London, May 15: England and New Zealand, set for their second test cricket series of the year, are virtually back where they were in March.
Expectations on England of sweeping the two-test series starting on Thursday at Lord's are even greater. Chastened after squeezing out a lucky series draw in New Zealand in March, England's belief has been reinforced by the return to health of key players, home advantage and history.
Meanwhile, the New Zealanders have been given less chance of success than before their home series, where they dominated two of the tests and earned respect, and seemingly little else.
England's selectors have warned the team not to blow it again against New Zealand, or some could miss out on the Ashes, the main summer course that dominates all cricket talk.
“We didn't play to the capabilities they have shown in the past, so that has got to be rectified,” England selector Geoff Miller said.
In the swirl of Ashes hype, there's too much at stake at Lord's and Headingley to believe England will be distracted by anything other than blue, sunny skies. Showers have criss-crossed London leading up to the match, and more are forecast on four of the five test days.
The forecast for the Kiwis isn't good, either.
They could draw little confidence from the four-day draw with England Lions at Leicester. A virtual New Zealand test side, with seamer Doug Bracewell in for Neil Wagner, who was resting a sore toe, wanted to trump England test batsmen Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. But Root scored 179, his second lowest score of the English season, and Bairstow 68.
Bracewell, who missed the home series after a freak foot injury, bowled well enough to indicate he could make up a four-prong seam attack with Tim Southee and left-armers Wagner and Trent Boult. The damp and cool conditions, ripe for producing extra movement, will have a say in the decision, plus the lack of recent wickets from spinner Bruce Martin.
New Zealand had only one inning against the Lions, which only Hamish Rutherford exploited by making 126, to ease some worries about the lack of scores by the openers. Also, Ross Taylor, yet to settle after the captaincy scandal, made 35 and captain Brendon McCullum 1.
McCullum's adventurous leadership and batting, however, managed to shade England counterpart Alastair Cook in New Zealand and mold the Kiwis into a surprisingly effective unit.
While they know England won't be complacent again, they believe they can pull off a first series win in England in 14 years.
“We don't want to be the entree for the main course of the season,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said.
The first day will be crucial. New Zealand set the tone at home when it bowled England for 167 by tea on the first day. By the end of a flat and uninspiring series from England's viewpoint, it was praising itself for not losing the series thanks to the last-wicket stand at Eden Park by Matt Prior and Monty Panesar.
Just to rub salt in the wounds of the bitterly disappointed Kiwis, Prior was named England player of the year on Monday.
Nobody before that series thought England would return home looking for positives. Most of the blame fell on the bowlers, and the seamers' inability to swing the ball as well as the Kiwis. James Anderson was subdued, Steven Finn offline, and Panesar's spin wasn't as harmful as Graeme Swann's would likely have been.
The return of Swann and allrounder Tim Bresnan, fully fit after elbow operations, caused oddsmaker William Hill to immediately boost England's first-test odds to 4-5 and drop New Zealand to 9-1.
Inconsistency has prevented England from threatening South Africa's grip on the top test ranking. Since it rose to No. 1 in 2011, England has won five and lost seven of 18 tests, and won two of six series. Beating New Zealand this month has become a desperate need.
“It makes you realize you can't just go into a game and go through the motions and win the game because, on paper, you are supposedly superior,” Miller said. “It doesn't work like that. These boys know they have to perform.”
