Kiwis can salvage tour in Test matches

I am doing it tough back here in foggy old Hamilton.

It's hard to watch the guys go down five-nil in a one-day series but I'm backing us to salvage something in the Test matches. Lance Klusener got the Proteas out of jail again - and I can't even say it was lucky because he's done it to us too many times. He's the Inzamam-ul-Haq of the new millennium.

It's going to be difficult in the Tests too, the South Africans are a feisty lot. They'd be ranked No 2 in the world behind the Aussies and they've named a strong line-up for the test at Bloemfontein, despite the retirement of the mercurial Jonty Rhodes. I was a little surprised that Roger Telemachus didn't make the cut after some good returns in the ODIs, but I'm sure Makhaya Ntini and Allan Donald will keep our top-order players on their toes, and I don't expect the South African groundsmen will be kind to us and prepare pitches without bounce or pace.

The Black Caps have had a terrible run of injuries - GA, the Wiz, Nashy - and the absence of Chris Cairns is certainly not going to help. This match would have been his 50th Test so I know he'll be gutted to have missed out because of injury. He relishes playing the South Africans and with the sensational form he's been in over the last couple of seasons - averaging 33 with the bat and 29 with the ball - he'd have been a real weapon for the Black Caps.

Our new boys will step up to the plate though I'm sure. After performances for the Academy team in August, Chris Martin and Kerry Walmsley will be out to impress and it's champion to see my Northern Districts team-mate Hamish Marshall get the call-up. Hamish and I played in heaps of representative teams together over the years and he'll give a hundred per cent in the middle-order when he gets a chance. There's been a bit of comment that maybe the selectors should have picked his twin brother James instead but you don't score two centuries in 35-degree heat on dusty Indian tracks unless you've got some sort of ability. James is a damned good player as well and I'm sure if he continues to chip away on the domestic scene he'll be wandering around the Black Caps' dressing room pretty soon as well.

It's been disappointing to read the latest allegations of corruption in the game. When players of the ilk of Brian Lara, Alec Stewart and our own golden boy Martin Crowe become implicated it is hard to ignore. I saw on Sky TV last week that the Indian fans were burning effigies of their fallen hero Mohammed Azharuddin in the streets too. For the sake of cricket's credibility I hope all the allegations prove to be unfounded so we can all get back to enjoying the spectacle of the game and not even think about second-guessing match results.

On a personal front I haven't been able to do much - just rest up, annoy my flatmates, and wait for my back to strengthen up is all I can do. It's frustrating only watching the games on TV and I'm hanging out for a clearance so I can get my arm over down at the nets. Hopefully Cairnsy and I will be back for the Boxing Day Test against the Zimbos but there's some tough cricket for Flem and the boys to play before that.