McCullum has been a sensation as an opener in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, moving down the pitch to the pace bowlers to flay the ball with a mixture of the orthodox and the outlandish.

“We have to acknowledge he is one of our best batsmen, he’s always down at seven,” New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori told a news conference on Wednesday.

“He can still do a job as one of the best keepers in the world and now we are giving him a chance to be one of the best middle-order batsmen in the world.

I think five is a nice balance because he’s such an aggressive player.” McCullum scored 96 at number three in the second innings of the Lord’s test four years ago when the New Zealand order was reshuffled after Nathan Astle fell sick. Since then he has been the regular number seven between Jacob Oram and Vettori.

New Zealand squandered a 1-0 series lead at home this year against England, losing the final two matches of the series mainly through the frailties of their upper-order batting.

PROMISING START They have made a good start to their short England tour with number three James Marshall scoring a century in the win over Essex while opener Aaron Redmond scored 146 and 64 in the draw with the English Lions.

“New Zealand cricket has been crying out for a long time for a top three or four who are extremely consistent,” Vettori said.

England will field the side who won the final test of the last series in Napier, keeping faith with James Anderson ahead of Matthew Hoggard who was dropped after the Hamilton defeat.

“We have won a series with these guys,” Vaughan said. “They have come in and done well.” Vaughan will drop down the order to number three after a disappointing series in New Zealand with Andrew Strauss moving to his preferred spot of opener alongside Alastair Cook.

“It’s very important that I score runs,” Vaughan said. “I have always preferred batting at number three as a captain. My record at three is quite good.”

Teams: England - Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Michael Vaughan (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose, Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar and James Anderson.

New Zealand: Jamie How, Aaron Redmond, James Marshall, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (captain), Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Iain O’Brien and Chris Martin.