The New Zealand skipper added that his side did not have much to work off in terms of seeing their opponents in action in the Test format.

“From an Ireland point of view there’s not a huge amount of footage of Test matches so for us it’s really important for us to adapt on the go and adapt to conditions as quickly as we can.

“We’ve been here playing ODIs and T20 cricket so we have experienced this part of the world, and these conditions, before.

“Fingers crossed, the weather remains sunny like this and we can get a full game in.”

New Zealand will face England at Lord’s, the Oval and Trent Bridge in June.

“We know what we’ve got coming up in a few weeks but our focus is solely on this Test match,” emphasised the NZ captain.

Ireland’s participation in Test cricket has been sporadic at best and Latham believes they would benefit from greater exposure to that form of the sport.

“I think from a Test match point of view I guess the experience of playing more and more, you can only gain positive experiences from being in those situations.

“I think as cricketers the more first-class cricket you can play, it’s where you hone your skills.

“We play eight first-class games a year back home, which isn’t a huge amount, but it’s obviously a little more than Ireland play.”