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Dunedin: New Zealand have injury concerns over captain Brendon McCullum as they prepare for this week's opening Test against the West Indies, with the hosts chasing their first series win for five years.
McCullum, who returned home early from the recent tour of Bangladesh because of his back problems, said he is in regular pain but has dismissed reports that he could be forced to retire.
The West Indies arrived in Dunedin smarting after two innings defeats in India and captain Darren Sammy said the three-Test New Zealand tour would give his players a chance to put that disappointment behind them.
The West Indies are currently ranked sixth in the world -- two spots ahead of New Zealand -- but will be without powerful opening batsman Chris Gayle, who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.
Only two members of the West Indies squad have toured New Zealand before -- Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Denesh Ramdin -- and the Blacks Caps sense they can take advantage of the touring bowlers' lack of knowledge of local conditions.
"We're always talking about our batting," said New Zealand assistant coach Bob Carter.
"We've got more people scoring runs and that's what we've got to keep on producing in this series, particularly getting to 400 in the first innings of a Test match. You look all around the world, that's key."
New Zealand have beaten Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in one-off Tests in recent years but their last series win was against Bangladesh in 2008.
Kane Williamson has been ruled out so Aaron Redmond will bat at No.3. Doug Bracewell is the pace bowler to miss out although Brendon McCullum did say that some thought had been given to four quicks. However, Williamson's absence means that Ish Sodhi's leg spin becomes their lone slow-bowling option.
West Indies need to decide who supports Tino Best; Shannon Gabriel played against India in Mumbai so is the man in possession or the other option is left-arm Sheldon Cottrell. Ottis Gibson will assess whether Shane Shillingford is in the right mindset for a Test after having his action reported. Kraigg Brathwaite has still not arrived due to visa issues.
Teams from:
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (Captain), Hamish Rutherford, Peter Fulton, Aaron Redmond, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling (wk), Doug Bracewell, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner
West Indies: Darren Sammy (Captain), Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kraigg Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Shane Shillingford, Tino Best, Kirk Edwards, Veerasammy Permaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Chadwick Walton and Sunil Narine
Pitch and conditions
Having become unnerved by the brevity of some first-class matches at University Oval, the Test surfaces here have verged on the flat in recent encounters. This time there is a suggestion of more life in the pitch with a healthy covering of grass being left on, perhaps because of West Indies' spin bowling being a strength.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
December 3-7, 2013, Dunedin
Start time 10.30am local (2130 GMT previous day)
