Andre Adams is being saved for the One-Day International series' in Sharjah in April, Pakistan in April-May and the West Indies in June.

With possibly a dozen ODIs in as many weeks, Adams feels the selectors are concerned about his shoulder injury, which developed in a Grafton club game the week before last.

He has been off the pitch against Canterbury yesterday and today with a badly bruised right thumb, but hopes to be able to bat in the Auckland second innings after scoring a career-best 72 in the first.

Auckland-born Adams, 26, said, "I'm available for anything." He continued, "I hurt it (his right shoulder) a week ago. I guess they just wanted to see if I could play the whole winter."

Widely tipped to make his Test debut at Wellington this week, Adams was overlooked due to his shoulder injury. However both Adams and Auckland coach Tony sail have denied advising chairman of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee the injury would prevent him from playing.

Willing to bide his time, phlegmatic Adams said, "It's not the end of the world," and praised the form of Chris Harris and Daryl Tuffey who have made the Test squad ahead of him.

Test selector Brian McKechnie was at the Village Green in Christchurch yesterday to assess Adams' form and fitness, and New Zealand player advisor Ashley Ross has spent time with Adams during the match.

Asked whether he discussed the selection process for the Wellington Test with McKechnie, Adams smiled, "Oh, I just said hello."

Adams is focusing on his batting for the rest of the game against Canterbury, having jammed his thumb under an edge from century maker Michael Papps when trying to take a sharp catch to his right at third slip. With his thumb in a jug of ice, Adams has made a cheerful job acting as 12th man since the painful incident.

"I'm developing a more responsible role with the bat," he said. "It's a different type of batting and I'm looking to score more runs."

In his second season with Kimberley in the Nottinghamshire leagues, where Chris Drum was also playing, Adams "played some longer innings."

He has brought this new batting style home to make three fifties this season, complimenting his 25 first-class wickets at 17.60. He hopes to be bowling again by the end of the game with Canterbury, but failed a fitness test this morning as he was unable to grip and control the ball.

However, Adams hasn't changed his batting philosophy too much. He said his first-innings 93-ball 72 was "pretty slow," so perhaps Auckland and the CLEAR Black Caps can still hope for some of the Adams‚ exciting aggression before the end of the season.

© CricInfo