England’s busy summer begins with a two-Test series against World Test Championship (WTC) finalists New Zealand. Joe Root’s men will be hoping to bounce back after suffering a 3-1 defeat at the hands of India recently. Meanwhile, New Zealand crushed Pakistan in both Tests at home and whitewashed Bangladesh in the ODIs and T20Is. Lord’s will host the first Test match, and it will be the first international fixture to be played at the iconic venue post-pandemic.
Team news
England will be without three key first-team players, as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are nursing injuries, while Jos Buttler didn’t make it to the 15-member squad due to his Indian T20 commitments. Gloucestershire wicketkeeper James Bracey will make his England debut in the absence of Buttler and injured Ben Foakes. Pacer Ollie Robinson, too, could make his debut, and it would be interesting to see whether Root will play James Anderson and Stuart Broad together.
The Kiwis boast an excellent fast bowling attack despite Trent Boult’s unavailability for the series opener. Neil Wagner returns to the squad after missing the final Test match against Pakistan, and his bowling partner Kyle Jamieson will be keen to impress on his first international tour. The tall fast bowler has claimed 36 wickets in six Test matches. Devon Conway, who scored a half-century in the intra-squad practice game, is likely to make his Test bow. The 29-year-old and Tom Latham could open the batting in the first Test.
Previous meeting
Match ended in a draw
New Zealand 375 all out (T Latham 105; S Broad 4/75) & 241/2 (R Taylor 105*, K Williamson 104*)
England 476 all out (J Root 226, R Burns 101; N Wagner 5/124)
Stats & Facts
- Joe Root has scored 794 runs from 12 Test innings in 2021
- BJ Watling averages 55.57 against England in Tests. He has scored two hundreds and five half-centuries in 15 innings
- Stuart Broad has taken four five-wicket hauls against New Zealand in Tests
- England haven’t put together a 50-run stand for the opening wicket in their last five Test matches at Lord’s
- New Zealand is winless in their last four Test matches at Lord’s – lost three and drew one
Squads
England: R Burns, D Sibley, J Root (captain), Z Crawley, O Pope, D Lawrence, J Bracey, Stuart Broad, O Robinson, J Leach, J Anderson, C Overton, O Stone, M Wood, H Hameed, S Billings
New Zealand: T Latham, D Conway, K Williamson (captain), R Taylor, H Nicholls, B Watling, M Santner, K Jamieson, T Southee, N Wagner, M Henry, C de Grandhomme, D Mitchell, A Patel, D Bracewell, T Blundell, J Duffy, R Ravindra, W Young
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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