NEW ZEALAND face a hard weekend, taking on West Indies at Cardiff today, and England at Bristol tomorrow. Stephen Fleming, their captain, has already grumbled about the workload - but he won't be too bothered if New Zealand manage to win both games, because that will clinch their place in the NatWest Series final, at Lord's next Saturday.
Actually, victory over England tomorrow will probably be enough.
Today’s game at Sophia Gardens also offers West Indies an opportunity to get back on track after their miserable batting performance at Headingley on Thursday - 159 all out wasn't quite a collapse of England proportions, but it wasn't a happy day for Brian Lara and his men. One thing is certain: whatever the Cardiff pitch looks like, the captain winning the toss will be tempted to bat first, as the white ball has been wobbling about in a manner reminiscent of the 1999 World Cup, which was played much earlier in the English summer.
Scott Styris, the New Zealand all-rounder, is certainly no fan of the pitches served up to date. "They are rubbish wickets really, the ones we've played on so far," he told the BBC. "Edgbaston wasn't even a club wicket. And the day before the game they still had the covers on when it was sunny and warm. It's all a bit strange given that two of the Test wickets were fantastic."
Lara, meanwhile, had eyes only for his own team's performance: "We've got to be a bit more mature, show a bit more fight and technique, and get things going and get the runs on the board for our bowlers."
The weather, which has been capricious throughout the tournament - one of the problems in running it at the same time as Wimbledon fortnight - may yet lob another spanner in the works. It has been unsettled in south Wales for a couple of days, and although sun is forecast for today, clouds are prominent on the chart too. The same goes for Bristol tomorrow.
New Zealand (probable): Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Hamish Marshall, Scott Styris, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Chris Harris, Chris Cairns, Daniel Vettori, Gareth Hopkins (wkp.), James Franklin.
West Indies (probable): Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Brian Lara (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Ricardo Powell, Ridley Jacobs (wkp.), Ian Bradshaw, Jermaine Lawson, Tino Best. (Wisden Cricinfo)