Losing to New Zealand is 'unthinkable' - Cook

Losing to New Zealand is unthinkable, says former England captain Geoffrey Boycott. And it certainly is for current skipper Alastair Cook who faced the press today suddenly under scrutiny for the first time in his brief tenure.

Cook leads England tonight in his first home series since taking over from Andrew Strauss last year, having achieved a memorable win in India then a speed wobble when drawing 0-0 in New Zealand.

Back home, and with a Champions Trophy then five-test Ashes series in the UK to follow, and the heat is on England who still carry the world's No 2 test ranking, just ahead of India.

They haven't lost a May test at Lord's since the early season internationals were introduced in 2000. And Boycott, writing in The Telegraph, felt the two tests were pivotal for England's summer.

"Playing poorly against New Zealand would be the worst possible build-up for the Ashes. Losing is unthinkable. We must win to gain confidence which will go a long way to erasing the memory of mistakes made in New Zealand and leave our players and the whole cricketing public feeling good about our team with the Ashes to come," Boycott wrote.

Boycott said England lost their focus in New Zealand, took a 10-day "holiday" in Queenstown and forgot what made them No 1 in the world.

"Every touring team is excited to play at Lord's. It is a special place with a wonderful history and many cricketers from abroad realise they may only get one chance to play a test match at the mecca of cricket. So for New Zealand it is a huge occasion and they are really up for the game, so we had better be ready."

England are without star batsman Kevin Pietersen and have a young middle order in the unproven Jonny Bairstow and batting prodigy Joe Root. The latter showed his class in New Zealand then cracked 179 for England A against a frontline tourists' attack in Leicester last weekend. Much will rest on their pace spearhead James Anderson who was below his best in New Zealand but is formidable in English conditions.

Cook was guarded and gave nothing away as he fulfilled his separate radio, television and print media requirements today.

He said there was no danger of his side taking New Zealand lightly and looking towards the Ashes.

"I think we can win, of course I do. But you never know, it could be a 0-0 because eight days are washed out so that's why you've got to be very careful. I want us to play some good cricket."

Asked if their poor performance in New Zealand was due to poor attitude and complacency, Cook said: "I don't think it was a lack of effort, or a lack of application. I remember talking to Andy [Flower, England coach] and saying I think we've had a really good preparation period, we're ready to play. We'd won the one-day series; the guys were in form... it certainly wasn't to do with lack of attitude."