CHRISTCHURCH, March 12: New Zealand will fight to redress the “slur” that belittled their last series victory over England when the first Test starts here Wednesday.

Kiwi captain Stephen Fleming believes the 2-1 series win in England in 1999 was given scant respect by some who treated it as a humiliation for the English to lose to New Zealand.

The 1999 victory was only New Zealand’s third win in 28 series encounters against England.

“It’s certainly nothing personal against any English players, it’s just a general feeling we have,” Fleming said.

Teams (from):

New Zealand — Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Ian Butler, Chris Drum, Matt Horne, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Adam Parore, Mark Richardson, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

England — Nasser Hussain (captain), Usman Afzaal, Mark Butcher, Andrew Caddick, Richard Dawson, Andrew Flintoff, James Foster, Ashley Giles, Warren Hegg, Matthew Hoggard, Mark Ramprakash, Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan, Craig White.

Umpires: Bill Bowden (New Zealand) and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka).

Match referee: Jackie Hendriks (West Indies).—AFP