealand part-time spinners Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips took six.
Stead admitted they misread the wicket in the second test against South Africa in Hamilton and the one at the Basin. He admits that's a worry.
"It is definitely," Stead said.
"If we knew (the Basin) was going to bounce, then Santner would have played, so yeh we got that wrong.
"It's not what we expected and not what we've seen from the Basin Reserve in the past either."
So why have they misread home wickets?
"I think a little bit it's been the dryness of our summer has made a difference to what we normally see here," said Stead.
"We put our hands up as well and see we haven't got it right but again we've been trying to balance it over five days and not just one or two days and to be fair the last two pitches (Hamilton and Wellington) have certainly spun and bounced more than we expected them to and something we haven't seen in the past."
Glenn Phillips. Photo: photosport
Despite the five wicket bag for Phillips against Australia, Stead indicated that Santner remains the Black Caps number one spinner.
"Mitch has been around international cricket for a long time and he's had his share of knocks but he's the guy we have trust in and we'll certainly go to Hagley (for the second test) and see what the make up of the team will be and he's certainly an option for the test down there."
Pace-bowler Will O'Rourke has been ruled out of this week's second test against at Hagley Oval, while batter Devon Conway needs surgery on his thumb and will be sidelined for at least eight weeks.
Conway hurt his thumb in the T20 series loss to Australia.
O'Rourke picked up a hamstring strain while bowling on day three of the first test in Wellington and will require at least two weeks of rest and rehabilitation.
Uncapped Wellington pace-bowler Ben Sears will replace O'Rourke in the 13-man squad and will join the team in Christchurch when they assemble on Tuesday.
Henry Nicholls remains in the squad as batting cover.
