BLACKCAPS captain Daniel Vettori is delighted to be regaining an in-form team ahead of the first Test against England at Lord’s.
Vettori returns to the squad for the opening international of the tour, having recovered from a finger injury which kept him out of the draw against England Lions.
A win over Essex also helped create a positive frame of mind, with encouragement also being drawn from centuries by James Marshall and Aaron Redmond.
Vettori said: “I would have loved to have played in those warm-up games. Batting won’t be an issue at all. It’s just in the worst possible place for a left-arm finger spinner, unfortunately.
“But its healed really well, still got a little way to go but should be fine to bowl.”
He expressed his pleasure with the team’s form, with the touring team adjusting well and looking to recover from their recent National Bank Test Series defeat to their current hosts.
“That’s been the most pleasing thing, because we’ve traditionally been a poor warm up team, especially in England, the last two times I’ve been here,” he added.
“The way the team performed, particularly the batsmen, has been pleasing, with James Marshall and Aaron Redmond getting hundreds, and putting themselves in the Test team.
“That’s been the things we’ll take out of these two warm up games and when you’re warming up to an important Test match like one at Lord’s, that takes a bit of the anxiety away.
“There’s guys in the dressing room in a good space. Whereas if we’d had poor form, guys would have been worrying about their form and the whole Lord’s atmosphere.
“It’s going to be something new for a couple of guys, but we’ve got to know them and discovered they’re determined characters.
“They won’t be worried about playing in front of 20,000 or however many it is, they’ll just be excited to want to get a hundred or try to do well on their debut.
“I think they’re good enough players and strong enough characters to put all those distractions to one side.
And the skipper was keen to see his side develop.
“We’re a relatively new side at the moment, so we’re getting to find our identity. We’ve got a couple of experienced players but we’ve got some new guys.
“And for us to succeed at this level we have to work at the top of our game all the time and if we’ve got guys who are prepared to work hard then that’s a plus.
“We know if we compete somewhere near our potential we can win the series.
“We have to turn up and adapt to English conditions, because this is foreign to us. While we do have a good understanding, the onus is on us and we shouldn’t worry about what England does.”
Vettori and Kyle Mills return to the match-day squad for the Test, with debuts likely for Redmond and batsman Daniel Flynn. Vettori said overhead conditions would determine if his side batted first, should he win the toss.
BLACKCAPS (from): Aaron Redmond, Jamie How, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Chris Martin, Iain O’Brien.
England v BLACKCAPS, 1st Test, Lord’s, 15-19 May. Live scores from BLACKCAPS.co.nz from 10pm NZ time (11am BST).
