With England hosting the Champions Trophy next summer, their ambition to win a first trophy in the 50-overs format has again been sharpened. The New Zealand itinerary, which comprises three matches in each of the three formats, offers Woakes an opportunity to press his claims in conditions that - although he does not sound convinced - will not be too dissimilar to those he would experience in England next summer. 

Almost unnoticed, while England were winning a Test series in India, Woakes gained experience of New Zealand conditions in a brief spell with Wellington before Christmas. He stood out in T20 with runs and wickets in two separate fixtures against Central Districts. 

"I came out here trying to get used to conditions before Christmas and get some cricket under my belt," he said. "I hope that'll stand me in good stead. The pitches here are quite bouncy and generally quite true, not so English-like in terms of seam movement." 

As well as his one-day ambitions, Woakes knows that it would not take too much for him to make a Test debut in the three-match series, which concludes the tour.

Scores in a Twenty20 warm-up match between New Zealand XI and England here on Tuesday:
England
M. Lumb c Devcich b Butler 25 A. Hales c Beard b Henry 2 L. Wright st Ronchi b Beard 44 E. Morgan not out 48 J. Buttler not out 57 Extras (6lb, 3w, 1nb) 10 Total (3 wickets, 20 overs) 186

Fall of wickets: 1-25 (Hales), 2-48 (Lumb), 3-109 (Wright)

Bowling: Henry 4-0-28-1, Bates 4-0-39-0, Ellis 4-0-37-0, Beard 4-0-33-1, Butler 4-0-43-1

New Zealand XI
H. Rutherford c Lumb b Woakes 9 A. Devcich c Morgan b Woakes 5 T. Latham run out (Lumb) 22 N. Broom b Dernbach 23 C. Munro b Dernbach 55 L. Ronchi c Dernbach b Woakes 12 A. Ellis c Bairstow b Broad 8 I. Butler c Hales b Broad 0 M. Henry c Buttler b Broad 3 M. Bates c Buttler b Dernbach 1 N. Beard not out 0 Extras (1lb, 1w) 2 Total (10 wickets, 19.5 overs) 140

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Devcich), 2-17 (Rutherford), 3-45 (Latham) 4-73 (Broom), 5-109 (Ronci), 6-136 (Munro) 7-136 (Ellis), 8-136 (Butler) 9-136 (Henry) 10-140 (Bates)

Bowling: Broad 4-1-22-3, Woakes 4-0-27-3, Dernbach 3.5-0-24-3, Wright 3-0-30-0, Patel 1-0-4-0, Tredwell 4-0-32-0

Result: England win by 46 runs
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