James Foster Photo CricInfo

New Zealanders more than most know the value of the very best of wicket-keepers and the recent furore over the possible absence of Adam Parore from the Test side for the National Bank Series was evidence enough of that.

Parore is such a gloveman that he is entitled to the respect of all opponents, and there is a significant distance in standard between him and the rest of the field in this country. That is largely as the result of experience gained over the last decade.

But as England look to groom a new wicket-keeper capable of filling the role so ably managed by Alan Knott, Bob Taylor and Jack Russell, Essex's James Foster is starting out in much the same way as Parore when he was groomed as Ian Smith's successor back in 1990.

Circumstance threw Parore into the Test side sooner than he imagined although it wasn't until Smith's retirement that he could claim the position for himself.

For Foster it has been, as England captain Nasser Hussain has so often said, a steep learning curve, and it was with concern that the education process, for the longer term benefit of England's cricket, that Foster was rested after the first One-Day International against New Zealand.

His only game was in Christchurch and now it is with prospective Test selection in mind that Christchurch beckons again as the start of the next phase of Foster's career.

That won't be known until just hours before the 10.30am start to the first Test on Wednesday, as Foster has come under genuine pressure from Warren Hegg for the job.

As the Test incumbent, who had a good, workout after his return from his rest against Canterbury over three days, Foster must be the preferred option.

At the worst, if he does miss out, Foster says it won't be the end of his world.

He felt his play on the Indian Test leg of the tour picked up after his first Test and he said that he was really pleased with the way he came back to perform more like he was capable in the second and third Tests.

There was a chance that he would get some tuition in Auckland from Taylor but a change in training times had prevented that but he will definitely work with him in the future.

"I can't wait for that. I am always looking forward to any 'keeping coaching," he said.

During the last summer he had done work with Paul Farbrace and he had found that most enjoyable.

He explained today that he had been given the word just before the second ODI in Wellington that he was looking tired and that he was being rested.

He took it as just that, being rested, and not dropped.

Foster said it wasn't until he sat back and considered the comments that he realised he was feeling the mental pressure. The problem wasn't so much physical because he had been practising really hard and he felt alert.

He didn't know if it was the amount of cricket he was playing, or the travel, training a lot and all the disruptions that added to the mental pressures of playing.

It all came down to experiences in the game.

"I have a long future in cricket and I am learning all the time," he said.

Technical things have seen him change the way he is gloving the ball now, often resorting to the reverse take, especially in New Zealand conditions where the ball bounces more than it did in India. That was something he was consciously practising during the Canterbury game.

And he feels his batting has improved. Skipper Hussain had talked with him about it and the value of a No 9 being able to come in and hold the bat a bit.

He had benefited from talking with Mark Ramprakash about playing spinners during the Indian leg of the tour and just playing with the best batsmen in England, and being able to chat with them, meant he was picking up a lot of information on that role of his game.

Just as New Zealanders appreciate now the work that was put into Parore and the way his batting has developed to the point where at one stage in his career he was played as a batsman only, while also having two Test centuries to his credit, so England may be seeing the investment being made in a player for their own future.

And if the investment bears suitable dividends, there will be one less area of selection to worry the selectors of the future.

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