On the eve of England's Test series in New Zealand, Wisden.com spoke exclusively to Ted Dexter, the former England batsman who's now president of MCC, about this battle – and past ones. Dexter recalls that it was in the 1958-59 series in New Zealand that he scored his first Test century. It was also at Christchurch, the venue for tomorrow's first Test. "I was a fledgling in the England side," he says. "We'd had a lot of injuries – I wouldn't have played otherwise. I'd had a little technical batting problem, which John Mortimore, the offspinner, sorted out for me the day before, and I immediately started to strike the ball well." With his technique back in working order, Dexter went out and scored 141.

One of the other players in that Christchurch Test, which England won by an innings, was the great Fred Trueman. "He was a magnificent bowler," recalls Dexter. "He had a classic action – very strong, very athletic – and he did continually produce two beautiful searching balls: late awayswing to get the bat away from the pad, and then the one which came back off the seam and went through the gap."

Dexter also remembers some New Zealand greats: Bert Sutcliffe ("a stupendous player"), Martin Crowe ("as good technically as anybody I've ever seen") and John Reid ("some of his hitting needed to be seen to be believed").

Finally Dexter looks forward to the Test series in New Zealand. "Chris Cairns is a tremendous talent, and a mature talent too," he says. "And Stephen Fleming is not very demonstrative as a captain, but he seems to command the field - and he's got some damn good ideas!

"It [the series] will be a good set-to," he says. "I wouldn't like to call it either way, but home advantage will be useful.

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