New Zealand Cricket News
Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Nathan Smith stood out for the visitors as they came from behind to win the series
Ben Stokes: 57 runs at 14.3; seven wickets at 21.9
He retired when he was England’s best bowler, best captain and a century away from being worth his place as a batter alone. But, as he acknowledged himself, when the air goes out of the balloon it deflates very quickly – as anyone who has ever retired from any job will tell you.
New Zealand beat England by 160 runs to win series 2-1
Root run out sets tone despite Smith resistance
New Zealand won a Test series in England for the fourth time by wrapping up a 160-run victory in the third Test at Trent Bridge on Monday, bringing an end to the international career of England’s captain, Ben Stokes.
Resuming on 103 for four and chasing an unlikely 373 to win, England were dismissed for 212 soon after lunch on day five as New Zealand clinched the series 2-1.
Ali Martin’s report from Trent Bridge will follow shortly
Continue reading...It is rare to make five changes after winning by more than a hundred runs, but this has not been a normal week between Tests for England
These past 10 days must have been curious for New Zealand’s cricketers, as their restful mid-series downtime was occasionally interrupted by news of England’s latest convulsions. “I guess it probably wasn’t necessarily what we were expecting,” deadpanned their captain, Tom Latham.
At least most of his own side got a chance to relax. “A lot of guys have had some good family time, they’ve had a bit of time off to refresh the bodies, refresh the minds and get ready for what we’ve got coming up,” Latham said. “We’re not necessarily used to a big break like that, but guys did their own thing, some guys got away. So we’re ready to go.”
Continue reading...Stokes and Atkinson absent following nightclub furore
Ollie Robinson misses Oval Test due to soreness in knee
Seamer Ollie Robinson, whose performance guided England to victory in the first test against New Zealand, will miss the second match due to a sore right knee, the England and Wales Cricket Board, confirmed on Monday.
Playing his first test in more than two years, Robinson took seven wickets including five in the first innings to be named player of the match as England won by 115 runs on a difficult wicket at Lord’s.
Continue reading...‘I’ve given it my all in every match,’ says Black Caps legend
He captained World Test Championship winners in 2021
The former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will play no further part in the Test series against England after retiring from all international cricket with immediate effect.
Williamson brings an end to a 16-year career marked by numerous accolades and by captaining his side to the title in the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.
Continue reading...England captain considering his long-term future
ECB continuing investigation into nightclub incident
Ben Stokes is highly unlikely to be included in England’s squad for the second Test against New Zealand after the 35-year-old asked for space and time to consider his long-term future amid the fallout from a nightclub incident in the early hours of Monday morning.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is determined to bring the latest furore surrounding the culture of the men’s Test team under control before the start of the Women’s World Cup on Friday, with a temporary end to Stokes’s time as captain expected to be confirmed when the squad is announced within the next 48 hours.
Continue reading...Coach impressed by response in win against New Zealand
McCullum admits pitch ‘incredibly challenging’ for batters
Brendon McCullum has praised his players’ refusal to be haunted by their nightmare winter after England won their first Test since the Ashes, against New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday. The head coach admitted that “the temperature has been a bit hot” around his side since their failure in Australia, but he hailed their bravery and refusal to “carry any baggage”.
McCullum insisted his team had kept the Bazball spirit burning, despite the low scores and strike rates seen on an “incredibly challenging” surface. “I’ve been really impressed,” McCullum said.
Continue reading...Head coach ‘confident our best cricket is in front of us’
Issues with alcohol among tourists due to ‘distractions’
Brendon McCullum has promised to use “a firm grip” to eradicate issues with alcohol and attitude among the England squad, admitting that “there were some mistakes made” by his players during last winter’s tours of New Zealand and Australia.
In his first interview since returning to England for the start of the international summer, with the first Test against New Zealand starting at Lord’s next Thursday, McCullum conceded that his team had proved unable to handle the pressure of an away Ashes series.
Continue reading...Uncapped trio in squad for first New Zealand Test
Crawley dropped; Ahmed and Bashir selected as spinners
On a day when England named three uncapped players in their Test squad, brought Ollie Robinson out of cold storage and officially confirmed a new selector had joined the set-up, perhaps the most significant news was the identity of their fielding coach.
Sarah Taylor, the former England wicketkeeper, will be in charge of the fielding drills during the three-Test series against New Zealand that begins at Lord’s on 4 June – the first female coach to work in the men’s senior setup.
