Michael Vaughan, the England captain, may be intent on slipping a place down the batting order, but Alastair Cook, his opening partner during the winter tours to Sri Lanka and New Zealand, is not so sure. The 23-year-old Essex batsman told The Times that Vaughan is the man he wants alongside him at the start of the innings. “Me and Vaughany work really well together,” he said. “The left-hand, right-hand combination gives it a real good balance.

“But if Vaughany doesn't want to open, then he doesn't want to open. He's captain of the ship and he has to feel happy with where he bats. Left-hand, right-hand does make more sense because bowlers have got to change. But the circumstances don't allow it so we've got to get on with it.”

Cook and Vaughan put on two hundred partnerships in 12 innings over the winter months, averaging 44 in their opening stands. When Cook opens with Andrew Strauss, who looks likely to replace Vaughan at the top of the order, the pairing yields an average of 35, and has yet to record a hundred partnership in the 27 innings.

Also pushing hard for consideration for the first Test is Robert Key. The Kent opener scored an unbeaten 178 against the New Zealanders on Monday and was this week selected to captain England Lions against the touring side. “There's a lot of people pushing on the door and that can only benefit us,” Cook said at the launch of the Standard Chartered Great City Race.

New Zealand's preparations for the npower Test series will intensify after the rain-affected draw at Canterbury as they take a stronger XI to Chelmsford for a four-day match against Essex starting today. They also play the England Lions in Southampton before the first Test at Lord's starting a week on Thursday.

Daniel Vettori, the captain, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor will all be available against Essex along with Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills, their fellow Indian Premier League players, who arrived on Tuesday.

“It is great to have our best players back but the young guys have had a nice little time to break into the tour,” Jamie How, the acting captain, said. “We were expecting some rain at this time of year and that is why we have quite a packed schedule.”

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