Daniel Vettori's split spinning finger provides a passing echo of the misfortune which befell West Indies' Ramnaresh Sarwan a year ago.

Both injuries came in freak circumstances and both struck down captains of travelling teams tagged as underdogs in early-season series against England.

Before anyone gets carried away with the notion of equally accidental and hapless tourists, though, significant differences should be pointed out.

First, although Vettori's two stitches in his bowling hand are highly inconvenient and could yet hamper him long enough to have an unwelcome impact on the first Test at Lord's, he and his employers insist that will not be the case.

When lynchpin batsman Sarwan slid into an advertising hoarding and damaged his shoulder at a freezing Headingley last May, it was more or less the last straw for a team who were proving no match for their hosts and already - after digging in to draw the first Test - needed everything to start going their way, not against them.

New Zealand are nowhere near as vulnerable.

Were they to lose the services of their captain and premier spinner, it would be a hammer blow.

But with him fit, and several others, they may well be trickier opponents than many are imagining.

With home advantage, England should win this second of two back-to-back three-Test rubbers. But just because they came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 in New Zealand does not mean the next conclusion is foregone. England opener Alastair Cook knows the score.

Whatever he really thinks, of course, it would be wise to be publicly respectful of New Zealand, just in case.

But you sensome sincerity when he recalls: "They beat us in the one-day series, and it was a close Test series - so we know there will be no complacency."

However England fare against the Kiwis, this summer's longer and more difficult series will be against South Africa - but Cook can see the folly of dismissing the Kiwis as a mere hors d'oeuvre.

"South Africa may be the bigger draw in terms of names," he added.

"But New Zealand are a highly competitive outfit and give nothing away so it will be a tough series.

"We beat them over there and hope we can do the double over them. But we can't just walk in expecting to do it. That's when trouble happens."

Vettori is talking a similar game.

"We learned England are a good side," he said. "It had been a long time since we'd played them.

"We performed really well in the one-dayers. In the Test matches we were comfortable with some of our performances but England definitely outplayed us in that second Test and when it came to that fifth day there was only one team that could win it."

With his first taste of Test captaincy behind him, Vettori believes there will be no problem shadow cast by his successful and highly-regarded predecessor Stephen Fleming.

Following Fleming's retirement this is a new era, but Vettori is quietly confident his Kiwis have the wherewithal to be competitive.

Against Essex in their penultimate warm-up match they showed just about enough to believe he may be right.

Vettori was already mostly on the sidelines when - in the haphazard, slightly back-to-front fashion with which they have become associated - the Kiwis first made enough runs against a useful but not top-drawer attack.

Then, again without him, a near all-seam battery was able to grind its way through a decent county top order in persistently swinging conditions.

"Stephen had been in the team a long time, but I think the team has moved on pretty quickly. I'd played with him a long time. The feeling was it was the right time," Vettori said.

If New Zealand are to surprise England they will need to do much more than they did at Chelmsford.

But that achievement came without two frontline seamers and with only a modicum of the runs which might have been expected from their returning Indian Premier League contingent.

With plenty of ifs and buts surrounding England's established powerhouses - Flintoff's well-being, the captain's need for runs, Pietersen's return to his world-class best - the 3-0 call many are making may be a little over-confident.

Vettori's view is partisan and should be treated as such, but he ought not to be ignored either.

"I think we've got a good bunch of cricketers here who - if they play anywhere near their potential - do have a chance of winning over here."

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