Hamilton, March 22: The pitch at Napier’s McLean Park which is to host the second Test beginning on March 26 has been hit by a virus — a fungal disease has affected the grass on the wicket block, causing small patches to die off.

The intended pitch has not come up to the standard, causing the wicket to be moved two or three feet on the playing square. "So it’s half on the original wicket and half on the surface where the one-dayer was played," New Zealand coach Andy Moles said.

Though the groundsman is confident it will be a good wicket, according to Moles, the surface that awaits the teams is intriguing.

A New Zealand Cricket spokesman confirmed to a local daily that there were issues surrounding the state of the pitch and that turf managers had been working on the block, but the official word was the problems were "cosmetic."

"The Test strip was reseeded after the West Indies match (December 19-23, 2008), but the regrowth has been subject to a small amount of fungal disease," the spokesman said. "The impact is mainly cosmetic. The groundsman has moved the strip slightly to one side so that the affected areas are well outside the playing zone."