KEY POINTS:
Daniel Vettori reckons England won't read much into New Zealand's performances against Bangladesh as they prepare for their two-month tour starting in less than three weeks.
He's right. New Zealand wrapped up the two-test series against Bangladesh with an innings and 137-run win at a gusty Basin Reserve
before lunch yesterday.
And while they will be pleased to have got back into the whites after a near-unbroken diet of limited-overs cricket going back to the start of last year, the series - or more accurately the less-than six days of cricket - showed much work lies ahead before facing England.
The fact that preparation time is not ideal - some Twenty20 and State Shield one-dayers - does not help.
Any assessment of New Zealand's cricket against Bangladesh must be qualified by the quality of the opposition, which was poor, often desperately so. Still, Stephen Fleming was right on Sunday when he talked of the importance of getting back to the "rhythms" of test cricket.
Vettori doubts England will take much notice of what they'll have seen in the last two weeks.
"They will concentrate on what they do. We'll probably take more out of their series against Sri Lanka [which England lost], and what we saw while we were in Australia and reflect on that."
Vettori maintained New Zealand are better off for having played Bangladesh, even if they were well short of being competitive for most of the series. And he won't hear a bad word said about the tourists, either.
"I don't particularly like to cast judgments on other sides," he said. "You look back at New Zealand's history and how long it took to win a test [26 years] and the struggles we've had over the years. To say a team is weak or not deserving is unfair."
England will notice Bangladesh's bowlers caused problems for New Zealand's batsmen - especially seamers Shahadat Hossain and Mashrafe Mortaza - and fancy their chances.
They might also have picked up that Chris Martin is a sharper point of New Zealand's attack than he was the last time the teams met in England in 2004, when he bowled poorly.
The batting remains more of a concern than the bowlers for New Zealand's selectors. Matthew Bell made a heartening return to test cricket; Jacob Oram got a solid century in the first test and Fleming will be fine. But the work of Craig Cumming, Peter Fulton and Mathew Sinclair will all be under the microscope in the coming weeks.
Vettori said that as New Zealand face England in the limited-overs games before the tests, it offered a chance to get a good look at them.
"The way cricket is played today you can learn a lot because a lot of guys play the same, whether it's one-day or test cricket."
New Zealand's catching was good during the series, save Bell's three drops, all off Wellington teammate Iain O'Brien at the Basin. Yesterday's activities wrapped up with a fine one-handed snare by Kyle Mills at cover point.
And Bangladesh? They have some hard years ahead, but young openers Tamim Iqbal and Junaid Siddique, and Shahadat and Mashrafe offer hope of better days to come.
MARTIN BOUNCER TO RATTLE STRAUSS
Chris Martin delivered a timely verbal bouncer at likely England test opener Andrew Strauss after enhancing his standing as the leader of New Zealand's test bowling attack.
Martin was man of the match in New Zealand's innings and 137-run win over Bangladesh at the Basin Reserve, and took 13 wickets in the two-test series.
Strauss, having just started a short stint with Northern Districts in the State Shield and Twenty20 competitions, suggested at the weekend that a Shane Bond-less bowling attack wouldn't have England's batsmen waking up in a cold sweat ahead of their tour, which starts early next month.
"He's said a lot of things in the media over the years which did come across as a little bit arrogant and cocky, so you take those things with a grain of salt," Martin said yesterday.
"I don't think he's seen the best of us, especially on the last tour they played against us. As a bowling unit we didn't bowl well at all. If we hunt in a pack, hit them hard early I think we've got the attack to take their wickets."
Martin, 33, overtook Ewen Chatfield as New Zealand's sixth most successful test bowler during the Basin Reserve test. He's now got 125 wickets, two more than Chatfield and sits just five behind Lance Cairns.
He also got his eighth five-wicket bag in a test, and only Sir Richard Hadlee (36), Daniel Vettori and Chris Cairns (13) and Danny Morrison (10) have done it more. He's enjoying leading the attack and feels he's growing into the job with every test.
"It hasn't quite settled on my shoulders yet but as the amount of tests for me go up I'm starting to feel more comfortable and it's a role I'm starting to enjoy. To lead [the attack] against England will be a good buzz."
Martin found plenty of movement off the pitch and, bowling downwind - "I'm a glory boy" he quipped - worked up good pace and aggression.
He wants to work on maintaining pressure. He knows his wicket taking deliveries will get any batsman out, but it's the in-between periods which need attention.
"Not giving up that four-ball is something we've got to do against quality opposition, which we're going to be up against."
Martin got good support during the test from Iain O'Brien, who took five wickets, did the bulk of the into-the-wind work, and will have eased any concerns about the No 3 seamer's spot when the England series begins in Hamilton March 5. O'Brien also markedly improved his bowling average from 64 to 42.08.David Leggat
