England v New Zealand Test Series 2026

[bigfluffylemon]

I mean - 40 innings with an average of 32 are Zak Crawley figures. And at least Crawley had a couple of tons.

Young's international record is not good, can't understand why NZ seem so keen on him. And he's 33 - not as if he's being picked for the future.

[sussexpob]

For some reason New Zealand have called up Will Young (test av 32, 0 hundreds in 40 innings) rather than play Nicholls (test av 39, 10 hundreds in 90 innings) as a replacement for Kane

Nicholls record away is outstandingly poor, even when factoring in a big tour of Zimbabwe.

[andy]

So the XI is

Gay
Duckett
Bethell
Root
Brook
Smith (wk)
Cox
Archer
Tongue
Baker
Fisher

Rew for smith if Smith's other half goes into labour

[sussexpob]

So, just so I have this right.... at a venue where the first innings score this year have been ... 520, 691, 409, 472, 622, 358/9 dec, 421 and 363, with the lowest of those totals including the somewhat unusual feat of the 9/10/11 scoring 53, 105 and 100*, we have not picked a frontline spinner?

And we have picked two express pace bowlers, one of which hasn't played a FC game all year, the other who on average only gets through 15 overs an innings through his career. Oh well, the same tactic worked at the Oval last year didn't it. Overton got canned, Bethell didn't bowl hardly a ball, and England threw away a series lead. Guess we learned from that exercise.

Lets just say this plays to the yearly statistical average (or anywhere near)..... this attack is going to be blowing out their backsides after 60 overs.

[sussexpob]

It makes the selection of Bashir in the first test harder to understand. He's been dropped without bowling a ball coming into a venue where current form suggests you need a spinner for the sole reason of keeping your pace attack from dying.

[sussexpob]

unless of course, and you alluded to it earlier, there is a darker side to this, but that suggests he needs help, rather than public humiliation, no matter what Key's personal frustrations are

Brendan McCullum's press conference today.....

"The concern is making sure Ben is fine. We need to make sure we look after him, rally around him, and in time we'll get on to those sorts of decisions. For me, I'm just making sure I'm checking in with him. That's where things sit at the moment .I'm worried about Ben. That's it. I'll leave it at that. I'm in constant communication with him, which is great. I care for him immensely. Whatever he is working through at the moment, it will be because Ben thinks that's right for dealing with what he's feeling at the moment. So my concern is Ben. He's very entitled to make his own decisions around that stuff and I encourage him to keep doing stuff like that because if it gives him some joy and some satisfaction, then that's good.

I don't want to speculate too much on things like this, but the specific language (Worried about him/concerned for him/rally round him/look after him, etc) here is concerning, especially when Rob Key hinted at this things himself last week. Maybe I am putting emphasis where there is none, but this seems to be like McCullum is saying Stokes has personal issues without directly saying it.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Weird side! Hard to compute why Bashir was picked for Lord's but not the Oval. And even in a four bowler attack, a spinner is useful to block up an end and let the pacers rotate.

Fine if they've dialled up a green pitch.

Good luck to the new boys.

[sussexpob]

Fine if they've dialled up a green pitch

In 2025, the Oval pitches in the County Championship consistently started as green tinged decks helpful for seamers, but in the 2nd innings flattened out and become better for batting. And then in the test vs India the pitch played exactly to form, with both teams out 225-250 in the first innings, and both scoring 400-370 in the second.

This year the pitches have been ridiculously green. When Sussex played at the Oval last month, it took till day 3/4 to be able to see the colour differentiation between pitch and the start of the outfield. As I said on the CC thread, pitches with that much grass aren't actually helpful, because the live grass dies or is compressed into plant matter almost instantly when play starts, and the grass ends up being a sponge that takes all the pace and bounce out the wicket. The new ball with its seam will dig in and play tricks, but as soon as you get 10-15 overs down the pitch is a road. Sussex are the only team that were blown away in the first session, and then 1000/12 followed in the next 2 days, including tailenders making multiple 100s.

If the Oval plays to form, just like it did on the dot last year, unless you win the toss, bowl, take 5 NZ wickets in the first 10 overs.... well. 4 seamers is going to be a LONG slog with no 5th viable bowler.

They must be confident the square has changed a lot in recent games. I just hope they aren't looking at the square we played on thinking it looks so green, its going to seam a metre off the deck... because it was gun-barrel straight for 70 overs per new ball.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, that's my recollection. Those pitches are quite like the ones NZ play on.

[alfie]

Weird side! Hard to compute why Bashir was picked for Lord's but not the Oval. And even in a four bowler attack, a spinner is useful to block up an end and let the pacers rotate.

Fine if they've dialled up a green pitch.

Good luck to the new boys.

Well they were never adding Bashir as a fifth rabbit to those 4 seamers... even as it is , the tail is looking like that infamous 1999 last four of Caddick Mullally Tufnell and Giddins

I wish they had gone for Rehan rather than an extra bat , even though I am far from convinced as to his bowling at Test level. Or maybe some other spinner from outside the squad who could do a bit of a holding job - but that was never happening.

Root might have to do a bit of bowling...

[Arthur Crabtree]

Fisher isn't hopeless with the bat. But hardly Chris Woakes.

[Durhamfootman]

I won't be confident going into the next test. 6 of England's side are either untested, barely tested or have played no or almost no red ball cricket since the ashes

seems like a recipe for disaster to me. I hope I'm wrong

If the Oval serves up its usual flat, tired, nothing in it 2026 style strip, then maybe that would be a good thing for England, assuming they can turn the match into a 700 plays 600 snore draw and go into the final test still 1-0 up

maybe I'm being too glass half empty and it's actually an inspired team

[Durhamfootman]

and I think the weather is set to be hot from day 2 onwards, so 4 seamers, with only a bit of part time relief, steaming in on a baking hot day working really, really hard to try and dig something, anything out of the pitch..... what could possibly go wrong?

Taking a sickie might be the best decision Robinson has made recently. He could end up being England's best bowler by the end of this match and secure his place for TB with the chance to be the man in possession for the Pakistan series, once that assumes its rightful position as the premier event of the summer after the Centiball..... which, of course, is the pinnacle of cricketing excellence

[Durhamfootman]

I won't be confident going into the next test. 6 of England's side are either untested, barely tested or have played no or almost no red ball cricket since the ashes

make that 7

Rew in for Smith

[Arthur Crabtree]

Blimey. What happens if they all have good games?

Is Stokes coming back?