Matthew Hoggard has appealed for caution from England supporters should Adam Lyth be given his Test debut against New Zealand later this month.
Lyth was tipped to break into the team in the West Indies after scoring more runs than anyone else in last year's County Championship, but the selectors elected to pick Jonathan Trott, who announced his retirement earlier this week following a disappointing tour.
The in-form Alex Hales is likely to push Lyth for a spot alongside Alastair Cook at the top of the order, but Hoggard believes that facing the likes of Trent Boult and Tim Southee could make life tough for a debutant.
"Lyth is an enthusiastic player," the former England bowler told Sky Sports News. "It's fantastic to score 1,400 runs in county cricket last year, he's got to be a good player. He's got all the shots.
"He's not a nuggety opening batsman, he likes to go out and he likes to play his shots, he likes to get on with it. He's deserved his chance but he hasn't played cricket now for a number of months. We've seen Alex Hales for Notts score a lot of runs.
"It's going to be tricky. In 10 days' time we play New Zealand, to now put Adam Lyth into a Test series against some tough bowling without playing much cricket is going to be a tough baptism."
England meet the tourists in the first Test at Lord's on May 21.
Callum Mulvihill
