After England's patchy peformances in both the one-day series and warm-up games, the month of March brings re-inforcements and the start of a three match test series.

TEST	Dates	UK Time	Venue
1st Test	5-9 March	21.30 (4th)	Hamilton
2nd Test	13-17 March	21.30 (12th)	Wellington
3rd Test	22-26 March	21.30 (21st)	Napier

The Low-Down On The 3 Test Series So Far...
The first test belonged to NZ, with the Black Caps triumphing by 189 runs after England collapsed in their second innings -making a paltry 110.
England got their revenge in the second test where they came out on top by 126 runs.
After their poor batting performance in the first game, the England selectors in their wisdom decided to drop their two most experienced bowlers!
Whilst one could understand the dropping of Harmison, who has struggled a hit any sort of barn door in the last two years, Hoggard's non-selection was much more of a mystery -as he has been England's most consistent bowler over the last five years. But being their wonderfully inconsistent selves, England managed to produce two excellent bowling performances on a pitch offering more help to the batsmen than the bowlers on the first four days.

BOWLERS
Ryan Sidebottom -Cemented his place at England's leading bowler following his haul of 16 wickets in the first two tests. Such is his mastery of the conditions over in NZ that he has taken the wicket of every New Zealand player at least once! There is no reason why his stellar form won't continue in the final test -so he looks good for at least six more wickets.
GUIDE- WORTH BUYING HIS PERFORMANCE AT 20.6 (SPREADEX)

BATSMEN

Kevin Pietersen -is in need of some big scores to return his mantle of England's leading batsman with Cook, Bell and Collingwood all coming up on the rails. The Hampshire man had a steady if unspectcular time in the first two tests. He just doesn't seem to be converting fifties into hundreds and he may yet again fall short of the Barmy Army's lofty expectations.
GUIDE -HIS RUNS TOTAL MAY BE WORTH SELLING AT 183(SPREADEX)

Andrew Strauss -If it wasn't for Trescothick's 'troubles' then he wouldn't even have a central contract. Strauss has looked out of form even when he has scored a few runs. His footwork is almost non-existent according to Boycs. He is due a couple of low scores in the last test.
GUIDE- SELL HIS SERIES RUNS AT 169 (SPREADEX)

Jacob Oram -The big all-rounder certainly hasn't shown the best of his batting skills in the first two tests, scoring only 48 runs. He is due a big innings and should surpass the current spreads on offer with all the firms.
GUIDE -A SOLID BUY AT 103 (SPREADEX)

UPDATED SPREAD BETTING TIPS FOR THE TEST SERIES

Highest Individual Score- These days, batsmen seem to fall apart soon after they reach three figures. Allied to this that there doesn't seem to be a batsman of the highest order in either of these teams then selling the highest individual score at 144 looks a fairly safe bet -Taylor's 120 in the first test should stand.
GUIDE -A SAFEISH SELL AT 144 (SPREADEX)

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