Eden Park pitch a worry

Sisson said the new Couch grass had contributed to the problems by providing the spinners with steeper bounce.

“It is disappointing. We knew it was going to turn a lot, but I’ve been a bit surprised by the bounce,” Sisson said after Sunday’s play.

The Couch grass, which was hoped to provide more pace and bounce for the quicker bowlers, had been hard to manage but Sisson hadn’t expected such conditions for the spinners.

“We’ve had Shell Trophy (domestic) matches played on very similar pitches and they’ve been good games,” he said.

The one positive was that the pitch had not deteriorated today and Sisson expected it not to get any worse over the scheduled three remaining days of the first of three Tests.

Australian captain Steve Waugh said it wasn’t ideal wicket but said bad shot selection also contributed to the high number of dismissals. “I don’t think it was that bad, but it’s not something we’re used to on day one,” Waugh said.

“The standard of batting probably wasn’t great either (yesterday) but we still got 214.”

Waugh agreed it was entertaining for the crowd, but “only if you want to make them three-day Tests.”

New zealand coach David Trist said the pitch had surprised him. “Certainly you wouldn’t expect it to be of that type on day one, no doubt about it,” Trist said.

New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori, who took his fourth haul of five wickets in Tests on Saturday and who has so far eight for the match, not surprisingly had few complaints.

“It’s probably more a third day wicket but at Eden Park the last year or so it’s what you come to expect,” he said.