KEY POINTS:
Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori and his deputy Brendon McCullum have arrived in England with their minds set on reversing their recent series defeat at home.
"There are no mixed feelings. My commitment was always to New Zealand Cricket and this test series is vitally important to us,"
Vettori said.
New Zealand play two four-day warm-up matches, starting with Essex in Chelmsford overnight before the first test at Lord's from May 15.
Jamie How led the team through their first two tour matches, against the MCC and Kent but both were disrupted by bad weather.
Vettori, McCullum and three other New Zealanders playing in the Indian Premier League Twenty20, joined the team in London this week.
"We knew right from the start we'd only be there [India] for a certain amount of games and that this test series would take priority," said Vettori.
"I wanted to get over here to start our test tour because it is important we start well in the warm-up games.
"Notoriously, we're not very good in warm-up games - particularly in England - so we need to make sure we play the right way and put some performances on the board. It's incredibly important to us and something we have not achieved all that often over here."
Essex will feature opener Alastair Cook, a tourist in New Zealand this year, and one-day all-rounder Ravi Bopara.
South African pace bowler Andre Nel and former England internationals Jason Gallian and Alex Tudor are also in the Essex side.
Vettori had been in the thick of one of the best tussles in the IPL only hours before his arrival in London.
His one for 19 in a four-over spell was a perfect foil for Glenn McGrath's four-wicket heroics as the Delhi Daredevils overcame the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 10 runs in front of another packed house.
Vettori, however, had no time to savour the occasion. He was rushed straight out of the stadium and on to plane.
"I left five minutes after the game," he said. "It was tight but I understood there was always going be a flight. Our owners own the airport so things got through very quickly.
"But it's a real exciting prospect to be captaining a test at Lord's, and Old Trafford and Trent Bridge have their own history as well, so that's one of the unique things about playing in England.
"[Former captain] Stephen Fleming always talked with such reverence of his times over here and I'll treat this tour in the same way. But in the end it's about trying to win a test match, and not just a little bit of nostalgia. I want to win and I'll put everything else to one side for that."
No player better epitomised the glitz and novelty of the IPL than McCullum, who launched the tournament with an astonishing 158 not out on the opening night against Bangalore.
"I felt my 'status' pick up after that, because I was probably flying under the radar leading up to it," he said."I probably didn't quite have the respect for how big the tournament and the following would be, but as soon as we arrived out there, we started to work out it was going to be huge, and it continued to snowball.
He said he realised England would be completely different to India in terms of tempo and crowd following.
"Of course it's going to be a come-down. I'm not going to be playing in front of 90,000 people, but I've got to stay mentally strong and churn out a performance even though the circumstances are different.
"I've got two four-day warm-ups to be a part of, to get myself ready to play test cricket."
- NZPA