Shoaib Bashir didn't have a great tour of Pakistan but bounced back with four wickets in the first innings in Christchurch. His haul was a lot of luck, but four wickets is four wickets.
The playing field in the Basin Reserve, which was green on Wednesday, began to show brown spots on Thursday. The weather is warm and Wellington is notoriously windy. As the game progresses the surface becomes drier.
New Zealand have decided against bringing in Mitchell Santner and have left the spin bowling to Glenn Phillips, perhaps with some Rachin Ravindra. Bashir is the only specialist in the game.
Home captain Tom Latham pointed to domestic games at the Basin, but the last time these two teams played here, Jack Leach took eight wickets in the game despite having to bowl more than 60 overs in the second innings because of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson was on his knees.
The last Test at this ground, Australia's victory in March, saw 17 wickets fall, including 10 for Nathan Lyon. Australian captain Pat Cummins spoke of the bounce on the pitch that had the 6ft 2in Bashir licking his lips.
Bashir is a rarity in this England team: a one-dimensional cricketer. He is the only true tailender in the eleven and his fielding needs improvement – he made a number of errors in the first Test. On Thursday he practiced boundary catches, strapped in by assistant coach Jeetan Patel.
There could be an opportunity for Bashir to build on Christchurch and play a crucial role with the ball.