New Zealand v Pakistan - Series Preview

New Zealand have little time to recover after their defeat at the hands of England, with Pakistan making a reciprocal visit to the Antipodes after the Blackcaps tour of Pakistan earlier in the season. New Zealand lost that series 2-0, but they were in strong positions in each of the three Tests and will be keen to give the local punters something to cheer over the course of the next three Test matches. John Reid retains the captaincy, although the selectors were split over this choice, and he will be under even more pressure than usual as New Zealand strive for an elusive victory.

As for Pakistan, they have now gone 12 Tests without defeat and sit fourth in the rankings, with Imran Khan leading the team to great success in his second spell as captain. They will be without in-form all-rounder Asif Iqbal for this trip, but otherwise the squad contains no surprises - Abdul Qadir is left out but his form of late does not make this a surprise - and the Pakistanis must be installed as favourites ahead of this series.

Pakistan's Squad
Imran Khan (c), Javed Miandad (v/c), Fazal Mahmood, Hanif Mohammad, Intikhab Alam, Iqbal Qasim, Khan Mohammad, Majid Khan, Moin Khan, Saeed Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Sarfraz Nawaz, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Wasim Bari, Zaheer Abbas.