This was the first series between the sides since the West Indies toured New Zealand in 2005–06; their previous meeting was in the Super 8 stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Prior to the second test against Australia, Andy Moles was announced as the replacement for retiring New Zealand coach John Bracewell with the West Indian series to be his first in charge of the team.

[1] One of his first moves was to replace a number of support staff[2] and insist that he and captain Daniel Vettori be "the only voices in the dressing room".

Having lost the toss and been put in to field on a batting-friendly pitch, the West Indian bowlers could only manage two wickets on the first day.

[9] Auckland captain Jones said that they had batted for so long before declaring because he felt that the West Indies weren't going to push for a result either.

[10] On the day prior to the start of the first Test Jacob Oram suffered a calf strain and was unable to recover with Kyle Mills being flown in to replace him.