Seeing the second tier of New Zealand players in testing conditions was among the big benefits of the New Zealand A tour of England, according to coach Bob Carter.
The squad included several players who have had test or limited-overs international experience. The trip, which included a tri-series against their English and Sri Lankan equivalents, provided a wealth of information for Carter to sift through with national coach Mike Hesson and his fellow selector Bruce Edgar.
"You want to try and establish a work ethic and culture and we tried to follow what the Black Caps do regarding training," Carter said.
"The players were put under a fair bit of heat in training sessions because then you take a method out on to the field. I think it worked well."
Carter singled out former test batsman Dean Brownlie, who scored two limited-over hundreds on the tour, and test openers Hamish Rutherford and Tom Latham as having impressed with the bat; Matt Henry, Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett stood out with the ball.