Brendon McCullum hopes New Zealand can prove a point in Tuesday's Twenty20 international against England.
Watch New Zealand v England, live on Sky Sports 1 from 6am on Tuesday.
Brendon McCullum captains New Zealand for the first time in Tuesday's Twenty20 international saying the Black Caps can prove a point against England.
Big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman McCullum will skipper New Zealand in the Twenty20 international at Eden Park with Daniel Vettori ruled out with an ankle injury.
The Black Caps have not enjoyed the best run of form recently, besides comprehensive victories over Bangladesh, but they will be looking to prove they are still a major force against England.
Without the likes of Nathan Astle, Stephen Fleming, Craig McMillan and Shane Bond, McCullum says it is an ideal opportunity for the new crop of New Zealanders to prove themselves when they face England.
"We've taken a few knocks over the last 12 to 18 months to be fair, but that's also a test of the strength of your domestic game and also what sort of talent you've got coming through," said McCullum.
"Tomorrow presents a tremendous opportunity for a couple of players to stand up and see what they've got at international level.
"The team we do have is young, it's fresh and I see it as pretty exciting and if all goes well I think we've got the make-up to thrill a lot of people."
Ryder bow
McCullum is happy with Jesse Ryder's inclusion, saying the big-hitting 23-year-old could prove to be a real star.
Ryder has had several fall-outs with New Zealand Cricket, but has been given a chance to shine on the international stage.
"He's an amazing talent," enthused McCullum. "This guy hits the ball as hard as anyone going around the country and you can't keep talent like that on the sidelines for too long.
"He's had some attitude things that he's worked on during the last 12 to 18 months but we're massively excited to see how Jesse fares at international level.
"Even if he doesn't come off this time, I'm sure the experience he'll gain from his time with this team and playing against quality opposition will help him shine through in the future."
19-year-old seamer Tim Southee is also expected to make his debut in the day-night fixture after impressing chairman of selectors Sir Richard Hadlee.
Recent success
The home side have enjoyed recent victories over England at both the World Cup and World Twenty20, but McCullum says that will count for little once the series begins.
"Some teams you tend to do better against than others," added McCullum.
"But they knocked us out of the Commonwealth Bank Trophy recently so they've also had some success against us in recent times as well.
"It's going to be a great series, we've got two evenly-matched teams and I guess whichever team can hit their straps and get hot for the couple of weeks we have during the one-day format it will probably be the team that comes out on top."
The second match in the Twenty20 series takes place in Christchurch on Thursday before the first of the five-match one-day series is held in Wellington on Saturday.
New Zealand Twenty20 squad: Brendon McCullum (wkt & capt), Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris. Jacob Oram, Peter Fulton, Kyle Mills, Paul Hitchcock, Chris Martin, Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel.
