The last time New Zealand opener Tom Latham was in Africa, in 2015, he scored his maiden ODI hundred in Zimbabwe and struck three successive half-centuries in South Africa. Now back in South Africa for a training camp ahead of the Tests in Zimbabwe, New Zealand will play an international match after a gap of nearly four months.Latham, however, has just had a busy county season in England. He played for Kent in all three formats in the silly season to warm-up for New Zealands packed schedule, which includes tours of Africa and India before they host Pakistan, Bangladesh and South Africa.I wanted to be playing leading into this tour, so its certainly going to be beneficial instead of coming from indoor nets - playing outdoors and being used to grass wickets, Latham said after arriving in Pretoria. For me now its about adjusting to the conditions here instead of having to get used to batting on grass.Before I came over, we played 22 out of 24 days, so thats without training, thats just playing days. Thats just the amount of cricket you play, they call it the silly season over there.Latham did not complain about the fixtures and instead said that such a phase helped batsmen more than bowlers, and that it had kept him occupied.You obviously play a lot of cricket in a short amount of time. Its a good thing as a batter I guess, but bowlers sort of struggle a little bit with the workload, and how much cricket you play.I suppose as a batter you cant get too down if you dont score runs, because you get three or four bats a week, which is a good thing. I suppose thats the biggest thing and you try to learn from that. When you dont necessarily train that much, how you prepare for a game - thats the sort of thing I learnt from my stint there.Latham played six first-class matches in England and scored 374 runs with four fifties at an average of 46.75. He did not have as much success in limited-overs matches though. In two 50-over games, he scored 9 and 7, and seven T20 matches fetched him 128 runs at an average of 21.33. Latham said the stint was not just to warm-up during the lean New Zealand winter season but to also prepare for the long run.Certainly a beneficial couple of months for me just to get used to English conditions and we have a couple of tours coming up there in the next couple of years. I certainly enjoyed my time there, but Im looking forward to what weve got coming up now.New Zealand play the first of two Tests against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo from July 28. Nike Roshe Clearance . 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The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Rebel Dane is breathing a lot easier these days and so is his trainer.Gary Portelli credits a successful throat operation and a change in his training methods with getting the horse back to Group One winning form which he hopes he can transfer to the big stage in Hong Kong.Rebel Danes win in the Manikato Stakes earned him an invitation to the International Sprint at Sha Tin on December 11.The seven-year-old will tune up for the trip with a barrier trial at Rosehill on Tuesday which will be held on the course proper as a mark of respect for Australias lone representative at this years showcase meeting in Hong Kong.Rebel Dane took three years from his first Group One win in the Rupert Clarke Stakes to win his second with many near misses in between.He can breathe normally now and he turns up on race day, Portelli said.And Ive got no doubt the way we are training him has helped. He has gone over a few jumps and weve been taking him to the beach and the change of scenery has sharpened him up.Att the moment he is the best Ive had him this deep into a preparation.ddddddddddddHes vibrant and happy and has four sound joints which is always a plus.Portelli has no concerns about how Rebel Dane will handle the trip to Hong Kong on December 4, a week before the big race.Hes done many trips to Melbourne and Brisbane on a float so I think a plane to Hong Kong will be much easier, he said.There are no traffic lights or turns. It will be a breeze.A seven-year-old, Rebel Dane has earned more than $2.4 million but attempts to find a suitable home at stud have so far come to nothing.And if a stud cant be found, Portelli is more than happy to keep him in his Warwick Farm stable.Hes part of the furniture and I hate to think about the day he retires, he said.Id be happy to keep training him for another year.A field of six will take part in Tuesdays 1000m barrier trial. ' ' '