Preview by AkshayaKrishna Polya
The first day of the English Men's International summer is at the historic Lord's. You can't ask for anything better as a cricketer. England host New Zealand in a three-match Test series to kick off a long and exciting home season in the United Kingdom on Thursday (June 4).
It has been a long while since the Ben Stokes-led side played a Test match, having last featured in the Ashes Down Under, where the Poms were on the receiving end of a 1-4 defeat at the hands of Australia.
There have been a lot of structural changes behind the scenes after Luke Wright stood down from his role as a selector at the highest level in the UK following the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Former Australian cricketer and Durham's director of cricket, Marcus North, took over the reins and made many changes to the squad on his first day in the tenure.
Meanwhile, former England Women wicketkeeper batter Sarah Taylor has been named as the fielding coach for this series. She has been appointed as a short-term cover for Carl Hopkinson, who was busy in the Indian Premier League with Mumbai Indians. She becomes the first female to work with the England senior team.
The overall agenda remains the same for the hosts, who continue to play an attacking and entertaining brand of cricket irrespective of the results. Head coach Brendon McCullum has recently re-joined the camp after taking a break following England's semi-final defeat to India in the T20 World Cup to find some mojo back during the free time.
Now, England have made as many as seven changes to the squad that took flight to Australia last winter. Opener Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope have been axed from the set-up. Crawley, who has been one of the main characters in the Bazball era, has been left out after his below-average batting across series as well as in the County Championship games for Kent this summer. While Pope was on the bench for the latter half of the Ashes, his returns weren't too eye-catching to keep him in the squad.
Ben Duckett had a tough tour of Australia, but the management has kept faith in him. Veteran Joe Root and the white-ball skipper Harry Brook remain the backbone of the batting lineup. McCullum also hinted at swapping Stokes and Jamie Smith's places in the batting order to give the wicketkeeper batter a good chance to build his innings alongside recognised batters. Smith badly needs some runs after having a low-scoring series Down Under. Stokes finds himself fit after a severe facial injury in February this year, when he was struck in the face by a cricket ball hit by an academy player in the nets. He had to undergo major surgery for a broken cheekbone but stated he is "lucky" and "might not be here" had things been slightly different.
Who will open with Duckett? There were several options for the management to replace Crawley, with Haseeb Hameed, Dom Sibley, Ben McKinney, Alex Lees and a couple of others, but they have gone with Durham opener Emilio Gay, who is all set for his Test debut. He has played 3 T20Is for Italy in 2025. The left-handed batter started his First-Class career with Northamptonshire and recently made a switch to Durham. He has scored 552 runs in 9 innings this summer in Division Two.
Alongside Gay, Somerset's James Rew has received his maiden call-up after his phenomenal start to the Division One season. He also adds wicketkeeping cover to Smith, though he hasn't been named in the XII for the series opener.
The number 3 position is key in Test cricket, and it is with Jacob Bethell. He is highly rated in the country, and he scored a remarkable 154 in England's last innings in Sydney in the Ashes. However, he struggled for runs with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and was ruled out of the playoffs after a finger injury forced him to return home. Bethell wasn't a starter for RCB with Phil Salt in the mix, and that allowed big guns like Alastair Cook to criticise the Warwickshire all-rounder's future in red-ball cricket. With a huge summer coming up, sitting on the bench wouldn't have helped him a lot, was what Cook thought. However, Bethell is in the XII for the first Test and seems to have recovered from whatever injury he sustained to a finger on his left hand.
Coming to the bowling attack, Gus Atkinson will lead the unit, with Josh Tongue for company. The latter had a good, positive Ashes series and will act as a key wicket-taker for the Stokes' side this summer. Premium speedster Jofra Archer was unavailable for selection after his dominating performance took Rajasthan Royals to the playoffs in the recently concluded cash-rich league. Mark Wood and Brydon Carse continue their rehabilitation, re-opening the door for Ollie Robinson.
The Sussex seamer was contacted by the head coach way earlier regarding his recall. He last played a Test match against India in 2024. The right-arm seamer has been in decent form in the County Championship games, showing that he is ready for another stint.
Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker are the other pace bowling options in the squad. The latter had a forgettable start to his international career last summer. However, he looks rearing to go in the whites after impressing everyone in the FC arena earlier this summer. He is in line for his Test debut!
Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir are the spin options, with the former capable of batting at the top order. Bashir didn't have a part to play in the Ashes after Surrey's Will Jacks was preferred ahead of the offie. Jacks isn't part of this squad, allowing Bashir to be the lone leading spinner, and he has some decent performances in the County to back it up.
England have already named their XII, with a possible shootout between Baker and Bashir for the 11th position.
On the other hand, New Zealand are fresh off a dominating innings win over Ireland in the one-off Test held a few days ago in the latter's home. Openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway couldn't tackle the swing and seam, but veteran Kane Williamson weathered the storm for a while before throwing away his start. Daryl Mitchell, too, failed, but he will fancy his chances on this tour as he has a solid record playing in the UK. Rachin Ravindra and Tom Blundell showed their class, with the former scoring 121 and the latter narrowly missing out on a well-deserved double ton. Dean Foxcroft's Test debut was superb, as he hit 98 before falling prey to the nervous 90s, with NZ declaring on 490/8.
In the absence of several leading bowlers, Nathan Smith took a six-wicket haul, tearing apart the Irish lineup. Zak Foulkes, Blair Tickner and Ben Sears did the rest in the first innings. Smith picked up two more wickets in the second innings after the side enforced a follow-on. Tickner took a fifer this time to cap off a resounding win by an innings and 79 runs, stating that the Kiwis were ready for the bigger challenge.
With Mitchell Santner being available for this series and arriving in the UK a couple of days ago, Foxcroft has been released from the squad. The left-arm spinner suffered a left shoulder injury during the IPL while fielding for Mumbai Indians. Alongside him, Glenn Phillips also joins the set-up. GP was with the Gujarat Titans squad in the IPL that lost to RCB in the final on May 31st.
Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and William O'Rourke, the big three quicks, were rested from the Ireland game although they were in the squad. All of them are expected to start this game. Foulkes and Sears are expected to make way.
Can New Zealand tame England this summer? Or will the Stokes and Co. show how to dominate Test cricket at home? To know, join us at 2:30 PM IST, 10 AM Local Time, on Thursday for its live coverage!