Rob Key leaves for New Zealand on Saturday at the start of a big year for him.

The 29-year-old Kent skipper leads the Lions on a five week trip aiming to enhance his prospects of an Ashes call-up this summer.

Key has split his time with working in the indoor nets at Canterbury and the National Academy at Loughborough preparing for his first trip to the country in a party that also includes county team-mates Joe Denly and Amjad Khan.

They play two games against New Zealand Emerging Players, two four-day and two one-days and a Twenty20 against New Zealand A.

He said: “It’s a place I have never been and don’t know what to expect. It’s a situation where every player on the trip will want to perform and be the next cab off the rank in the England team.

“I want to play as well as well as I can and the captaincy is a bonus. Joe and Amjad will also be keen to do well. They were both in India last year and Amjad got his call-up for the senior squad.”