The new looking England side lead by newly appointed skipper BEN STOKES will be up against the defending champions of World Test Championship.
The three match Test series starting from 2nd June will be a part of 2021-2023 World Test Championship cycle.
England
It's the beginning of a new era for the England Test side who have won just one test out of the last 17 they played. Red ball cricket has given England some miserable times off late. England in the last few years have tried some 15-20 odd players at different positions but haven't got the desired results. Barring current skipper Ben Stokes and former skipper Joe Root, only 5 players played more than 20 Tests for England in the last 3 years but none of them averages above 30 and this sumps up the downfall of England in the purest format of the game. After his horrible run as a skipper, Joe Root decided to step down and now England have got a new Test skipper in form of Ben Stokes along with the newly appointed Brendon McCullum as their new coach.
England have added a few exciting new names to their Test squad for the New Zealand series as they have called up Harry Brook (right-handed batsman) who has scored 840 runs in just 9 innings in this County Championship along with Matthew Potts (right-arm fast bowler) who took 35 wickets at an average of 18.57 in this County season. They have also called back the premium pace bowling pair of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad who were left out of squad for the series against West indies earlier this year.
England would be hoping that the new captain-coach duo, Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum will again take them to the place where they belong as they are a side who look good whilst dominating the proceedings.
Joe Root since 2020 has scored over 2500 runs at an average of 51.63. He also scored 8 centuries and 8 fifties along the way in those 28 games. Now with no captaincy pressure, he would hopefyully be able to play even more freely and would like to regain the number 1 ranking among Test batsmen.
England's Squad for the first 2 tests
England : Ben Stokes (captain), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Jack Leach, Alex Lees, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Ollie Pope, Joe Root
England have announced their XI for the first Test which is as follows:
Zak Crawley
Alex Lees
Ollie Pope
Joe Root
Jonny Bairstow
Ben Stokes (C)
Ben Foakes (wk)
Matt Potts
Jack Leach
Stuart Broad
Jammy Anderson
New Zealand
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson who missed his side's last 5 Test matches due to elbow injury will be back and that will be a huge boost for this touring side.
Henry Nicholls and Trent Boult are in the 15 member squad but are doubtful as a starters for the first test. Trent Boult is unlikely to recover in time for five days of Test cricket after the overdose of T20 cricket while Henry Nicholls has had a disrupted start to the tour of England due to injury problems and a bout of the coronavirus.
New Zealand have called up Cam Fletcher (right-handed wicketkeeper batsman) for the series against England. Cam Fletcher scored a 109 ball 50* in the practice game and might get a chance in first Test. New Zealand's strength has always been their bowling with Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson and C Grandhomme can be the 4 pacers for the kiwis in the first Test and a spinner they might be tempted to play can be Rachin Ravindra who can provide them with some crucial runs from the bat lower down the order
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Jacob Duffy, Cameron Fletcher, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Will Young
England v New Zealand Test Head to Head:
- Matches Played: 107
- England Won: 48
- New Zealand Won: 12
- England Lost: 12
- New Zealand Lost: 48
- Drawn: 47
- Tied: 0
- Home Wins by England: 30
- Home Wins by New Zealand:6
- Away Wins by England: 18
- Away Wins by New Zealand: 6
- Batting First Won: 51 - (33%)
- Bowling First Won: 39 - (25%)
Highest Score by New Zealand: 616
Lowest Score by New Zealand: 26
Highest Score by England: 593
Lowest Score by England: 58
England vs New Zealand
Last Test Series Played in England 2021:
Series Result: New Zealand won 1-0 (2)
Most Runs (Head to Head amongst players who are in squad):
For England:
- Joe Root (992)
- Ben Stokes (476)
- Stuart Broad (385)
For New Zealand:
- Kane Williamson (757)
- Tom Latham (474)
- Tim Southee (413)
Most Wickets (Head to Head amongst players who are in squad):
For England:
- Stuart Broad (72)
- James Anderson (63)
- Ben Stokes (6)
For New Zealand:
- Tim Southee (57)
- Trent Boult (54)
- Neil Wagner (44)
Milestones:
- Kane Williamson needs 441 more runs to become the highest run getter in Test cricket for New Zealand.
- Tim Southee needs 12 more wickets to complete 350 Test Wickets.
- James Anderson needs 10 more wickets to complete 650 Test Wickets.
- Joe Root needs 111 more runs to complete 10000 runs in Test Cricket.
- Jonny Bairstow needs 199 more runs to complete 5000 runs in Test Cricket.
- Stuart Broad needs 13 more wickets to complete 550 wickets in Test Cricket.
- Neil Wagner needs 6 more wickets to complete 250 wickets in Test Cricket.
Live Streaming Details
Sony Sports Network have the streaming rights for the matches being played in England. The online streaming would be done on the SonyLIV app.
Jun 02, Thu - Jun 06, Mon
England vs New Zealand, 1st Test
Lord's, London
3:30 PM IST
10:00 AM GMT / 11:00 AM LOCAL
Jun 10, Fri - Jun 14, Tue
England vs New Zealand, 2nd Test
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
3:30 PM IST
10:00 AM GMT / 11:00 AM LOCAL
Jun 23, Thu - Jun 27, Mon
England vs New Zealand, 3rd Test
Headingley, Leeds
3:30 PM IST
10:00 AM GMT / 11:00 AM LOCAL
Dream11 Fantasy Team
Ben Foakes
Kane Williamson
Tom Latham
Joe Root (C)
Ollie Pope
Ben Stokes
Colin de Grandhomme
James Anderson (VC)
Stuart Broad
Neil Wagner
Kyle Jamieson
