They have taken the Test cricketing world by storm by winning nine of their 10 matches since Rob Key put Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum together with English cricket at one of its lowest ebbs. 

Now they will take on New Zealand in the first Test at Mount Maunganui on Thursday looking to extend that remarkable run in their last Test assignment of the winter. 

Here, Paul Newman in Hamilton looks at where England are at ahead of this two-Test series.

Set in stone

There is no uncertainty at all over the England batting, with the top seven for this series set in stone. 

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will be given the chance to build on their successful opening partnership forged in the 3-0 triumph over Pakistan, Ollie Pope is now established at three and being talked of as the next captain while Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes are secure in their favourite positions of four, six and seven.

Then there is a batter who now looks certain to feature in the first choice line-up of every England team in every format for at least the next 10 years in Harry Brook at five. 

What a player Brook is now looking, as he again showed in the two-day warm-up game here in Hamilton when he smashed nine sixes, five of them in successive balls off leg-spinner Adi Ashok, in his 97 as McCullum brought 'Bazball' back to his native land.

What a twist of fate for Brook the freak injury to Jonny Bairstow last summer that gave him his chance now looks and how difficult it will now be for Stokes and McCullum to accommodate Bairstow when he is fit again this summer.

But accommodate Bairstow, who has started running again after badly breaking his ankle slipping on a golf tee, England will because he was one of the biggest stars of the last transformative summer and that will make for a fascinating sub-plot in this series.

It is impossible to leave Brook out so attention will turn to Duckett and Crawley who will have to keep on performing – otherwise it is conceivable to see Bairstow opening in the Ashes this summer. 

The only other alternative is for the Yorkshireman to come in for Foakes and take back the gloves he so reluctantly gave up in the first place. No scenario is perfect but Bairstow must somehow come straight back in when he is fit again.

The old firm

How reassuring it was to see both Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, who has returned to the England squad here after missing the Pakistan tour to be at the birth of his first child, running in with the pink ball against a New Zealand XI in the warm-up game. 

And how incredible it now is to think that both were left out of England's tour of the Caribbean last year as part of the ill-fated 'red-ball re-set' under Root and Chris Silverwood.

What a huge mistake that was. Both the old titans have been rejuvenated by the new positive regime and both have had a spring in their step in the early days of this tour. 

Expect both to play under lights in Mount Maunganui even though both Matthew Potts and Olly Stone made a strong claim to start this series with their displays in the warm-up.

Ollie Robinson is another certainty, as is Jack Leach who, for now at least, remains the No 1 spinner even though the teenager Rehan Ahmed made a spectacular introduction to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul on debut in the last Test against Pakistan in Karachi.

Stokes will balance the attack even though he decided to miss the warm-up game and is still clearly struggling with that chronic left knee injury he somehow continues to overcome to have such a huge impact on his team. 

At some point Stokes will have to have an operation but he has been charging in bowling during lengthy net sessions here and can be expected to play a full part in England's attack.

Doing it their way

At any other time eyebrows would have been raised at the way England have prepared for this series. First McCullum took them off to Arrowtown on the picturesque south island for four days of golf. 

Then after three days' practice at Mount Maunganui they decided to cancel a second planned practice match at Seddon Park after cutting short the first day of their only warm-up game by 20 overs when they decided they'd had enough batting.

And on Saturday McCullum could be seen at the Te Rapa racing track cheering on his horse Defibrillate in the big group one race – it came fourth - when he was originally supposed to be overseeing a practice match in Hamilton.

It is unconventional but whatever it is he and Stokes are doing to prepare this England team it is working spectacularly. So it certainly won't be questioned just yet!

Biggest opponent?

It is not just New Zealand England will have to overcome in the Bay of Plenty this week. There might also be a formidable opponent in the form of Cyclone Gabrielle that is due to hit the north island of New Zealand over the next two or three days.

New Zealanders have been warned to make sure they have enough food and supplies to last three days in case they cannot go out and it is inevitable England's preparations will be affected in some way even though there are indoor facilities for practice at Mount Maunganui. 

The worry is that so much rain may fall the ground will become waterlogged ahead of Thursday's start and turn it into a shortened match – not that England have needed all five days to win in many of their games over the last nine months.

In the pink

The pink ball hasn't been kind to England – after winning their first day-night Test they have lost their last five, including when they were dismissed for 58 by New Zealand in Auckland in 2018. 

They have not won any Tests in New Zealand since 2008 when a certain Anderson and Broad first came together in a come from behind 2-1 series win. 

But they will never have a better chance than now, with McCullum aiming to show his countrymen just want a brilliant job he is doing for England.