Christchurch Test, Day 1
Wednesday, March 13, 2002

That was quite a day – it's obviously pleasing to get a century, especially my tenth one in Tests, which has been a bit of an aim of mine for a while now. But it's especially pleasing for the team, because it got us out of a hole on a pitch that was doing a lot. I suppose my double-century against Australia would be my best Test innings, but this one would be up there with the 94 against South Africa at Headingley in '98, on a very similar pitch.

The wicket was damp at the start, and it reminded me of the one at Johannesburg a couple of years ago when we were 2 for 4 after about ten minutes. This one did a bit all day, to be honest. I don't mind playing on wickets like this, though – it's different, and there's a lot of fast-moving action. A lot will depend on how we bowl tomorrow.

We moved Michael Vaughan up to open because he's been in good form. With his tight technique he's a natural opener, really, and he deserves his chance. He's a good replacement for Mike Atherton – similar technique, similar outlook – and anyway I'm a firm believer in a left-hand right-hand combination. Not that it lasted long, of course ...

I'd spoken to Butch while we were in India – when it was raining in Bangalore – and he was happy to drop to No. 3. That's where he scored his runs against Australia, and he feels comfortable there. That meant I slipped down a place in the order ... and I was still putting the pads on in the first over! But Chris Cairns started very well. When I got out there I could see the groove in the pitch where he'd landed almost every ball of that first over.

It was a crucial toss to win, I won't hide from that, but in the end I'd have been happy with 250, especially after being 0 for 2, so we were only about 20 short of that. On the whole I'd say it was a very pleasing day for the team – everyone fought hard, which is all that you can ask. I can't comment on the umpiring decisions – but on a wicket like this there's always going to be a lot of appeals for them to consider.

I don't mind them trying out these drop-in pitches, especially somewhere like here where they were playing a rugby match across the middle of the ground three days ago. Last year there were loads of runs scored, and this time it's a bit green and the ball has moved around all day. It's not a bad idea, but you've got to be careful that you don't go from one extreme to the other.

As a purist I'd have to say I'm not a huge fan of the idea. I like the way that you can look back at a ground's history, and work out what a good score is – and whether the ball usually seams around or spins, things like that. If you're growing the pitch somewhere else factors like that don't come into it.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Steven Lynch. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com, other duties permitting, at the end of each day of the Test series.

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