So where is Britain now?
The men’s team played in Queenstown, New Zealand earlier this week. The women’s national team and the Lions are in South Africa, with the under-19 team set to join them in the coming days. They will play two days of tour matches over the weekend, leading up to the first Test starting at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday.
Yes, that’s right. Their white-ball tour ended on Sunday with the fifth T20I against West Indies in St Lucia being abandoned due to defeat. The tour began with an ODI on October 31, just a few days after the Rawalpindi Test in Pakistan. This meant that several multi-format performers such as Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse were unable to perform. Take a trip to the Caribbean.
Yes, probably. England were thrashed 2-1 in Pakistan despite a resounding win in the first Test, posting 7-823. The home side’s tactical switch left England’s batsmen completely destroyed against the unexpected delayed spin combination of Sajid Khan and Norman Ali. After his team lost the decisive third Test, Brendon McCullum said, “It will be good to get back to New Zealand,” referring to the quick turnaround on this tour.
correct. The McCullum-Stokes axis is about providing support to athletes. This is especially true as their main target is to win against India at home next summer and try to reclaim the Ashes in Australia. There was only one change to the New Zealand squad, with Jacob Bethell called up as a reserve batsman due to Jamie Smith being on paternity leave. They kept the faith so much that even the three frontline spinners (Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed) who went to Pakistan attended the trip.
It was last time. England rattled off in regulation fashion to win the day-night Test at Mount Maunganui before receiving less attention for Stokes’ failed declaration in 2023, becoming only the second team in history to lose a Test at the Basin Reserve by one run.
yes. Barring England’s aforementioned drought in the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand would fall behind to beat India 3-0 in India without the help of Kane Williamson. As Brian Clough said, it’s probably not the greatest Test series win of all time, but it’s up there.
It certainly is. While England are well out of contention, New Zealand remain just outside the top two after taking maximum points from India. If they can do the same at home against England, their win percentage will rise to 64.29% and they will have a decent chance of reaching the final for the second time in three periods.
New Zealand is going through a transition of sorts. Australia lost their unbeaten home record dating back to 2017 when they won 2-0 earlier this year. However, Tom Latham’s period as permanent captain could not be followed by an unbeaten run. This is a good place to start. Williamson is set to return for the England series, moving on from Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson is still sidelined with a back problem, but Matt Henry has had his most prolific Test year and Will O’Rourke looks a surprisingly good prospect.
yes! This would also be Tim Southee’s last 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 step down on his own terms, facing the same opposition as he did when he made his debut almost 17 years ago. He would finish as New Zealand’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests behind Richard Hadlee and would probably be too shy of catching McCullum’s record of six.
