"Not going to treat Tests against England as warm-ups for the WTC final" - Neil Wagner

Left-arm pacer Neil Wagner has said the New Zealand team will take the upcoming two-match Test series against England as seriously as any other fixture.

He added that it wouldn't just be a warm-up for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India that is set to take place from 18 June.

Neil Wagner was part of the second batch of New Zealand players who departed from Auckland on Monday. Speaking to reporters at the airport, he said:

"We're not going to treat these two Test matches against England just as warm-ups [for the WTC final]. I know for a fact we're going to get out there and pride ourselves the way we've been playing Test cricket and we want to win Test matches for New Zealand."

Second contingent checked and ready! Next stop ➡️ UK 🏏 #ENGvNZ #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/NSqCegtCbW

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) May 17, 2021

The way we've been training for the last while is something we didn't always have in the past: Neil Wagner

Neil Wagner mentioned that getting the team together well in advance and training with the Dukes ball would help them a great deal in England.

"It's been quite nice, it's obviously got different characteristics to the Kookaburra.

"The way we've been training for the last while is something we didn't always have in the past, having the facilities and having a marquee up and getting a number of trainings in before going to England. On tours, in the past, you rock up there and you've only got a couple of trainings and maybe one head out with the Dukes ball before the first Test and with that you can find yourself a little bit behind," Wagner said.

Neil Wagner also believes that the experience in the squad will help them deal with the conditions better.

"But having had those little bit of trainings leading into it has been quite beneficial, just because it's a little bit different, and obviously adapting to it. It's been really good preparation and everybody is excited bowling with it. Sometimes you have to control all that because there's a high expectation of the ball doing a lot and moving around but sometimes you can get there and it can be quite flat and slow as well. The nice thing about it is we've got a wealth of experience and the guys have been there before so we can feed off each other and bounce ideas off each other as well," he added.

The New Zealand team will undergo 10-day mandatory quarantine upon their arrival in England. The Kiwis kick off the series against the hosts on June 2 at Lord's.