ANDREW STRAUSS all but sealed a recall to the England Test team with a match-saving century against a New Zealand Invitation XI here yesterday. It was his first three-figure score for his country since the Leeds Test of August 2006. He was not the only batsman who delivered; so did Ian Bell, who played beautifully for an unbeaten 104. It was the first time in 10 months that two England batsmen had scored centuries in the same first-class innings.

This was cause enough for celebration, given that the entire team was dismissed for 131 on the first day of this final warm-up. A second reason was that both men were batting in the new positions they will occupy in the first Test on Wednesday, Strauss at No 3 and Bell at No 5. “I felt I needed a score to justify the faith they [England] had put in me,” Strauss said. “Maybe at the start of the game we weren’t quite as sharp as we should have been, but we got better as the game went on. We are keen to prove that we are a better side than what we’ve shown over the past 12 months.”

England’s cricketers have suffered some ignominies over that time, but few things compare with the bizarre sight over the past few days of those who came last in fitness training being ordered to bend over in front of the sightscreen at the Otago University ground while having footballs fired at their backsides by way of punishment.

Should they fail to beat an inexperienced New Zealand side in the three-Test series starting this week, they can expect a fiercer tanning of hides. With only two series wins in five, and the Ashes looming next year, another setback is not an option. While Strauss and Bell gave hope of an improved batting effort, the bowlers are under particular scrutiny. Since August 2006 they have dismissed the opposition in both innings just three times, West Indies their prey each time.

Away from home, when armed with the Kookaburra ball rather than the Duke with which they are happier, their record is dire – one win in 14 Test matches dating back to 2005. But with conditions in New Zealand akin to those in England, there can be little excuse if they fail to exploit them.

Over the past five series, England are averaging only 14 wickets per match. Blame does not rest solely with the bowlers – catches have been put down with alarming regularity, and Tim Ambrose, in line to make his debut in Hamilton, will become the fourth Test keeper in 15 months.

The contrast could not be more stark with the glory years of 2004-5, when a potent and settled attack (crucially of five bowlers rather than four) was central to six series being won in succession. Since then, the team has been plagued by a bewildering catalogue of injuries and wild fluctuations in form by key players.

Throughout their warm-up matches, England have juggled their resources, uncertain of their best combinations and preparations anything but smooth. Ryan Sidebottom, the most dependable bowler, was struck by a hamstring problem. Matthew Hoggard was laid low by a vomiting attack. Steve Harmison, typically, ran hot and cold, while Monty Panesar fought to regain self-belief after a harrowing time in Sri Lanka.

James Anderson, a hero last summer against India but enduring a nightmare winter in all forms of the game, was not trusted. Nor was Stuart Broad, who has shown promise but is deemed unready for the bigger challenges. Both were usurped by Chris Tremlett, who then strained his left side.

Peter Moores has spoken about the competition for places being healthy, but this is just coach-speak for circumstances having forced the selectors’ hands. The attack has rarely been the same from one match to the next. Nothing speaks more eloquently of the chaos than England’s 12 new-ball pairings in their past 16 Tests.

It is expected that Hoggard will open in Hamilton with the left-arm Sidebottom on the basis that they should be given every chance to swing the Kookaburra before the shine wears off. This plan spares the New Zealand openers dealing first thing with Harmison, England’s most hostile bowler when he gets things right, on what is likely to be a bouncy Seddon Park pitch.

Usually England have favoured giving the new ball to bowlers with contrasting, complementary styles – one swinging it, the other bouncing it hard. This was what made Hoggard and Harmison so effective in 2004-5, and, before them, Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick.

Harmison is happy to operate as first change here – he prefers to open the bowling only with the Duke ball – but this conveniently relieves him of the burden of giving the innings a controlled start, something he so singularly failed to do in Brisbane in 2006. He has taken the new ball in only one overseas Test since then. England desperately need Hoggard and Harmison to find form and stay fit over the next three weeks. Hoggard has missed seven Tests out of the past 11 with a string of niggles in the back, groin and side, while there has long been an issue over whether the 29-year-old Harmison is really fit for purpose. One theory is that his chronic inaccuracy may be attributable to a lack of core strength, preventing him from maintaining a reliable action for 20 overs a day.

Pessimists might say that England have a habit of getting overexcited when they find themselves in helpful conditions, as they might here. Optimists will say that New Zealand’s batting is fragile: in their only four Tests since 2006, they failed to top 200 against South Africa and 400 against Bangladesh. In truth, they ought to be ripe for the taking. South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie broke the world record for a Test opening partnership with a 415-run stand on day two of the second Test against Bangladesh. Resuming the day on 405-0, Smith (232) and McKenzie (226) soon topped the previous record of 413 set in 1956 by India’s Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy against New Zealand.

England v New Zealand, first Test, from Tuesday, Sky Sports 1, 9pm

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