England in New Zealand 2013 tour preview

Hot on the heels of ODI victory over India in Dharamsala on Sunday, the England squad, at least the T20 faction, has landed in New Zealand for what looks a beautifully balanced tour.

Ross Taylor should return to the New Zealand squad for England's visit

Can three formats of the same sport co-exist? With three T20s, three ODIs and three Tests, there is a good spread of cricket on offer. It also feels right that the Tests will be final act of the tour, rather than an h’orderve for the shorter formats.

The only problem is, by New Zealand coach Mike Hesson’s own admission, the Kiwis are some way short of the standard required to compete in the Test arena.

South Africa were beaten 2-1 in the recent ODI series against New Zealand, but in the preceding Test series New Zealand were humiliated. Their batsmen were completely obliterated in both Tests by South Africa’s bowling attack.

Having watched Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander/Rory Kleinveldt tear through a brittle top and middle order, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn will be licking their lips.

It’s not much of stretch to predict an England Test series win, although the return of Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder will make New Zealand more competitive. That’s assuming all of the in-fighting and embarrassing confrontations can be avoided…

The limited overs leg of the tour promises to be far more even. New Zealand’s ODI series win in South Africa was hugely impressive, especially as they’d been laid out cold in the Tests.

England won’t be too disappointed with the 3-2 ODI series defeat in India, but the batting collapses of the second and third fixtures need to be avoided. Graham Thorpe has been appointed as ODI batting coach beneath new ODI head coach Ashley Giles and their first task will be to ensure such calamities are avoided.

Ones to watch

The New Zealand squads are yet to be announced, but the Ross Taylor situation will be fascinating. He was ousted as captain following a rare Test win in Sri Lanka as Hesson and new skipper Brendan McCullum seemingly rounded on him. He must have, in some small way, drawn pleasure from the side’s panic stricken and confused performances against South Africa.

His reintegration (not to be used solely in regards to Kevin Pietersen) into the squad will make or break the Kiwis. He’s New Zealand’s star batsmen and they need him. Does he need them, though?

For England, a lot of pressure has now been placed upon Jos Buttler. Somerset’s part time wicketkeeper is, for now, England’s full time limited overs keeper. With Craig Kieswetter being given plenty of time to prove that he’s not up to the job, at least with bat in hand, England’s search for Adam Gilchrist continues.

Many have tried and many have failed. The first port of call should be finalising where in the order the keeper will bat. The opener experiment has been ditched (thank God!) so where in the middle order will Buttler feature? There’s a lot of pressure on the youngster as Jonny Bairstow, Yorkshire’s part time keeper, is waiting in the wings for another shot. The situation is a bit of a mess and needs sorting. Maybe, one day, a full time out and out keeper will be selected for the role.

By Miles Reucroft