It was not without irony that Jimmy Anderson spoke on Monday of the pivotal role his one appearance as an overseas player for Auckland had on what became the launch in New Zealand of his record-breaking strike partnership with Stuart Broad.

With Australians, led by Steve Smith, seemingly queuing up to use county cricket as preparation for this year’s Ashes, Anderson recalled how the now England coach Brendon McCullum was ‘fuming’ when he did something similar at the start of the 2008 series here.

It was a solitary appearance in New Zealand domestic cricket that ensured Anderson was ready when, with England 1-0 down in a three-match series, Michael Vaughan and Peter Moores decided to move on from the legendary Ashes winning duo of Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard and turned instead to their young guns.

The rest is England history, with Anderson in particular making an immediate impact in victory at Wellington in the second Test, England going on to win the series 2-1 and the pair becoming the most successful English new-ball partnership of all time.

Now, 15 years later, they are still going strong and, Cyclone Gabrielle permitting, look certain to take the new pink ball together here at the Bay Oval on Thursday in the first day-night Test revitalised by the methods of McCullum and Ben Stokes.

‘Baz brought that up actually,’ said Anderson as England braved the heavy rain and strong winds to get some practice under a giant marquee at the picturesque Mount Maunganui ground. ‘He wasn’t happy at the time about me playing for Auckland at all. Apparently he and the whole New Zealand team were fuming about it.

‘I think Otis Gibson (then England bowling coach) knew the coach of Auckland at the time and wanted Chris Tremlett to go and play with them. He didn’t want to so I put my hand up. It turned out to be a very good decision.

‘I didn’t set the world alight for Auckland but I bowled a lot of overs (two wickets in 38 overs), got into a good rhythm and was in a good place to play in the second Test.’

So, is Anderson ‘fuming’ that Sussex have handed Smith three matches in May to warm-up for the Ashes? Or does he share the views of Ollie Robinson who on Sunday said he could benefit more from having Smith as a team-mate at Hove than the Australian?

‘I don’t mind it,’ Anderson insisted. ‘I don’t think it will have any bearing on how many runs Smith gets in the first Test. Some people might not think it’s great the Aussies are getting time in the middle but they’ll have warm-up games anyway so I’m not fussed.’

What the leading seamer in Test history is fussed about is the batch of pink Kookaburra balls that will be used for this Test as England look to improve on a record that has seen them lose all six of their overseas day-night Tests.

‘The ones here don’t feel like a well-constructed ball,’ he said. ‘They are plasticky, they don’t shine, don’t scuff up and you can’t get reverse swing. You get seam movement with a relatively pronounced seam but they feel very different to a red or white ball.

‘I love the red ball and I think that’s how Test cricket should be played. I’m old and a traditionalist I guess. It’s not something you really look forward to, a day-night game. I don’t know who benefits from them.

I’m not a massive fan but it feels like we don’t get much say in the sort of cricket we play so we’ve got to turn up here this week regardless of whether it’s a day-night game with a pink ball or whatever. We’ve just got to try to win the game.’

Whether that game starts on time remains to be seen. The north island of New Zealand has been badly hit by the cyclone but the Bay of Plenty has avoided the worst of it – at least up until the end of England’s optional training session on Sunday.

A lot more rain is on the way and the question will be whether a ground that locals insist has an excellent drainage system can cope with a deluge that should come to an end on Tuesday. If it doesn’t and time is lost on the first day then prepare for England to get funky as they attempt to stick to their mantra of avoiding draws at pretty much all costs.

Even a weather-affected three-day game could become very entertaining the way England are playing, with New Zealand likely to match the ultra-positive approach.

‘We’re always trying to play winning cricket and for matches to have results so let’s see how it ends up,’ said New Zealand coach Gary Stead.