Mathew Sinclair faces one of the more demanding acts among the New Zealanders in the third National Bank series Test starting in Hamilton on Tuesday - backing up on the 254 unbeaten runs he scored in the second Test.

For a player whose inconsistency has been acknowledged in the past, it represents a chance to finish the summer on an even better note by not only doing well himself but helping his side tie the Test series by beating Pakistan.

The break of just over a week between the second and third Tests was timely for Sinclair. It allowed him to time to come down from the high of Christchurch and then build up to prepare for the last outing of the summer.

And getting away from the cricket to other outdoor activities was his way of winding down. Working on his 7 handicap in golf and fishing, surf-casting or getting out on fishing boats for some deeper sea fishing.

But to query how he does in that regard is to leave yourself open to all sorts of descriptions of being the "world's unluckiest fisherman". End of subject.

"It's just about taking my mind off the cricket for awhile," he said.

"But what Christchurch did do was make me a little more confident and it showed that if you put the hard work in you can take some confidence from it," he said.

The two innings were physically and mentally draining especially after he was on the field for all but the first session of the game and the first part of New Zealand's second innings.

Because of the routines required of players during their time together it takes around a week to adjust to not having to fit into team schedules when not assembled as a group.

Sinclair acknowledges that consistency is the key for any batsman and he was no different with that requirement of himself.

It is not something he has mastered yet but with 946 runs going into the Test in his career it is a feature he feels should be a greater part of his game.

That challenge is one of several that are the lot of batsmen and it has been the specific challenges during an innings that have helped him enjoy getting on a roll with his batting.

"There is nothing better as a batsman than wearing the bowlers down," and that will be the aim when he comes up against Pakistan off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq with whom he had an expecially memorable tussle in Christchurch.

Still not satisfied that he has Saqlain's measure yet, Sinclair has been putting in the work with the computer analysis machine available for the players. The Hamilton Test would be a huge challenge, he said, not just for himself but also for the team as they try to level the series.

There has been some healthy competition in the matches, but also healthy respect, as reflected in the ovation the Pakistan players gave him when he reached the 200 mark and in the comments that captain and wicket-keeper Moin Khan gave him as soon as he had completed the feat.

The acknowledgement of a good innings played was reciprocated by the New Zealanders when Yousuf Youhana achieved his double century. It is something not always seen among international players.

Once the Test is completed Sinclair will fly to Perth to join his Central Districts team-mates in the Champions Cup provincial tournament to play in CD's last two games and then on April 26 he will fly out to play for Cleethorpes Cricket Club in the Yorkshire League.

"I'm going there to enjoy myself and will be working on my game," he said.

Sinclair is especially keen to do well on New Zealand's tour of Australia next summer although for the moment the battle is still to come to grips with the way the Pakistan bowlers can reverse the ball.

It has been an impressive year for Sinclair with two centuries in the summer, but it would be even more outstanding if he could show the advance to a level of consistency that could give New Zealand its most effective run harvester at No 3 since Andrew Jones retired.

© CricInfo