He duly did: Peter Such and Phillip DeFreitas were both recalled at the start of the summer, and Steve Rhodes, Craig White and Darren Gough all made their debuts in Illingworth's first days in charge.

The tourists' preparations were severely hampered by bad weather, which forced the abandonment of the second ODI, and injury - strike bowler Danny Morrison was ruled out of any part in the Test series.

The tourists won the toss and batted, but after surviving the initial burst from Devon Malcolm, the top order succumbed to DeFreitas (4-94), who drew three edges into the slip cordon and had captain Ken Rutherford adjudged lbw.

[2] In reply, England lost Alec Stewart very early, hitting Davis to Larsen at mid-on, but Graham Gooch, back in the side after opting to miss the tour of the West Indies, and Mike Atherton dug in and batted out the remainder of the day.

White, DeFreitas and Fraser all fell quickly, giving the tourists hope of levelling the series, but Rhodes batted for two hours for his 24 not out, and England held on for the draw.

England skipper Atherton admitted that he'd found it too tense to watch the final half-hour, while Rutherford bemoaned the bad light that prevented him using his quicker bowlers at the end and felt they deserved to win, noting that "a draw wasn't a true reflection of the game".

[4] Prior to the Third Test there was considerable debate in the English press about whether Robin Smith and Graeme Hick should retain their places in the England side after their recent failures, and vocal support for the inclusion of Graham Thorpe.

The tourists' reply started badly, with Gough and DeFreitas combining excellently with ball as well as bat, and removing the top four before the close on the second day, with only Martin Crowe defying the England seamers.

Howarth's comments were emphasised with four wickets falling in similar fashion very quickly in the follow-on, leaving New Zealand 73/4, and with more than two full days still to play only an England victory looked likely.

Ray Illingworth's first series in charge of the England side provided an insight into his selection policies, with the inclusion of Gough, White, and DeFreitas as prongs of the attack to supplement the tireless Fraser and erratic Malcolm, and the retention of the old guard of batsmen at the expense of younger talent such as Thorpe and John Crawley.

[9] In fairness, the tourists were shorn of key members of their bowling attack: Danny Morrison made the tour party but was not fit to take part in the Test series, whilst Chris Cairns and Simon Doull did not make the squad.

Bryan Young and Shane Thomson made promising cameos, and Stephen Fleming also looked a good prospect for the future, but New Zealand's reliance on Crowe's runs was evident in this series.

Following the series, partly in response to criticism from former Kiwi captain Glenn Turner, New Zealand Cricket announced that several of the problems identified during the tour were already being addressed, with new injury/fitness regimes being implemented.