Former England international turned cricket writer Derek Pringle is in New Zealand covering the tour for The Telegraph. He offered these thoughts on the forthcoming test series to sports reporter Adrian Seconi.
Have you seen any evidence to suggest New Zealand can be competitive in the test series?
''I think they will be determined to [be competitive] because, obviously, they did not put on a good showing in South Africa. South Africa did knock England off the No 1 spot and have a very fine bowling attack. But England will be good.
''Jimmy Anderson and Steve Finn are both excellent bowlers. Stuart Broad is the third seamer and in Graeme Swann they have one of the best spinners in the world. So, they will be a stern challenge for New Zealand and they will have to up their game from recent efforts in test cricket to be competitive.''
How does this English attack rate?
''What it offers is it has a lot of niches filled. There is spin. There is Finn, who is a fast bowler who bangs it in. Anderson, who is a swing bowler. And you've got Broad, who again is aggressive. Obviously, he is coming back from injury so there is a slight question mark over him. But they tick a lot of boxes.''
What do you make of the New Zealand squad?
''The batting from recent test matches has a question mark over it. There are perhaps a few batsmen there with a lot of ability but not much technique.
''I know in South Africa they play on pitches which do a little bit - certainly earlier in the match - and they were found wanting. But from what I've seen, [Dean] Brownlie looks a decent batsman. He looks organised.
''Obviously, Brendon McCullum is a good player and is talented enough to turn his mind to whatever format he wants. He probably needs a good test score to silence the doubters.
''Bowling wise, in your own conditions, you are going to be competitive. [Mitchell] McClenaghan is going to be a bit of a loss for you because he has that good mix you want from a fast bowler of aggression and pace and a little bit of movement.
''Trent Boult, I thought, was pretty good and I've been impressed with Neil Wagner. I think you are going to miss Vettori, though.''
What do you make of young opener Hamish Rutherford?
''He has played a lot against England on this tour and they kind of sorted him out with some well-directed short balls in the one-day formats. But you have to score in those, so you are committed to try and take them on. He was not that convincing, I must admit.
''But [in the four-day warm-up game in Queenstown] we've seen Broad attack him with a few bouncers and he has seemed to get out of the way pretty well. So as long as he has a plan in mind, then I'm sure he'll be fine. He is a good prospect.''
