Alastair Cook must set aside a welter of hopes and fears when he arrives at Lord's this morning for his first home Test as England captain.

The hopes, of course, will be that his team can banish the memories of their 0-0 stalemate in New Zealand to beat the same opposition in a two-Test rematch and set the tone for a summer of unprecedented high profile in English cricket.

The fears – not that Cook would choose to describe them as such –emanate from that disappointment, and avoidance of series defeat by the narrowest of margins, against the Kiwis two months ago.

Theories, and accusations, have abounded since Matt Prior scrambled England to safety in Auckland, that they paid the price in those three March Tests for initial complacency which immediately put them under pressure.

With successive Ashes series looming, and a Champions Trophy on home soil thrown in for good measure next month, the need for a reassuringly good start here could hardly be more urgent.

Cook, preparing for his eighth Test as permanent captain and 10th in all but his debut in charge in his own country, has been engaged in a series of team and management meetings to identify how England get back on the track which helped them win in India last year for the first time in three decades.

None of those summits, he insists however, have been out of the ordinary at the start of a Test summer. "It's always serious, isn't it? We're in a serious industry here. Look at the beginning of every summer – you have those meetings outlining your plans, the way you want to go about things and the challenge ahead – and we've obviously got some challenges ahead of us."

Cook is not afraid of plain speaking, behind closed doors at any rate, but insists that was not necessarily the agenda of recent weeks.

"There's always times when you've got to have a few harsh words, but I don't think we should go down that route. Those meetings weren't about that kind of stuff, it's just about trying to produce our goods over these two weeks.

"Anyone who plays for England, whether you're the captain or the coach, you expect high standards – and when those high standards aren't met, that's an opportune moment to be cross."

Cook believes it would be wrong to fixate on England's under- performance in New Zealand, and forget about their success in India.

"We didn't play as well in New Zealand as we did in India, I think that's pretty clear to everyone but the performance in India shouldn't be forgotten. That was an outstanding achievement. I think 14 guys played in that series, and I think that was a fine achievement, so we shouldn't just brush that under the carpet."The New Zealand captain, Brendon McCullum, has confirmed that the spinner Bruce Martin and the seamer Doug Bracewell are going head-to-head for a place in the starting line-up.

Martin played all three drawn games against England in New Zealand earlier this year but, with unsettled weather conditions in London, the Black Caps are pondering an all-seam attack.

That brings Bracewell back into the equation after a spell out of the XI that initially started when he cut a foot while cleaning up after a party at his house. Bracewell had been hoping to nudge ahead of Neil Wagner in the pecking order, but he has performed strongly in the tourists' warm-up fixtures.

"Wagner definitely plays," said McCullum. "It's either Martin or Bracewell for the last position, otherwise it's the same team from back home. It's just a balance issue of trying to work out whether to play the four seamers or use the same set-up as the three Tests back home. That's something we have to look at in the morning before making a call.

"Overhead conditions are something we have to be aware of and we have to take into account the [weather] forecast, too.

"If the game does get shortened [by rain], you look at how that impacts on the spinner's ability to impose himself on the game. I don't think we'll lose much either way, it's just a slight tweak of the balance."