KEY POINTS:
A glance at New Zealand's record under John Bracewell is like going to a restaurant where the entree is tasty and offers the promise of good things to follow, only for the main course to produce a rumbling stomach.
Since Bracewell took over in late 2004, New Zealand have put up impressive numbers in the one-day game.
Of 85 ODIs under the former test allrounder, 48 have been won, 33 lost, with four no results.
Even allowing for some being against the lightest of lightweights - think Kenya, Canada, Ireland and Bangladesh - it's a decent record.
But the test statistics are another story, and to be fair to him, one Bracewell has earmarked as his biggest job in the next two seasons.
The numbers are grim - played 29, won nine, lost 14, drawn 6.
But dig deeper and the picture gets messier still.
Of the nine victories, two were against Zimbabwe, two against Bangladesh and two against the West Indies, who have long fallen from the game's elite.
The other three wins were against South Africa in March 2004 - a terrific display at Eden Park when Chris Martin bagged 11 wickets and Scott Styris and Chris Cairns hit big hundreds - and Sri Lanka twice.
Once was on the back of Lou Vincent's double hundred at the Basin Reserve in April 2005, the other a five-wicket win in Christchurch a year ago, which was spoilt by a bad defeat in Wellington a week later.
This season Bracewell gets a big chance to put things right.
Bangladesh arrive in six days' time. They play three ODIs and two tests. In itself, beating Bangladesh doesn't mean much. Anything less than two comprehensive duffings in the longer version would be a poor return.
The Bangladeshis have had their moments in the ODI arena. But their test record shouts loud and clear that they were welcomed into the family far too soon.
They have played 49 tests, lost 43 and their only win was against the basket case of southern Africa, whom they whipped by 226 runs at Chittagong three years ago.
The real test comes with England, who arrive at the start of February for three tests and five ODIs plus a handful of provincial games.
In 41 tests at home to England, New Zealand have won just three - the famous first at the Basin in 1978, the innings clean-up at Lancaster Park in 1984 when the English gave up, and most recently at Eden Park in 2002. It's a poor return but this England team is distinctly beatable.
Going into their second test against the Sri Lankans, they have lost seven of their last 13 tests and won three. To be fair five were in the Ashes nightmare a year ago. Their only wins were against the ordinary West Indians a few months ago.
This could be the final chance to see New Zealand's most capped player, and leading test runmaker, Stephen Fleming on home soil. He will fancy leaving with a flourish.
And Bracewell will welcome having a full hand to play with, and that means a fit and firing Shane Bond. Beating England will ease the test heat on Bracewell. Defeat shouldn't enter the thinking. An important summer beckons.
