New Zealand cricket team in England in 2004 meant that Marcus Trescothick was named as the stand-in captain and Andrew Strauss was called into the team to make his debut. After scoring 112 in the first innings, becoming only the fourth player to score a debut century at Lord's, and 83 in the second, Strauss was named the player of the match. The opening match of the series was also significant because it was the final match of former England captain Nasser Hussain's career, he made 103 not out in England's second innings and hit the winning runs. The players of the series were named as Steve Harmison
New Zealand cricket team in England in 1958 years saw what was probably the weakest of the Test-playing nations taking on the side that could probably claim to be the strongest. In home series England had successively beaten Australia and the West Indies, and a combination of fast bowling from Brian Statham, Fred Trueman and others, spin bowling from Jim Laker and Tony Lock, and apparently reliable batting led by captain Peter May, Colin Cowdrey and Tom Graveney had made them a formidable side. By contrast, New Zealand had undoubted batting class in Bert Sutcliffe, a determined captain in all-rounder John Reid, and some relatively unknown and untried