So where are England now?
The men’s team rocked up in Queenstown, New Zealand earlier this week (the women and Lions are in South Africa, where they will also be joined by the Under-19s in the coming days). They will play a two-day tour match over the weekend, leading into the first Test, which starts at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday.
Yes, that’s right. Their white-ball tour concluded on Sunday, when the fifth T20I against West Indies in St Lucia was abandoned as a washout. That tour began with an ODI on October 31, just days after the end of the Rawalpindi Test in Pakistan, which meant several multi-format players – such as Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse – couldn’t be involved in the trip to the Caribbean.
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Yes and, presumably, yes. England suffered a chastening 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, despite racking up 823 for 7 in a crushing victory in the first Test. A switch of tactics from the home side saw England’s batters come thoroughly unstuck against the unlikely lags spin pairing of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. After his team lost the deciding third Test, Brendon McCullum referenced the quick turnaround to this tour, saying “it would be nice to bounce back in New Zealand”.
Presumably they haven’t made wholesale changes after Pakistan?
Correct. The McCullum-Stokes axis is all about giving players backing – all the more so since their major goals are winning against India at home next summer, before trying to regain the Ashes in Australia. There was only one change to the squad for New Zealand, with Jacob Bethell called up as the spare batter due to Jamie Smith’s absence on paternity leave; they have kept the faith to the extent that the three frontline spinners who went to Pakistan – Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed – are all on this trip, too.
It was last time. England rattled along in the prescribed manner to win the day-night Test in Mount Maunganui before the less high-profile of Stokes’ unsuccessful declarations in 2023 saw them become only the second team in history to lose a Test by one run at Basin Reserve.
Yep. Aside from England’s aforementioned drought in the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand will come in off the back of whitewashing India 3-0 in India, without the services of Kane Williamson. Which, as Brian Clough would probably put it, might not be the greatest Test series win of all time, but it’s in the top one.
It certainly has. While England have slipped well out of contention, New Zealand are hovering just outside the top two after picking up maximum points in India. If they can do the same at home to England, it would push their win percentage up to 64.29% and give them a decent chance of reaching the final for the second time in three cycles.
New Zealand have been going through something of a transition period – they lost an unbeaten home record that stretched back to 2017 when Australia went there and won 2-0 earlier this year – but Tom Latham’s stint as permanent captain could not have got off to a better start. Williamson will be back for the England series, and while they have moved on from Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson is still sidelined by back problems, Matt Henry has had his most prolific year in Tests and Will O’Rourke looks a frighteningly good prospect.
Yes! This will also be Tim Southee’s final Test series before retirement. Southee, who turns 36 between the second and third Tests, gave up the captaincy last month and has now decided to bow out on his own terms, against the same opposition as when he made his debut almost 17 years ago. He will finish as New Zealand’s second-leading wicket-taker in Tests, behind Richard Hadlee – and is probably just too far shy of catching McCullum’s six-hitting mark, too.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo