England v New Zealand Test Series 2026

[Arthur Crabtree]

Acko ruins Robbo's 10-fer.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Well, 4-7. I think that's called making a point.

[Durhamfootman]

Quite the day

not the day that most would have expected, I imagine..... 201-16

[sussexpob]

Ollie Robinson now in the top 20 all time lowest averaging test bowlers for people who have taken as many wickets as him. We dropped this man for 2 years... let that sink in. Let that idiocy wash over you and judge it for what it is.....one wicket before 15 runs, he will be the best performing player since WWII for England...

Not fit enough, not quick enough to "buy" a wicket.....

In one over Robinson proved why everyone involved in dropping him should have been fired before stumps. I guess they now will bask in his redemption like bringing him back was a genius idea.... when dropping him was historical stupidity in the first place.

[sussexpob]

But hell, I need to be more Alfie now. Focus on the positives....

I cant remember many passages of play I enjoyed more than that. Our lad on a redemption mission, three wickets in the first over. You can't write this stuff. Always a pleasure to see a Sussex lad come good in a test, multiple times more when its sticking up a finger to Rob Key....

Well done Robbo.

[Durhamfootman]

Indeed

he did very well

There is even the chance that England take a first innings lead after being bowled out in less than 40 overs. He did that and yes he did it in extremely helpful conditions, but on the merry go round of punter's alternative picks, nobody can turn around and say that their boy would also have done that.

[bigfluffylemon]

Weird day. Are England trying to replicate Perth? That's not going to go well...

Wonder if the pitch will be penalized?

[Durhamfootman]

I asked that question earlier... tongue in cheek. There is absolutely no chance of that imo

[alfie]

Seriously I do hope everyone is going to acknowledge how difficult batting was today on that pitch in poor light ? To anyone who knows anything about cricket it should have been obvious from the start that this was a day for the bowlers. Doesn't mean some of the batting couldn't have been better but honestly online "experts" - I include some BBC online text staff - need to learn the difference between sitting in a studio and actually facing good seam bowling under lights...

NZ bowled really well , so that losing Henry early hardly hurt them. (Will hope he is back for the second dig though !) Brook the only bat to make anything and he rode his luck - of which you needed some today. Don't know what Ravindra thought he was doing jumping to try and catch in the outfield ! 140 I always felt was competitive if they could get at NZ in similar conditions and so it proved.

Wonderful return for Robinson : was very happy for him as he has by his own account worked hard to get back into the side and this was a fitting reward for effort - and an excellent mastery of length in favourable conditions. Entitled to a bit of luck in getting two marginal lbw decisions with Tucker giving them on field (though both looked pretty good live , especially the second). Keep this up and he is going to fill that Anderson shaped gap in the attack , much as I'd hoped he would a few short years ago. Of course I don't think anyone has ever questioned his skill : his problem was that his body didn't allow him to consistently come back for multiple spells effectively over five day matches when conditions were less kind to seam bowlers : that won't be an issue in this match but we will no doubt see how well he has fixed it later in the summer. That is for the future : he can sleep well on 4/7 , I think

Atkinson and Tongue also very much on the ball. NZ will be relieved not to have lost any more after that 29/6 and if batting is easier on Friday England will need to press hard to ensure they don't waste their current advantage. Game still has a long way to go.

Always enjoy the odd day of bowler domination ; and given the weather forecast probably just as well 16 wickets fell if we hope to see a result.

Highlight of the day though has to be Bashir's brilliant 14 achieving the third top score for England at eleven

[Arthur Crabtree]

Highlight of the day though has to be Bashir's brilliant 14 achieving the third top score for England at eleven ;)

Played Bash.

Probably not going to bowl though. I always like a spinner, but if they were ever going to not pick one, it would be this game.

[Durhamfootman]

Seriously I do hope everyone is going to acknowledge how difficult batting was today on that pitch in poor light ? To anyone who knows anything about cricket it should have been obvious from the start that this was a day for the bowlers.

