England's test series with New Zealand begins today and the big selection news is Tim Ambrose making his debut at wicket keeper. Writing for BBC Sport, Jonathan Agnew had this to say of the decision; "It rather sums up England's progress over the last couple of years that Tim Ambrose will become the seventh wicket-keeper to pull on the gloves since midway through the last Ashes tour."

On the Guardian website, Lawrence Booth also mentions this statistic; "Australian-born Ambrose will become England's seventh wicketkeeper since the retirement of Alec Stewart in 2003 - a statistic that increasingly resembles a stain on the selectors' copybook and places an intolerable burden on the shoulders of the softly spoken 25-year-old. Rightly or wrongly, one missed catch will trigger off the whole debate all over again."

A big boost for England is the recovery from injury of Ryan Sidebottom, who probably showed the best form of the England bowlers during the recent one day series. "The recovery of Nottinghamshire left-arm seamer Sidebottom was a major fillip for England." (BBC Sport)

England captain Michael Vaughn has called for a big performance from his side. Quoted on The Times website Vaughn said; "The senior players have to pass on as much knowledge as they can to the other players but collectively we all have to perform. You don't win Test series with individuals, you win them by everyone mucking in together, working hard and really fighting for each other."

England go into the match as strong favourites and have a point to prove after their disappointing performances in the one day series. Geoffrey Boycott for The Daily Telegraph sees anything over than a convincing win as a let down; "England really need to beat New Zealand in the Test matches. Against a weak team, denuded by retirements and defections, anything else would be a pretty poor show."

Links:
Jonathan Agnew - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2008/03/england_must_beat_weakened_kiw_1.shtml
Lawrence Booth - http://sport.guardian.co.uk/englandinnewzealand2008/story/0,,2261603,00.html
BBC Sport match preview - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/7273490.stm
The Times - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article3481017.ece
Geoffrey Boycott - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/03/03/scboyc103.xml