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Pietersen and Vaughan crucial to England's Test success in New Zealand

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Pablo Luna - Moonlighting for Betfair. Pablo tells us why the skipper, Kevin Pietersen and Cook will need to be at their best in next month's Test series

I find myself very pessimistic and depressed about the current England Test team. I have thought about a current World XI and not one of the English players are within a hundred miles of a place in that team: Hayden, Jayawardene, Ponting, Tendulkar, Laxman, Symonds, Gilchrist, Lee, Clark, Steyn and Muralitharan. I wonder what my colleague Andrew Hughes would say or pick?

If asked who the three most important players for England on the 2008 New Zealand tour are, I'd go Alistair Cook, Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen. Getting the side off to a good start is imperative in Test Cricket and England will be hoping that Cook and Vaughan handle the new ball, score heavily and set up the game for Pietersen. Of course that is very simplistic.

Alistair Cook (born 25 December 1984 in Gloucester) is not the finished article but was the first Englishman to score seven centuries before his 23rd birthday. He is called a conversion batsman - once he gets a fifty, he gets a hundred, which shows a touch of class. In 24 Tests he has an average of 45.02 with 8 fifties and 7 hundreds. However, I do not consider this elegant left-hander an ODI player.

I do like his attitude to Test cricket however and have been impressed with his tons abroad against good teams as opposed to 'minnow pilfering'. The time has come for him to change from boy to man and take his top score of 127 to 177 especially against these weak New Zealanders. He should be looking for two centuries on this tour.

Michael Vaughan (Born 29 October 1974 in Eccles, Salford) is the current captain of England and the golden boy has a fair bit to prove right now. He cannot dine out on the 2005 Ashes Series anymore. As captain it is time for him to catch-up and get the team to play to its optimum. I would prefer a more aggressive steely approach rather than the 'namby pamby hoity toity I'm thinking' approach. He could start with sorting out softie Steve Harmison!

One of the most elegant batsmen in the world, his 73-match Test career includes 17 fifties and 17 hundreds at an average of 43.54. With his latent quality I think there should be a lot more fifties and a few more centuries in those statistics. To prove the point he has played in 86 ODI's and not scored a single century. His batting average is an embarrassing 27.15. How did that happen? Has he been accommodated within the England set up? I think he might have been...

New Zealand cricket grounds are famous for being small and while size is not everything, a certain Kevin Pietersen might take a shine to them. It is time for him to truly build his career with match-winning innings. No one wants to see him shackled but he has to realise his huge potential.

He must forget cameos. He does not transfer his talent into hard core runs. It is not only shot selection or the premeditated stride but an attitude of mind that is the barrier. Will someone knock on his door and tell him to build an innings and that there is loads of time to do so in this format? Had he been playing for Australia he would have been sorted out mentally! The English management are soft on him and there lies another problem!

Kevin Pietersen (born 27 June 1980 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, South Africa) has played in 33 Tests scoring 10 fifties and 10 hundreds at an average of 50.40. Only two centuries have been scored abroad so he must be due at least one in New Zealand. I will maintain the faith and back him to top score for England. Keep your eye on the forthcoming Betfair markets.

In the 1st Test England are favourites at [2.06] with the Kiwis trading at [4.3]. The draw is [2.56]. To win the Test Series England are even shorter at [1.82] with the Kiwi's at [4.1] with a drawn series trading at [4.5]. Prices with Betfair.

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