England v New Zealand Test Series 2026

[andy]

Typical O'Rourke who has a horrendous batting record in tests is now scoring runs

[sussexpob]

Typical O'Rourke who has a horrendous batting record in tests is now scoring runs

Best FC score... but he jsut skied one of Stokes and has gone..

[sussexpob]

400/6.... 500 might feel a long way off

[sussexpob]

Pitch data from yesterday was very similar to the Oval, so maybe NZs 300-0 might not reflect the condition of the pitch, and maybe 400 is going to be competitive.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Innings should have another stand in it. But disappointing morning for NZ.

A hundred stand now would be a killer for England.

[sussexpob]

Remember Santner and BJ Watling putting on a huge partnership vs England in the past, so he can bat.

[sussexpob]

Santner goes in bizarre circumstances. He's ruled caught out from a bouncer, as the ball just hits the edge of the sweat band attached to his glove.... no debate its out, but thats unlucky.

[sussexpob]

Pitch data from yesterday was very similar to the Oval, so maybe NZs 300-0 might not reflect the condition of the pitch, and maybe 400 is going to be competitive.

NZ really will not mind seeing that last ball. That one rocketed off the surface....

[alfie]

I didn't say I agreed with it ! But after watching that first day I doubt Robinson would have fared any better than the bowlers who played : he might actually be well out of this one...

Its almost like we have an objective way of assessing how players play over their career. I mean, would an F1 driver who consistently beats his team mate by 0.5 seconds a lap not just be better than the other driver? You wouldn't watch 10 races where the fast driver consistently beats him, then get to the next race replacing him because you decided there are too many left turns for him at that track, with no actual data to show he can't take left turns. They average 8-9 runs per wicket different. Its not remotely close in terms of real, objectifiable verifiable performance data. And since 2019, Archer has averaged 36.8 in an era of dropping scores. Robinson in the same time averages 21.9....

The lengths you have to go to, to argue that Robinson is inferior, takes such an unbelievable amount of bad faith and pure rejection of every single metric they can be ranked on. And this is before we take into account Archer is not even fit enough to bowl a significant amount of overs. You are not only saying that Robinson is worse, you are saying he's so much worse Archer will achieve more in 10 overs a day than Robinson will over 25.

And would Robinson have fared worse? Well, what is the flattest wicket England have ever played in according to data? Rawalpindi 2022.....

Who won England the game? Who was MOTM that game???

Ah yeah... it was Robinson wasnt it. But he can't bowl on flat wickets because, er..... well, I dont know

Oh for heavens sake man...do I have to spell it out for you ? Did I not make it clear enough that I would have preferred Robinson to Archer ? Why do you insist on manufacturing an argument with someone who agrees with you on this point ? The only way in which we differ is that I do not have your obsession with Robinson as some kind of miracle worker , and doubt he would have found the conditions here to his liking...which is absolutely not suggesting he'd have done worse than Archer - who I have always felt is a good but rather overrated bowler in Tests.

Is it not also just possible that after Robinson coming down with an injury straight after his excellent return at Lord's , management decided it might be best not to risk him in oppressive conditions immediately after his recovery ? But your clearly one track mind on this matter obviously doesn't allow you to even consider that...

Have it your own way I'm done with this nonsense.

[sussexpob]

Bashir drops Blundell

[sussexpob]

Bashir drops Blundell

Makes up for it by catching his own piece of bowling

[sussexpob]

And now Blundell....

[sussexpob]

Guess we will find out whether England have bowled well to save 600, or if NZ batted well to have 320-0...

But since that first partnership, its about 110-9

[Durhamfootman]

England have dragged this back somewhat

I have always maintained, and still do, that if Stokes is bowling as many overs as the other 3 seamers, then England haven't picked the right trio of seamers

Stokes is precious. England should be protecting him, not expecting him to flog himself to death to mitigate for failures of selection.

[sussexpob]

438 all out... make that 110/10 ish...

Whatever the pitch is like, thats an excellent and admirable fight back over the last 2 odd sessions.