Continue reading...South Africa v New Zealand T20 series highlights schedule that is increasingly hard to keep up with
Clinical guidance suggests recovery from emotional trauma can take weeks or months. In some cases, the lingering pain can last for years. Elite cricketers, though, are expected to compress that timeline into days.
Take Mitchell Santner. The New Zealand captain oversaw his team’s crushing 96-run loss by India in the T20 World Cup final on 8 March. It was the Black Caps’ fourth defeat in an ICC final since 2019 and, having swatted aside South Africa in the semi-final, would have stung. Well, Santner had to do his contemplating on the flight back home as seven days later he was suited and booted for a T20 international against the Proteas at Mount Maunganui.
Continue reading...Black Caps opener Allen blasts 100 not out from 33 balls
South Africa won every match they could afford to lose in this tournament and then lost the first one that they had to win.
They were completely marmalised by New Zealand, who won the first semi-final by nine wickets. Finn Allen ripped through South Africa’s feared fast bowling attack, and hit an unbeaten hundred off just 33 balls. It was the fastest century in the history of the competition, and, as Allen said himself, the innings of his life. Only two batters have ever hit a faster ton in international T20 cricket.
Continue reading...Finn Allen’s riotous 33-ball century propelled New Zealand to a stunning victory in Kolkata
Two in two balls! Ryan Rickelton slashes his first ball – a bit of a long hop in truth – straight to backward point and walks off shaking his head.
The offspinner Cole McConchie takes the new ball for only the second time in the competition – and the plan pays off in spade. De Kock skipped down to hit a majestic four but pulled the next ball high in the air and was easily taken at mid-on by Lockie Ferguson. That’s the fourth time in this World Cup that De Kock has been out to an offspinner.
Continue reading...Harmonious Kiwi teamwork across various sports should fill us with frustrated envy – if only to annoy some Aussies
Do we talk about England and Australia’s sporting rivalry too much? In the past couple of weeks, we haven’t had much choice. The rugby league Kangaroos have been hopping about between London, Liverpool and Leeds, while the Wallabies grazed on the Twickenham turf. In F1, Bristol-born Lando Norris has been getting booed on track during his relentless comeback against his Melburnian McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri. And that personal battle has reached its climax just in time for the much-hyped men’s Ashes – with England kicking off their tour in Perth to already hysterical headlines.
This weekend brings a pause in hostilities. One Ashes series has ended, another is yet to begin. A gap in the calendar before back-to-back grands prix leaves Lando quietly teetering at the top of the drivers’ table. And into that small air pocket – if the Pom-bashing and Aussie-baiting has left a breath of oxygen – come the Kiwis. On Saturday afternoon, just after three o’clock, New Zealand’s rugby union team will run out against England in west London. And by the time we know the result, the Silver Ferns will be taking to the netball court on the other side of the city, in the first of a three-match series against the Roses.
Continue reading...England ran riot with the bat in Christchurch, smashing 236 for four to set up an impressive 65-run victory
2nd over: England 24-1 (Salt 20, Bethell 0) Duffy dug that wicket ball in short, which meant it hit high on the bat as Buttler came charging at him. Nicely bowled if he meant it.
This Hagley Oval pitch looks better for batting than on Saturday. Salt climbs into a wide ball from Jacob Duffy, blasting it square on the off side for four, then top-edges a pull over the keeper’s head for another boundary.
Continue reading...One of the game’s modern greats still wants to play Tests and is looking forward to the ‘nice buzz’ of an English summer
The world’s third-best Test batsman has made a quiet arrival in London for the beginning of a four-month stint in county cricket. Middlesex made headlines recently by saying they were keen to sign Virat Kohli. Maybe next year. This one, they’ve got his friend and contemporary Kane Williamson who, with his gear stuffed into a Karachi Kings kit bag, was picked up from the airport by his new captain, Steve Eskinazi, on Wednesday morning then went straight to training on the Nursery Ground before the game against Sussex in the Blast on Thursday night.
Williamson should do plenty for Middlesex’s middle order, but maybe not quite so much for the viewing figures their live stream brings in on the subcontinent. Still, it feels like a coup for county cricket. It has been made possible by the support of MCC, who are paying a part of the 34-year-old’s fee so that he can double up playing for London Spirit in the Hundred.
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