It was a fine day to be in Manchester yesterday, civic pride being a wonderful thing. Not that it helped the cricket much. Time was when a practice day at Old Trafford would be appreciated by a few hundred observers, but yesterday, under the kind of unremitting greyness in which Manchester specialises, more groundstaff than spectators watched England and New Zealand complete their preparations for the second npower Test match.

Manchester has always been a red and blue city, but until football began to encroach ever more into the heart of the cricket season, divided loyalties were put to one side in the summer as Mancunians became united in a secondary love of a gentler game. As the thousands who were turned away at the gates for the Ashes Test in 2005 will testify, that can still happen, although it takes something special.

It was not something special that Michael Vaughan was looking for as he spoke yesterday, but something that most Test captains like to take for granted; that is to say, the kind of big first-innings runs that consistently put opponents under pressure. Not since the Durham Test against West Indies in June last year - ten Test matches ago - have England scored 400 or more in their first innings. Suddenly, in the space of a week, the focus has shifted from the supposedly ill-matched opening pair and a captain short of runs to a middle order suffering from a collective credit crunch. At Lord's, England's first three between them scored 205 more runs than Nos 4 to 6 and it was with a mixture of concern and personal relief that Vaughan responded to queries about the health of his batting line-up.

“Well, the top order was pretty good [pause for effect; noted, skipper],” he said. “It was slightly disappointing that the middle order didn't fire, but it was a funny game at Lord's with the weather. They are all good players and while you can't get runs all the time, I fully expect all the guys to get in on what is a good wicket and hopefully go on and get a big score this week.

“We really do try to get two players to a hundred in the first innings. More often than not one has gone on to get a hundred, but then we have fallen short of our 400 to 450 target. It's certainly not because of any cosiness. I watch the guys train carefully and I don't see any complacency. They just have to go out and express themselves and this pitch will give them the perfect opportunity to do that.”

England have a fine recent record at Old Trafford, having won four out of the past five Tests there in convincing fashion, and Vaughan, announcing an unchanged team for the fourth consecutive Test, despite the “temptation” to include Chris Tremlett, was keen to emphasise his team's positive vibes in Manchester. “We all feel very comfortable here as a team,” he said. “The crowd are always excellent [the first two days are almost sold out] and will be more so now that United have gone on to win the European Cup. We always enjoy playing here.”

Largely, Vaughan suggested, this is because of the nature of the pitch, which, with its pace and bounce, encourages enterprising cricket. For Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, buoyed by events at Lord's, the ability to adapt quickly to conditions largely foreign to his players will be the key to competing at Old Trafford as they did at Lord's. “We don't come across too many fast and bouncy pitches in New Zealand, so it will be a new experience for us and for the older players, too, because last time we played here it was a low, slow turner,” he said.

Recent experience on South Africa's quick pitches was not a good one for the New Zealand batsmen and Vettori said that they had been working hard with Mark O'Neill, the batting coach and son of Norm O'Neill, the late former Australia player, to try to avoid the kind of stage fright that afflicted them there. The bowlers, too, will have to adapt so that they do not fall into the trap of bowling too short.

Not that New Zealand will finalise their attack until this morning, after a final look at the surface. Tim Southee, who missed two days of training with a virus, has recovered, although Vettori suggested that they are tempted to include a second spinner, Jeetan Patel. Manchester's reputation as a last remaining refuge for quick bowlers, as well as the potential added workload for Jacob Oram, may dissuade them.

The pitch is the same one that was used for the past two Test matches, against Pakistan and West Indies, although Peter Marron, the Lancashire head groundsman, cautioned that this year's Test is a little earlier and therefore it has had less chance to bake hard under the sun. Still, it has the same mottled, cracked and, frankly, ugly appearance as its predecessors, not that such appearances have detracted in any way from its excellence in the past.

With pace and bounce for the quicks, turn and bounce for the twirlies and plenty of runs for batsmen able to play off the back foot, Old Trafford has consistently produced the best Test pitch in England in recent years. Characteristics, not appearances, are what make a good pitch. As Marron said when quizzed about the lack of aesthetic beauty of his strip: “What do you want it to do, smile back at you?” Quite.

England: A N Cook (Essex), A J Strauss (Middlesex), M P Vaughan (Yorkshire, captain), K P Pietersen (Hampshire), P D Collingwood (Durham), I R Bell (Warwickshire), T R Ambrose (Warwickshire), S C J Broad (Nottinghamshire), R J Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire), M S Panesar (Northamptonshire).

New Zealand (from): J M How, A J Redmond, J A H Marshall, R P L Taylor, B B McCullum, D R Flynn, J D P Oram, D L Vettori (captain), K D Mills, T G Southee, C S Martin, I E O'Brien.

Umpires: D B Hair (Australia) and S J Taufel (Australia).

Third umpire: I J Gould.

Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka).

Television: Live coverage on Sky Sports 1 from 10.30am; highlights on Five, 7.15pm-8pm and Sky Sports 2, 9pm-11pm.

Weather: Some heavy showers with a moderate easterly wind, 18C (64F).