NEW Zealand opening batsman Jamie How insists today's game against Ireland at Mannofield, Aberdeen, will be taken as seriously as the Black Caps' successful one-day series in England.
The Kiwis claimed a fine NatWest series victory and How and his team-mates are looking to maintain their winning sequence in a round-robin tournament with the Irish and Scotland.
"It's been a long tour, but there is no way we want to leave Scotlan
d being beaten. It'll be a hard couple of games, but there's no way we'll treat them as any less important as any other one-day international."
The Scots and Ireland view the progress of New Zealand, who have lived in the shadows of neighbours Australia for years, in recent times as a template for their own success.
"We have a lot of hard work to do, in the Test arena especially," How said. "And that's similar to Scotland and Ireland.
"They have a lot of learning to do – and hard work. But they have good players coming through. And you saw Ireland's performances in the last World Cup."
Ireland (from): McCallan (capt), Botha, Connell, Cusack, Eaglestone, Fourie, Kidd, Dougherty, Poynter, Stirling, Strydom, White, Wilson.
New Zealand (from): Vettori (capt), How, McCullum, Taylor, Styris, Oram, Flynn, Elliott, Hopkins, Mills, Mason, Southee, Gillespie, Patel.
The full article contains 224 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
