NAPIER (Reuters)
England's stand-in wicketkeeper Marcus Trescothick views the job as a short-term measure only as James Foster struggles to find any consistency in his game.

Foster was dropped by England for the second one-day international against New Zealand on Saturday in Wellington, with coach Duncan Fletcher suggesting the youngster needed a rest.

"I'm still a specialist opening batsman," Trescothick told reporters after England's first practice since Saturday's humiliation. "If by keeping wicket it gives England an extra option then fine, but at the moment I don't see it being a long-term option or a goal for me. I have not kept wicket for a while and I need a bit more time to adjust.

"I have done a lot of work over the years on my keeping with different coaches and it's just remembering what to do. It comes fairly naturally but I would not say I'm a pretty keeper."

Trescothick was asked to keep wicket for the second time this winter and put in a tidy performance behind the stumps as England went down by 155 runs. He was so successful that he is likely to be asked to keep wicket and open the batting again when the one-day series resumes in Napier on Wednesday.

Despite the England management trusting him with a key position, Trescothick is eager to hand the gloves back to Foster rather than stake a claim for Alec Stewart's old job on a full-time basis. Foster will be working with former England keeper Bob Taylor this week as he tries to regain the sharpness that made he displayed on the Test tour to India before Christmas.

Since returning to England duty Foster has had a miserable time with a top score of 13 and a record of seven missed chances in five games - a run that cost him his place.

Trescothick, who has scored just one run in the two matches against New Zealand, was confident behind the stumps in Wellington to such an extent that he stood up to fast-medium allrounder Craig White.

"The wicket was slow and I was worried about the batsmen using their feet to get to the pitch of the ball," he said. "I don't mind standing up and it's an option that can help the bowlers."

Trescothick has kept wicket on a part-time basis for his county Somerset, and by giving him the gloves, England have solved the dilemma of where to put him in the field. His ground fielding is far from graceful, and in a team hampered by one or two other sluggish fielders, putting Trescothick behind the stumps has solved two problems at once.

England must win in Napier on Wednesday to keep the one-day series alive and Trescothick is struggling to explain why the tourists have been so poor since arriving in New Zealand fresh from a drawn series with India.

"The conditions are a lot easier than playing in India but we have been a little flat," he said. "It was an intense tour to India and maybe the atmosphere has been a little lacking since we got here. It's something we are trying to work out in our own minds."

England will have their first net practice session for nearly a week on Tuesday with both sides reporting no extra fitness concerns.

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