Day two

The press, and even the players, are already writing off this test as a snore draw. But we can already reflect on some very positive aspects of the match. Hamish Marshall for one. Jimmy Franklin finally showing us he can bat for two. And Nathan Astle soldiering on for three. Brendon McCullum's 99, like all 99s, is in the too tragic to be positive, too positive to be tragic category.

Marshall's development has, as I have said before, been the revelation of the summer. I still worry that it could be a flash in the pan - a repetition of the early stages in the careers of players like Mark Greatbatch or Lou Vincent - but Marshall's technique is built on such simple methods that you would hope that the vagaries of form will have less effect than it would on other players.