First test between England, New Zealand from tomorrow LONDON: England face a delicate balancing act at Lord's on Thursday where they take on a New Zealand side in first test of three matches series. Four years ago, England beat New Zealand 3-0 and West Indies 4-0 to set themselves up for the Ashes triumph over the Australians in the following year. This year they are clearly superior on paper to a New Zealand side that has lost their entire top order batting in the intervening years. New Zealand are led by the canny Daniel Vettori, the best orthodox spinner in the world and a remarkably effective batsman at number eight. They also possess a sensational one-day batsman in wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum and a fine all-rounder in JacobOram plus a disciplined pace attack. New Zealand will be heartened by the form of new openerAaron Redmond, who scored 146 and 64 against the English Lions. Teams: England (from) - Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Matthew Hoggard, Ryan Sidebottom,Monty Panesar, James Anderson. New Zealand (probable) - Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, JamesMarshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, JacobOram, Daniel Vettori (captain), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, ChrisMartin.