Review of the 1st Test in New Zealand

Who said this leg of the tour would be easy? After the pummelling in Australia, England’s cricketers crossed the Tasman Sea for more of the same medicine. Plenty of questions were raised before the series. Could Trevor Baseless improve his shocking Test record abroad? Could England batsmen stop losing wickets on the stroke of an interval? Could the top order batsmen get any more than 50? Like a petty criminal in a police interview, England ‘no commented’. Naturally in no way is the previous sentence of any correlation (for any lawyers reading) but this was also the return of Ben Stokes to the side. Could England finally kick start their winter?

Eden Park

Cricket Hospitality

Lord’s changes every year. A new stand here, a new stand there – expect more to change in the coming years as the Nursery End of the ground gets redeveloped. A number of things never change though. The Pavilion, the immaculate grass which could easily replicate the surface of the baize at the Crucible, the electric sound of the crowd from outside, as an English boundary crashes over the rope but one thing you can't hear, see or touch, is the buzz, the anticipation of the first morning of a Test at Lord’s...

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