It's only a number and by the time Trent Boult's career finishes, it's likely to warrant little more than a footnote.
Still, 100 test wickets is worth a small cheer -- the classy left-arm swing bowler will become the 13th New Zealander to the milestone if he can take one wicket in the opening test against Sri Lanka, starting at Hagley Oval today.
"It's just another number and I'll try to continue doing the things I'm doing and hopefully I can add a lot more to 99," Boult said. "I'll just go about my business and let it happen."
Having laboured through tough tours to the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates since New Zealand last played test cricket at home, Boult is relishing the prospect of bowling on a Hagley Oval pitch which should have pace, carry and bounce and a good coating of grass.
A full house of about 8000 today should add to the atmosphere as Christchurch celebrates the return of international cricket to the city after an almost-three year absence -- and the first test since 2006 -- and the return of Boxing Day tests after an 11-year absence.
Applying the old maxim about every experience providing lessons, Boult said the trips to the West Indies and UAE gave him information to store away.
"You do pick up things, reverse swing, bowling a bit straighter, around the wicket. I enjoyed those tours but with our bouncier, greener wickets a totally different game plan applies."
The 25-year-old Boult took nine wickets in the Caribbean, eight in the UAE and his year's tally stands at 27 at 31.3 apiece. In the past 12 months, taking in the home series against the Windies last December, he has taken 47 wickets at 24.6.
His Northern Districts new-ball chum Tim Southee also has 27, at 29.6, this year; using the full 12-month count, he's taken 45 at 25.0.
They loom as a serious threat to a Sri Lankan side now shorn of the brilliant Mahela Jayawardene and leaning heavily on the world's top-ranked batsman Kumar Sangakkara and captain Angelo Mathews.
Boult has had high and low experiences against them -- a 10-wicket tonking in Galle, followed by a fine 167-run win at Colombo -- and rates the side sitting two spots above New Zealand on the test ranking list.
'They're the fifth best side in the world and they're there for a reason. Having played them in Galle and Colombo, how we play them here will be different. That's exciting."
Boult has never made any secret of his passion for test cricket, and the challenge of battling the likes of Sangakkara -- 37 centuries, average 58.76 -- stirs him.
"Growing up it was always about playing the best people you can and trying to prove yourself and get them out.
"When I was a bit younger I was a bit daunted at bowling to the likes of those guys. Now I take it in my stride, and it's a really exciting challenge."
Elsewhere, the spotlight will be on the returning Hamish Rutherford, who opens with Tom Latham today, and will have to show he's become a more complete article at the top of the order.
Offspinner Mark Craig will be playing his first home test in a dizzying eight months, in which he's come from nowhere to take 25 wickets in his first six tests.
Sri Lanka are loaded with young players looking to make their mark, but being without Rangana Herath, their tubby but top class left-arm spinner, weakens their bowling. The indications are, though, that this is a test where seamers will have the chance to stand tall.
Expect Sangakkara and Mathews -- who has averaged 92.3 in his past six tests -- to be Sri Lanka's dominant figures.
And perhaps most especially, this will be a terrific occasion for a rebuilding city. The setting is splendid, and for all sorts of reasons the cricket should be too.
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Boxing Day belters
New Zealand have hosted five tests starting on Boxing Day -- in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003, all at the Basin Reserve. Here are three memorable contests:
1998: Simon Doull grabs the first seven Indian wickets to fall -- Richard Hadlee's nine for 52 at Brisbane in 1985 in his sights? -- finishing with seven for 65. New Zealand won by four wickets, despite a second innings hundred from Sachin Tendulkar.
1999: Mathew Sinclair made a remarkable debut by hitting 214 against the West Indies, becoming the first New Zealander to score a home double-century against the Caribbean team. New Zealand won easily, by an innings and 105 runs.
2003: Shoaib Akhtar chopped New Zealand down, taking 11 for 78 as New Zealand, holding a 170-run first innings lead, collapsed, losing eight for 30 to be rolled for 103. Pakistan, chasing 277, won by seven wickets.
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