Jamie How: "I guess one day captaining New Zealand would be the ultimate" © Getty Images Enlarge

Jamie How, who will captain New Zealand in the first two tour games in England next month, said leading the team would be a great honour, but he has talked down his chances of being next in line behind Daniel Vettori. Five players have been given permission to join the tour late to appear in the Indian Premier League and How will be in charge for the first week.

"It's obviously an honour, but I am the first to admit there's a massive chunk of experience missing from the side with the guys away playing in the IPL," How told Sunday News. "Half the team is away. It's a pretty unique circumstance but it's great the selectors have the confidence in me to do the job in the first couple of games."

Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills will be missing from the national team while undertaking their lucrative Twenty20 duties. How, a top-order batsman who has played in nine Tests, said there was no pressing need to consider future full-time leaders.

"There's a lot of water to go under the bridge before I would ever be considered a possible captain of this side," he said. "Let's not forget that both Dan and Brendon are young guys despite the fact they've played a lot of cricket.

"Everyone dreams of playing for New Zealand and I guess one day captaining New Zealand would be the ultimate. That's a long way down the track and I'm still primarily focused on securing my spot."

Richard Hadlee, the chairman of selectors, said the move was a "stop-gap measure" and How was the logical choice. "Jamie is starting to cement his place in the side now," Hadlee said, "and hopefully he can handle the two roles for a short period of time."