/world sport
LONDON, England (AP) -- Matthew Hoggard has been left out of the England lineup for the first Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday at Lord's.
Hoggard was named in England's squad for the Lord's Test but left out of the side.
That means England will rely on the team that beat the Black Caps in the third Test in New Zealand in March to complete a come-from-behind 2-1 series triumph.
"It is going to be the same team that won our last Test in Napier," said captain Michael Vaughan.
"Hopefully it will be a similar performance and a similar result."
Yorkshire swing bowler Hoggard was dropped during the series in New Zealand and -- despite some impressive performances this season -- England have decided to rely on a pace attack of Ryan Sidebottom, Stuart Broad and James Anderson with Monty Panesar as the spinner.
England's loss in the first Test in Hamilton was a warning as to what can happen if the home team takes things easy. However, they rallied to win the next two Tests and are expected to overwhelm the inexperienced tourists.
"If we're going to beat South Africa, we're going to have to move up a level," said England's South African-born batsman Kevin Pietersen. "That's going to be our toughest series for a long time.
"But we're not even talking about South Africa yet. We want to beat New Zealand well and that's the main priority. When we're finished with that, it's time for South Africa."
New Zealand received a pre-Test boost when skipper Daniel Vettori was passed fit to play despite an injury to his spinning finger.
Vettori, who is also a dangerous lower-order batsman, missed the warmup match against the England Lions last week.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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