A final decision on whether a natural, or a portable, pitch will be used for the first National Bank Series Test at Jade Stadium next month will be left until the last possible moment.

The Test is to start on Wednesday, March 13, but a Super 12 rugby game is to be played at the ground on the Friday night before the Test match.

As a result, agreement has been reached with Jade Stadium administrators to have both a natural strip and a portable pitch prepared for use.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said the ground will be looked at on the Saturday after the rugby match and a decision made then.

A portable pitch was used on the ground last year for the New Zealand-Pakistan second Test in which New Zealand's Mathew Sinclair and Pakistan's Yousuf Youhana each scored double centuries. The match was drawn.

The natural pitch being considered will be covered with Astroturf during the rugby game.

Snedden was delighted with the portable pitch used in Auckland yesterday for the fourth ODI.

"The wicket was a fabulous one-day wicket and I was really thrilled with it," he said.

Snedden has also been thrilled with the public response to the England series. He had been disappointed by the crowd at Jade Stadium for the first match and thought more people would have attended had the weather in Christchurch been better over the three or four days beforehand and on the day concerned.

"The Wellington crowd was great but the speculation the day before on whether the game would be played probably meant we didn't get a crowd of 28-30,000. But the 25,000 was miles up on previous games at the Stadium.

"Napier and Auckland were sellouts and with the state of the series and the general enthusiasm for cricket I would expect a good crowd in Dunedin on Tuesday.

"Monetary returns have not been confirmed and I would say we are ahead of our expectations," he said.

© CricInfo