England's ability to adapt, especially the younger players, to New Zealand conditions at Jade Stadium will determine the course of the first Test match of the National Bank series according to captain Nasser Hussain.

England went into the game, and the series, slightly under-cooked but with Graham Thorpe and Marcus Trescothick returning to the side after the Canterbury game, and backed by himself and Andy Caddick, England would be prepared.

"It is how the young lads step up on Wednesday and adapt to the conditions," he said.

Hussain said pitches were never of concern to him and, in fact, he got quite excited about wickets that did a bit.

"It is a cliche but it is exactly the same for both teams," he said.

Wickets that did a bit meant there was never dull cricket.

"It's exciting, it might do anything. I prefer to play on a variety of wickets," he said.

But at the same time he said the drop-in pitch being used for the game was a very new experience for him and he would need to have a good look at it over the next two days.

In England, most grounds had wickets that had a historical perspective which would give a fair idea of how they were going to play.

This portable pitch had no real history and no-one could honestly say how it would play, he said.

"You have to back your gut feeling. You can't presume the best or worst about it," he said.

"The first session will be crucial, that will determine the course of the series," he said.

However, even if the strip was the greenest of green he didn't think that would necessarily mean the non-selection of left-arm spinner Ashley Giles. Although Hussain said he was suffering a strain in his back that was not Test-threatening.

Conditions with breezes often blowing across grounds in New Zealand meant there was still a role for slow bowlers and the contest between two very similar bowlers in Giles and Daniel Vettori would be an interesting one.

It wasn't only because Hussain was Vettori's first first-class victim, back on the 1996/97 tour of New Zealand, that he regarded him as a "very fine bowler."

As with Giles, he had natural flight and guile and was a left-arm bowler of the old variety and the two were probably the best in the world of their kind. And Vettori had progressed nicely, as borne out by the fact he was the youngest spinner to get to 100 wickets.

England were keen to reverse the 2-1 series loss they suffered in England in 1999.

"I think we should have won that series," Hussain said. He blamed himself for not having led the side better in the last Test at The Oval.

But the side had also moved on since then and Duncan Fletcher had come in as coach. The performances of the side and the selection policy were more consistent as well, and young players brought into the side had come in and held their hands up which had been a good thing for English cricket.

Some of those young players were still a little short of experience but the three Tests would advance that process.

The young players, like Michael Vaughan, Trescothick and Matthew Hoggard now knew that they had every chance of having a good, long run in the side and that was important for their development.

Hussain repeated his assertion that the Kookaburra ball in use for the game would demand accurate bowling in the first 25 overs before the seam softened.

The side will have a final practice session tomorrow to complete their match preparation and a Test 12 will be named tomorrow evening, if Giles is fit for consideration.

© CricInfo