England mission for Ramprakash

England batsman Mark Ramprakash is aiming to shake off his nearly-man tag by transforming good starts into Test match hundreds in the forthcoming series with New Zealand.

Ramprakash's 133 against Australia at The Oval last year was only his second Test century and it is a record he must improve over the next month if he is to remain a part of coach Duncan Fletcher's plans.

"At The Oval I just got through that mid-innings period and kicked on," he said at a news conference on Thursday. "I'm well aware that as a member of the top five or six it's very important for the team that I make a start and push on."

Ramprakash arrived in New Zealand last weekend and will get his first outing of the tour when England meet Otago in a three-day game in Queenstown, starting on Saturday.

It will be the first three-day game staged at the new Queenstown Events Centre, and Ramprakash and the five other recent arrivals are looking to find their form straight away.

Despite 10 years as an on-off international cricketer and 49 Tests, Ramprakash is still not certain of his place in the England side.

"The main thing for me is that I'm very happy with the way I've been approaching the game since the Ashes series. I feel relaxed at the crease, and if I keep that going then the scores will follow," he said.

"Wherever possible I'm going to go for my shots and play positively and I need to keep that approach going.

"All the players who have come out from England all want to get in the swing of things quickly. Hopefully the sun will shine and we will get a game in."

While England were playing 11 one-day internationals in India and New Zealand at the start of the year, Ramprakash spent his time netting at The Oval and watching Arsenal Football Club at their Highbury home.

REVENGE MISSION

However, avenging the home series defeat by Stephen Fleming's side in 1999 is now his prime concern.

"As far as the cricket goes we all know we are in for a stern test against New Zealand," he said. "They have players who have played a lot of test cricket and youngsters like (Andre) Adams and (Shane) Bond have come in and done very well.

"We are going to have to play very well to compete. They beat us in 1999 and that is a bitter memory. They were very focused and determined in that series and they really played hard.

"When we lost the last Test at The Oval it was one of the lowest points in my career. Both sides are very similar and both rely on basic team work rather than outstanding players like (Sachin) Tendulkar and (Brian) Lara. We rely on all 11 contributing.

England's preparations for the Test series are threatened by wet weather with New Zealand enduring one of its worst summers for decades.

Rain forced the cancellation of a net session on Thursday and with several members of the party in desperate need of match practice, England will be hoping the sun is shining by Saturday morning.

"The weather is a concern," Ramprakash said. "We have only got two warm-up games before the start of the test series. If we don't get much play, it will leave the England camp with a few headaches.

"There are certain players who will have to go into the test series without much cricket under their belts."

England have one last chance to practice before the start of the Otago clash with a net session scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Mail Cricket Editor