New Zealand has picked players to succeed for the Bangladesh series and they have been advised it would be unwise to under-perform.

Announcing the side for the first Test in Hamilton starting on Tuesday, Sir Richard Hadlee, the selection chairman, said it had been five years and 40 Test matches since New Zealand had fielded the same team in successive Tests.

That there were no changes was a reward for the third Test performance against Australia in Perth, and for the Australian tour overall, Hadlee said.

"We've picked the players to succeed and we want them to win convincingly," he said.

Hadlee said the selection of Mathew Sinclair, the one batsman in the side who has struggled for his best touch recently, had not taken much debate at all.

He averaged 52 in New Zealand conditions and deserved the chance, Hadlee said.

Sinclair had been advised he was under pressure and Hadlee said the side had been picked for the first Test only.

As far as the bowlers were concerned Hadlee said they would find the conditions in New Zealand much more suitable than those they had struck in Australia.

"In Australian conditions the margin of error is very small. Here there is more in, and off, the track," he said.

It would be up to captain Stephen Fleming and coach Denis Aberhart to decide who would be given the new ball but it was certain that Shane Bond would be at one end with it and it would be between Chris Cairns and Chris Martin who supported him.

Whatever else happened, Hadlee said standards set in Australia must be maintained and progress must continue to be made.

If Bangladesh was able to play well and put New Zealand under real pressure that would be ideal.

On the issue of Lou Vincent opening the batting instead of a specialist, such as Auckland's Matt Horne, who scored his second century of the summer today against Bangladesh, he said that Horne had made a lot of progress over the last 12 months.

He had some personal problems and had to rebuild his career and he offered another choice and option for the selectors.

There was more depth in the pace bowling department available to the selectors with 10 or 12 players now vying for positions in the side but there was still no obvious second spinner sorting himself out from the crowd.

Aberhart said the intention in Australia had been to be competitive, to learn and to move forward and that would continue against Bangladesh with the players looking to show more confidence as a result of the improvements they had achieved.

He said that left-arm fast-medium bowler Shayne O'Connor had an MRI scan last night and New Zealand Cricket's medical personnel were still assessing the findings but it did not look good for O'Connor in the short term.

"They [the medical specialists] were not willing to commit on when he might be playing again," Aberhart said.

Dion Nash was the other player not considered for the side.

Of the decision to choose a 12th man so far out from the Test, Hadlee said: "Chris Drum is in excellent form. He bowled well in the final match of the Australian tour taking a five-wicket bag and had a psychological edge over Bangladesh after claiming four for 32 for Auckland yesterday.

"We have told Chris that, barring an unexpected injury, he will be 12th man but we know that having him waiting in the wings will keep pressure on the other seamers to perform at the highest levels," he said.

© CricInfo