KEY POINTS:
England coach Peter Moores replied with a firm "yes" when asked whether he expected his side to beat New Zealand in the three-test series.
His counterpart, John Bracewell, was perhaps understandably a little more circumspect ahead of the first test starting at Lord's tonight.
He knows if his
inexperienced batting lineup, now without Stephen Fleming's guidance, repeat their struggles from the recent home series against the English, the next three weeks will seem like an eternity.
Batting strength is the big question hovering over the tourists as they face up to England's chief destroyer, Ryan Sidebottom, with a top four holding just 19 test caps between them.
Youngster Daniel Flynn, most likely to slot in at No 6, joins opener Aaron Redmond as a debutant while in-form gloveman Brendon McCullum is earmarked to shuffle up to No 5 to bolster the middle order.
England's top six, meanwhile, all average better than 40 and have at least 25 tests to their name.
It looks a mismatch on paper and that's how the locals see it, a warm-up sparring bout for the coming South African visit and next year's Ashes series against Australia.
Moores was keen to talk New Zealand up but didn't hesitate when asked whether he expected his team would win the three-test series.
"Yes, I do. I think we're in a good place but we've got to play good cricket," he said.
"The one thing is we certainly won't underestimate them, we've seen that already over there [in New Zealand]. I watched them play the [England A] game, they do the things they do really well. They bowl a lot of balls in the right areas and the bowling unit scraps very hard."
He didn't have to say it, but a stern workout looms for New Zealand's batsmen.
Despite New Zealand's inexperience, thanks to retirements and rebel Indian Twenty20 riches which saw fast bowler Shane Bond barred, Bracewell was confident his side were on track after a win over Essex and a draw against England A when set 368 to win.
"We're flying under the radar," he said.
Allrounder Jacob Oram, one of just four returnees from New Zealand's seven-wicket loss at Lord's four years ago, was even more buoyant. He insisted that confidence wasn't an issue, and the 1-2 series loss to England at home had been used as a positive.
"I think we saw enough in New Zealand to suggest we've got a really good show here," Oram said.
"We've come over here without Stephen Fleming, which will be a massive loss, but it's only one player out of 11.
"We had our chances at home and we know if we can play our best here then we're going to be very competitive."
Both bowling lineups appear even and will need to toil hard on what should be a Lord's pitch full of runs after several days of warm sunshine.
The tourists expressed confidence in their bowling plans to frustrate the England batsmen, which worked so well in their victory at Hamilton in March.
"We know what we have to do with the ball and if we do it right we're in with a great show," said Oram.
If they deviated too much from their planned attack England threatened to take a toll, just as they did in the second test in Wellington, which turned the home series last summer.
"We let them get away for three or four sessions and that was the turning point of the series, notably that first day in Wellington."
New Zealand have played 14 times at Lord's for just one victory, by nine wickets in 1999.
England haven't won at Lord's since their innings defeat of Bangladesh in 2005, which was followed by a loss to Australia then four consecutive draws against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies and India.
LIKELY TEAMS
England: Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar.
New Zealand: Aaron Redmond, Jamie How, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (captain), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Chris Martin.
Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies).
TV umpire: Nigel Llong (England).
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).
- NZPA