The first ball of the day to Duckett grubbed through to the keeper off a length. The first ball..... and others were rearing up, so in addition to the sideways movement, there was uneven bounce from ball 1

Horrible day to be a batter, great day to be a bowler. Henry will be rueing his back spasm, because there were wickets a plenty there for him

The acid test for Robinson will come on a flat deck at the Oval, with NZ batting a day and a half, and bowlers having to bowl 3 or 4 spells with the ball getting flatter and the sun beating down. He's acknowledged that this has been a problem for him in the past, says he's been working hard on his fitness and that there is still a lot of work for him to do. I wish him well, because England have been missing this type of opening blitz since the retirement of Broad and the forcing out of Anderson

[sussexpob]

Seriously I do hope everyone is going to acknowledge how difficult batting was today on that pitch in poor light ? To anyone who knows anything about cricket it should have been obvious from the start that this was a day for the bowlers. Doesn't mean some of the batting couldn't have been better but honestly online "experts" - I include some BBC online text staff - need to learn the difference between sitting in a studio and actually facing good seam bowling under lights...

Steven Finn bowled for 17 seasons at this venue, and said during the first rain break that the pitch was in no way atypical or noteworthily difficult, and someone else pointed out that this deck was used in the Durham CC game and 1000 runs were scored at the half-way point in the game. And from my own observations having watched all of Robinson's bowling this year, I would say the movement off the deck from the seam and the lift was below average for him, only at the Oval v Surrey has he moved the ball less.

Now you are right. The changeable light and weather contributes to difficulty, as with recent weather I would guess the Durham game was played in glorious unseasonal temperatures? But does cloud cover and mirky light really turn 440 played 567 into 140 plays 61/6 ??? I remain to be convinced. There are some examples of uneven bounce, but I am not sure you can say there is evidence of consistent and extravagant movement. And I am not sure you can make the case that many of the batters have met their end because of it. Josh Tongue's final wicket of the day I think kept a bit low. Duckett's ball might have jagged and kept a little low, but repeat viewing leaves me less convinced. Jamie Smith's ball did seam and keep a bit low, but I think there is still a debate on the merit of the leave. Mitchell's leave to Robbo was gun-barrel straight, it was just a bad misjudgement.

[sussexpob]

I mean, am I more inclined to think this is just an example of what happens when you expose modern day "trigger and anchor" style T20 batting to any level of difficulty. Out of both teams, who got out to the ball actually getting a stride in and moving forward to the ball? I think Bethell was probably the only one by memory, and he played a ball hitting middle and leg down on a 5th stump outside of off line, his head nowhere near on top of the ball.

What we seen all day from both sets of batters is, shuffle into position from leg to the offside, set the feet, no stride into the ball or foot movement reacting to the length. Duckett played round one, Gay tried to fire his hips to get forward with static feet, Stokes pushes the hands out to the ball with a canyon between bat and pad, Smith didn't even move. Even Kane Willamson got stuck with his feet in cement. Someone like Dave Warner was arguably the first guy I remember to bring this style. Shift into a fixed, strong position as a base to manufacture shots from... he was legendarily terrible to any lateral movement in the air or to seam. And this is what we see when this style is brought to the table by others.

If you just sit in the crease with static feet, then of course any form of seam off the pitch is going to trouble you. You have no way to react to it, the only thing you have is to flick your hands in the general direction, maybe counter to the weight distribution on your feet.

England have produced dead tracks for Bazball hitting in recent years. Someone ponies up a pitch with a little spice, and people scream of ICC sanctions or its unfit. I reckon in 1998 a decent test side wouldn't blink an eyelid at a pitch like this, they'd probably like their chances of making a few. I mean, just go back and watch people like Gus Fraser vs the Saffers in 1998 with the ball seaming and bouncing all over in games with 250 plus scores, and tell me this in comparison is sub-par. Its batting technique in 2026 that's subpar.

Its the same for the Kiwi's too. NZ pitches have become the easiest in history (statistically proven on last check) in the 2nd innings of games. They too have crumbled when put on anything but the flattest of roads.

[sussexpob]

Tongue castles Phillips instantly.... looks like the rest are going to have a slap now

[andy]

Smith leaves a straight ball! 77-8