England, who will go in as favourites in all three legs of their cricket tour of New Zealand, are expressing wariness of the opposition ahead of the Twenty20 matches that open their itinerary.
England T20 skipper Stuart Broad points to the Black Caps’ 2-1 upset in their one-dayers in South Africa as a reason his team can’t be complacent.
“We know the danger New Zealand pose,” he said in Auckland on Wednesday, citing the likes of new captain Brendon McCullum and the returning Ross Taylor as batsmen who “can smash it miles”.
“We have to be at the top of our game – we know that.
“In Twenty20 cricket, you need one guy, two guys, to come off in your 20 overs and you can really take the game away from teams.”
Broad said England would use their two warm-up fixtures against a New Zealand XI in Whangarei next Monday and Wednesday to ensure they hit the ground running come the first T20 international in Auckland on February 9.
Like the Black Caps, England have just completed an overseas tour, beating India in a Test series, drawing their T20 series and losing the ODIs 3-2.
Nine of one-day squad have continued to New Zealand, with Broad being one of the additions.
The 26-year-old seamer had a tough injury-curtailed time in India.
He failed to take a wicket in the first two Tests, lost his place for the third match and then picked up a heel problem before the final Test.
The snow in England meant he was restricted to bowling indoors as he made his comeback from the injury.
Despite that, he was feeling fit and confident of being ready for the first warm-up match.
“When you haven’t played cricket for five or six weeks, you go into a game a little bit unsure,” he said.
“But we’ve got well over a week until the first Twenty20 (international) and that should be plenty to get right.”
The Black Caps’ ODI series victory over the Proteas came after they suffered hefty defeats in both Tests in South Africa.
Both Broad and England limited-overs coach Ashley Giles deflected questions over New Zealand’s present competitiveness generally.
“We’re not silly – this side will be difficult to beat on their home turf,” Giles said.
“We don’t want to get dragged into anything about how they’re playing their cricket. We’ll do our homework well on the opposition.
“Any side that goes to South Africa and beats them in one-day cricket is going to be tough in any form, whether it be T20 or one-day.”