The State of Play
England open their three-Test series in New Zealand tomorrow against a team still riding the crest of a wave following their remarkable win in India.
The Black Caps triumphed 3-0 on the sub-continent, producing one of the greatest performances in Test history, and will be full of confidence against Ben Stokes’ side.
India are already bouncing back having won the first Test against Australia in Perth.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead told Cricinfo: “No doubt it [beating India] gives you confidence as a group but it shows the ebbs and flows of international cricket.
“You can see what’s happening in Perth, I’m not sure anyone would have written that script either. The WTC has made teams extremely competitive, teams try and get somewhat of a home advantage to pick up your points there.
“[I am] Sure it’s going to be a cracker of a Test series. We’re going to see some fireworks I would suggest.”
England fared less well than New Zealand on their most recent tour, a 2-1 defeat in Pakistan.
A special day in Christchurch 🥰
Greeted by a hongi welcome, followed by a cup of tea with the oppo ☕️ pic.twitter.com/biEHdHr62e
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) November 26, 2024
Team News
New Zealand have former captain Kane Williamson available after he missed the tour of India. He may replace Will Young despite his Player of the Series award against Rohit Sharma’s men.
The hosts will play four seamers at Hagley Oval with Tim Southee starting his final series before Test retirement. Kyle Jamieson misses out through injury.
England have been forced into a reshuffle with Jordan Cox, who would have kept wicket, ruled out of the series due to a broken thumb.
Ollie Pope will don the gloves and Jacob Bethell has been drafted in to bat at number three despite having never played there in first-class cricket.
Expected line-ups
New Zealand: Latham (c), Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Blunder (wk), Phiilips, Smith, Henry, Southee, O’Rourke
England (confirmed): Crawley, Duckett, Bethell, Root, Brook, Pope (wk), Stokes (c), Woakes, Atkinson, Carse, Bashir
“Create some history for your country”
Ahead of the first contest for the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy hear from Ian Smith and Joe Root on the two men who inspired the trophy. #NZvENG pic.twitter.com/y8jkWF37Jh
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 26, 2024
What They Said
Stead on Williamson’s return
“Obviously Kane will come back into the side. He’s a superb player as we know and that creates some selection headaches for Tom [Latham] and I to get our heads around in the next day or so. Kane is one of the best in the world, so he will be playing somewhere in that line-up. It’s just how we manage to shape the rest of the team around that.”
Joe Root on Bethell’s inclusion
“He’s full of confidence, he’s got great ability and a really well-rounded game. He’s a mature head on young shoulders and I think he has all the components to set him up nicely to be successful in this format and at this level. I’m sure he’ll enjoy every aspect of the week, I’m really looking forward to watching him do his stuff.”
How to watch
The series will be shown by TNT Sports and discovery+ in the UK.
The action gets underway on TNT Sports 4 at 9.30pm tomorrow night.
Prediction
New Zealand continue to overachieve given their resources and their recent win in India was truly incredible.
They ought to have too much here for an England side that looks a little imbalanced following Cox’s injury.
That said, England have the firepower to blow any side away and the conditions won’t be completely alien like they were in Pakistan.
