Ashley Giles, England's No. 1 spinner, will now almost certainly play in the first Test at Christchurch. Nasser Hussain yesterday rated him as a "slight doubt" because of a sore back, but Giles declared himself happy with his workout during England's training session at Lancaster Park today. "I got through it as well as I could have expected," he said, "and I'm available for selection tomorrow, as long as I turn up well in the morning. I've had this back problem on and off for a couple of years, but I don't know what it is. It could be overtraining, it could be bad beds in the hotels, it could be anything. Something occasionally upsets it and flicks it out of joint.

"But it hasn't affected my bowling, and I got through my action this morning. Obviously when it goes into a spasm I can't do anything, let alone bowling."

Giles will be going head-to-head with Daniel Vettori, which means a showdown between two of the three best left-arm spinners in international cricket (South Africa's Nicky Boje is the other). "We're obviously in competition," admitted Giles, "but I've got every respect for Daniel Vettori and think he's a very fine bowler. He's got something about him – a strong action, and he bowls aggressively. And they're the sort of things I try to do as well."

Giles felt that on the whole the New Zealand batsmen would try to play him aggressively. "Cairns comes at it and tries to hit. McMillan's very positive with his sweeping and reverse-sweeping. But others play it quite conservatively, like Astle and Fleming."

After three series in the subcontinent, Giles knows that New Zealand offers a different challenge. "Over there I played a main part and bowled a lot of overs. Here, just looking at the wicket, I might not bowl a lot, especially if we lose the toss and bowl on the first day. I've got to bide my time and perhaps do a holding job more than an attacking one." It's not a role he's used to: in eight Tests in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India, Giles has been a key figure, taking 30 wickets at a little over 30. But in his two Tests in England, where conditions are more like New Zealand, he has taken just two wickets at 107.

One glance at the drop-in pitch didn't exactly have Giles doing cartwheels of delight either. "Not unless the sun becomes extremely strong over the next 24 hours," he said with a grim grin. "It's pretty green, isn't it? But we said that about the last practice wicket [in the three-day game against Canterbury], but it flattened out nicely then turned on the last day. This might do exactly the same thing." Which sounded a bit like wishful thinking.

Lawrence Booth is assistant editor of Wisden.com. You can read his reports here throughout the Test series.

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