7 Best grounds for batting

#3) McLean Park (New Zealand)

McLean Park

New Zealand is generally one of the better countries to ball in as it favours swing-bowlers. The green pitches and often overcast conditions reward those who bowl full with the seam up.

However, McLean Park's average per wicket in Tests is an incredible 38, the second-highest of any ground with at least 10 matches hosted. This has resulted in seven of the 10 Tests ending in draws.

A game that showed just how difficult it is to force a result is New Zealand vs India in 2009. Jesse Ryder reminded the world what a great batsmen he could be as he smashed a career-best 201, flanked by centuries from Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor. They scored their runs briskly, the first innings score of 619 coming in just 154.4 overs.

Despite Rahul Dravid's defiant 83, New Zealand seemed in a good position after the second innings, having dismissed India for 305 and enforcing follow-on. They would have been particularly encouraged by their three spinners Daniel Vettori, Iain O'Brien and Jeetan Patel as they anticipated the pitch to deteriorate as the match progressed.

However, this simply didn't happen. The pitch remained great for batting, and India finished the game at 4/476.

McLean park also witnessed one of the stranger individual innings in recent history. In 2008, Tim Southee slammed a 40-ball 77 on his debut. Batting at No 10, Southee struck nine sixes and ended up top-scoring for New Zealand even as they fell to a 121-run defeat.

The Napier-based ground has been a particular favourite of Ross Taylor, who averaged 81.56 at McLean Park in ODIs and 70 in Tests.