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KEY POINTS:
Brendon McCullum's assessment of the importance to be attached to this week's Twenty20 double-header is probably about right - winning will be good; losing no reason to go searching for the razor.
The lively wicketkeeper leads New Zealand for the first time in tonight's opening short game against
England at Eden Park. He's chuffed about it, even though he knows his reign may last no longer than two games, with Daniel Vettori hoping to return from an ankle injury for the opening ODI in Wellington on Saturday.
As he puts it, he wants to "make my mark if I can" and a win tonight would certainly do that.
There are bigger battles ahead and although Twenty20 is rapidly gaining currency as a format - certainly with the fans, who keep the ka-ching in cricket's cash register - if not to be taken with an entirely straight face, the fun factor remains among its big marketing points.
Players don't fret over losing their Twenty20 spot as they might their test position. That might change but not soon - and if it does, the purists will have long headed for the hills.
"If we lose it's not the be all and end all, but at the same time it does create an opportunity to steal a little bit of a march going into the one-day series," a pragmatic McCullum said.
"It's about turning up, playing well, hopefully coming out on the right side of the result. And we can find out a little more about England. There's no substitute for getting out and playing." He doesn't expect his captaincy style to differ markedly from that of Vettori's and McCullum is keeping the job in perspective.
"It's two games to try and continue some momentum Dan built up in the Bangladesh series. I can't wait for the opportunity and hopefully the boys will respond as well."
Aggression figures strongly in McCullum's makeup. He likes plenty of energy, would rather "give it a go than sit back at the end and think what might have been".
He talked of New Zealand lacking high calibre performers like Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, "so we need to find another way to skin the cat", pointing to the importance of intensity and hustle in the field.
Newcomers Jesse Ryder and Tim Southee got a verbal pat on the back, particularly Ryder, the powerful lefthander with whom McCullum will open the batting.
"He's an amazing talent. The guy hits the ball as hard as anyone going round the country," he added.
The trick to making runs at Eden Park is utilising its peculiar angles. England have a cluster of newcomers who will need to adapt smartly. Batsmen might have a couple of overs to get their bearings in an ODI; with Twenty20, it's a couple of balls.
But England have a cluster of class acts in their limited-overs squad.
Kevin Pietersen might regard some of the boundaries as little more than a fat edge, but others will fancy their chances.
England won their two games against Canterbury over the weekend and turned in some encouraging performances. England won't finalise their team until today but Cook may have given the selectors pause to ponder. His 138 not out equated to a loud knocking on coach Peter Moores' door.
* TWENTY20 NUMBERS
New Zealand: P 13, W 5, L 7, T 1
England: P 11, W 3, L 8
Head to head: New Zealand 1 England 0 (Durban, September 2007)
* NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND
Eden Park, 7 tonight
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (c), Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin (one to be omitted).
England (from): Paul Collingwood (c), Alastair Cook, Phil Mustard, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ravi Bopara, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Luke Wright, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Tremlett, Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Ambrose.
