England Take on New Zealand Seriously

Dunedin: England's pace bowlers likely to be crucial determinants in the test series against New Zealand when the first of three matches begins at University Oval in Dunedin on Wednesday.

James Anderson and Steven Finn were rested in the four-day match against the New Zealand XI, which the hosts won by three wickets with less than two overs remaining, but proved more than destructive in the limited overs series prior to the tests.

Apart from the opening one-day match which New Zealand won, Anderson and Finn provided a masterclass in hostile fast bowling, giving the New Zealand batsmen little to hit on the small grounds while creating pressure and taking wickets.

Anderson's control of the seam position and the swing he extracted created doubt for New Zealand's batsmen, while the tall Finn bowled back of a length and was menacingly accurate at top pace.

As such, the duo, to be supported by Stuart Broad and possibly one of Graham Onions or Chris Woakes.

Brendon McCullum's side slumped to innings defeats in both tests on their recent tour of South Africa, and were skittled for 45 in Cape Town with Proteas paceman Vernon Philander taking five wickets for seven runs.

South Africa seamer Dale Steyn did the damage in the second test in Port Elizabeth, taking eight for 65.

New Zealand's batsmen have also had trouble occupying the crease for long periods to tire out opposing attacks, while giving their own bowlers a rest.

Even century-making batsmen have scored their runs in a hurry and not lingered to post truly big scores to anchor their team's innings.

Left arm spinner Bruce Martin is also expected to make his debut at the age of 32, while all-rounder Doug Bracewell will undergo a late fitness test after he cut his foot on a glass while clearing up following a house party.

Captain Alastair Cook leads a strong and settled lineup galvanised by their breakthrough series win away to India, with only a minor selection headache over who should be the skipper's opening partner.

Teams from:

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson

England: Alastair Cook (captain), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Nick Compton, Steven Finn, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Joe Root, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes

Pitch and conditions
The conditions may aid the seamers early on but it is quite possible to build big scores later in the match on what should be a decent pitch. The possibility of cloud cover is likely to further influence the captains at the toss with McCullum hinting we will bowl first.

Stats and trivia

• James Anderson needs 12 wickets to become the fourth England bowler to take 300 in Tests.
• New Zealand are unbeaten in all four Tests they have played at the University Oval, winning against Bangladesh and Pakistan and drawing with West Indies and South Africa.
• Since losing to them 2-1 at home in 1999, England have won eight out of 12 Tests against New Zealand.

Match facts
March 6-10, 2013
Start time 10:30 local (21:30 GMT prev day)