Southampton, June 15 (TIWN) New Zealand's rise to the top of International Cricket Council (ICC) ICC Test team rankings has been made possible by healthy team culture, players have said.

"Something that we could hold our head on. The change came around that World Cup time in 2015. The idea is to try and enjoy cricket, enjoy each other's company. That's something we hold true to this group."  Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who has not been a regular part of the team but played the second Test against England, said there is no negativity in the team.  "The culture around this team is very good. Everyone is quite positive, there is no negativity, and that breeds so much success we have. Everyone backs everyone, it doesn't matter which XI is playing. Everyone has been putting in a 100 percent and it was from the guys that weren't playing to the guys that were in the playing XI," added Patel who took four wickets across two innings in the Edgbaston Test that Kiwis won.