Foster: We must stay positive

England wicket-keeper James Foster writes from Auckland, as England prepare for the final Test against New Zealand.

The camp's mood is a lot better now than it was when the tragic news about Ben Hollioake first broke.

Words cannot describe how people felt for the first couple of days.

The first time I really got to know him was on the one-day trip to Zimbabwe last October.

I've been playing with him a lot since then and felt I had got to know him quite well.

He was a fantastic character to have in the side, such a relaxed guy - it was literally soul-destroying to hear the bad news at the time.

Paying our respects to Ben Hollioake at Wellington

Even now, people are still thinking about him all the time and it's not easy for the lads.

It's probably harder for the guys like Thorpey and Butch who have watched him grow up playing for Surrey since he was really young. They have always looked after him, really.

As for the cricket in Wellington, I thought the guys played really well.

It was a shame about the weather for the first day and a half but the guys played positive cricket throughout the Test match.

We felt we were on the attack all the time and despite the tragic news we had to contend with the guys did really well.

I was quite positive with my batting at Wellington. It's not about trying to hit every ball - more about being positive in my movements.

It was a new experience batting at the end with Matthew Hoggard. But it worked out quite well and we put on 30 for the final wicket.

Confident Freddie

Nasser had played a phenomenal innings again and in the second innings Freddie Flintoff was able to show how confident he's feeling at the moment.

We're very upbeat going into the third and final Test here in Auckland on Saturday. We've got to go in there with a positive attitude. If we go in hoping for a draw we won't play in the right way.

We are trying to go in there for a victory. It's going to be another drop-in wicket - we are not sure how it's going to play, but it could well be a result wicket.

It's going to be a bit weird after having played a full winter to get back to England just in time for the start of a new season.

I'll soon be back at Essex, with skipper Ronnie Irani

I think it will be important for the guys to take a break.

Some guys are going to be contracted, some are not. I think the guys who are not contracted by the ECB should still have a rest.

Before the days of the ECB central contracts, it must have been really hard for people to play a full winter and then go into the domestic season.

I don't know how they managed it, to be honest.

As for me, I've got to go up to Durham at some point where I am doing my last year of university over this year and next year.

I've got one exam to do this summer for my Sports Science degree, then there's some coursework and the final exam will be next year.

But it'll also be nice to meet up with all the boys at Essex. I'm sure they're raring to go.