Sidebottom passed fit for first Test

	Ryan Sidebottom and Paul Collingwood: fighting fit © Getty Images

As fitness tests go, it was unconventional but effective. All week long, Ryan Sidebottom has been struggling to recover from the grade one hamstring tear that ruled him out of England's final warm-up match in Dunedin, but with six deliveries in the nets at Hamilton's Seddon Park, he confirmed that, come Wednesday morning, he'll be ready to resume his new-ball role.

Granted, the over was a sideshow as the target was the team's security advisor, Reg Dickerson, who has been so under-employed on this sleepy trip that it was decided his own safety should be put on the line. But Sidebottom's zip and swing were very much in evidence, as was his snarl of frustration when his prey avoided dismissal, as all doubts about his fitness were allayed.

"I'm fighting fit and available for selection," said Sidebottom. Earlier in the afternoon he had been put through an exhaustive series of shuttle runs by the team physio, Kirk Russell, and later returned to the nets for a proper work-out. "It's a bit of relief because it's a worry when you get injured, but I'm not getting on the plane home so I'm happy with that and I'm raring to go now."

The New Zealand series will be the culmination of a remarkable year for Sidebottom, who wasn't even a blip on the international radar during the dying days of Duncan Fletcher's England regime. But then last May came the new coach, Peter Moores, and within the month, he'd recalled from the wilderness a man whose only previous Test had come six years previously, at Lord's in 2001.

And for that, ironically, Sidebottom owes a debt of gratitude to Stephen Fleming, his captain at Nottinghamshire, who is now chief among his targets for the Test series. It was a phone call to Fleming from Moores' deputy, Andy Flower, that set the chain of events in motion. "I had to give him an honest appraisal of Ryan's bowling," said Fleming, "and that killed me because I knew if I told them how good he was then he'd get taken away from us and he'd do bloody well for England. But I thought Ryan had been overlooked for too long."

"He's had some lovely words to say about me," said Sidebottom after hearing of Fleming's praise. "He's a lovely bloke, a great character and a really nice man. For him to say those things about me is a great honour, and I'm looking forward to bowling at him. Hopefully I can knock him over."

New Zealand will be hoping that Fleming's influence on Sidebottom is not too detrimental to their series prospects. "He's a very positive captain, so I'm a lot more positive as well," said Sidebottom. "He was always very attacking so that helped my bowling. He taught me to keep plugging away and never give up, because he always had the slips in so you had to bowl well and on the money more often than not. "

So far, Fleming has been spot-on in his predictions. Sidebottom has been arguably England's bowler of the year with 29 Test wickets at 32.27, and undoubtedly the unluckiest - innumerable chances have been missed off his bowling, not least by the former wicketkeeper Matt Prior, who has paid for his errors with his place in the side.

The missed chances have been hard for Sidebottom to bear, especially on the pancake-flat decks at The Oval and Galle where he toiled lucklessly in consecutive series-deciders against India and Sri Lanka. "The lads keep going on about me having a bit of white-line fever, but aggression is part of my game," said Sidebottom. "When I'm pumped up I'm bowling well. Sometimes go over the top and react too much so I know I've got to curb it a little bit, but sometimes you do get frustrated. You just have to get on with it, and keep bowling."

Happily for England, that is exactly what Sidebottom intends to do in the coming week. With England's other injury concern, Paul Collingwood, also coming through practice unscathed, the team is taking shape nicely with one day of practice to come.