Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

June

2-6 1st Test, Lord's (11:00 BST)

10-14 2nd Test, Edgbaston (11:00 BST)

Two Tests, covid willing.

Anyway, what I was going to say is Haseeb is back! He stops scoring single figures for a couple of games and he's back. They must really want him in the side.

Poor Ben Foakes is injured and out. Sam Billings is going sub for James Bracey. Foakes is out for three months.

Joe Root (Yorkshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Sam Billings (Kent), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Zak Crawley (Kent), Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

I predict: Sibley/Burns/Crawley/Root/Pope/Lawrence/Bracey/Robinson/Wood/Leach/Anderson.

Haseeb/Billings/Overton/Stone/Broad

Next week, highlights on BBC.

Can't see NZ squad, but the estimable BJ Watling will retire after this series.

No Stokes, Buttler or Archer of course.

Here we go.

Blundell, Boult, Bracewell, Conway, de Grandhomme, Duffy, Henry, Jamieson, Latham, Mitchell, Nicholls, Patel, Ravinda, Santner, Southee, Taylor, Wagner, Watling, WIlliamson, Young.

Might be a few of those on their first tour of England.

Seems to be a doubt over Trent Boult.

Young might get into that first line up after scoring back to back hundreds for Durham

just noticed no YJB in the squad

Must be IPL related because there's no Woakes or Curran either

Wasn't the IPL cancelled?

Yes but all the England IPL players had to quarantine for 2 weeks once they got back to England. So are not being picked for first test as will be short of match practice/fitness.

Slightly surprised (but glad for my fantasy team) that Steve Davies is not getting a look in for WK spot. I'd rather have him than Billings for a Test.

Should have come back via Turkey and they could have been playing the next day.

or the Maldives via the Seychelles

This should be an interesting series. Looking forward to this, as well as the test championship.

It's a long time since I have seen any cricket, let alone test cricket.

Great to see Robbo in an England Uniform. Just hoping he does his immense talent justice.

Ex Yorkshire I notice.

No spinner?

I thought England weren't going to pick A&B together anymore.

Debuts for Conway and Bracey too. Good luck to them. Feels like NZ have burned through a lot of openers in recent times.