New Zealand v England: Steven Finn picks out the positives after going 'at less than three an over' Brendon McCullum hinted heavily in his pre-match press conference that he would insert England despite criticism when the same call looked to have backfired in Wellington last week. Drop-in pitches are generally always flat but in the past at Eden Park they have offered assistance on the first morning. New Zealand were 19 for four here against England in 2002 and 69 for four against the West Indies the last time the ground hosted a Test in 2006. But since then Mark Perham, the groundsman, or turf manager as they are known in New Zealand, has changed the soil he uses and the pitches have become more predictable. "I think it was a pretty good pitch for batting and we were going to try and bowl first but after the first hour it settled down and became pretty good for batting," said Peter Fulton after his maiden Test hundred. After waiting nearly seven years for his first hundred and enduring bad luck with injuries and doubts over the durability of his technique for Test cricket, Fulton probably felt he deserved the luck of first use of such a placid pitch. "At the start of this season I wondered if I would get another chance to get a Test hundred," he admitted. I have just tried this whole season to enjoy my cricket, be nice and positive and take it as it comes and not get caught up in the past and the disappointments I have had along the way. It was at the back of my mind once I got to 30 that I'd had a couple of starts in the other matches and not gone on. I had to try and get a really big score and make it count. I think my one day record for New Zealand has shown I can be successful and I knew I was good enough, but at the back of my mind there was a feeling that I might not get another chance to prove it. Fulton was stuck on 99 for around 45 minutes as England bowled wide of off stump with seven fielders on the off side to a player with a strong bottom hand who predominantly scores on the other side of the wicket. Eventually he managed to scramble a single off Monty Panesar but celebrated his hundred in an under-stated way.