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The current international schedule is about as logical and rational as you would expect from a process run under the auspices of the ICC. Sri Lanka finished a home ODI series against New Zealand on Tuesday and will start a Test in Durban on Wednesday. Bangladesh went from facing Afghanistan in the UAE to a playing tour match in the West Indies inside a week (and then starting a Test four days later). India squeezed a four-match T20I series in South Africa into the scheduled 16-day gap between a Test against New Zealand in Mumbai and the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. And England, whose home international season ended on September 29, have already embarked on their third tour of the winter. Let's stick with the last of those… So where are England now?
The men's team rocked up in Queenstown, New Zealand earlier this week (the women and Lions are in South Africa, where they will also be joined by the Under-19s in the coming days). They will play a two-day tour match over the weekend, leading into the first Test, which starts at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday. Weren't England only in the Caribbean a few days ago?
Yes, that's right. Their white-ball tour concluded on Sunday, when the fifth T20I against West Indies in St Lucia was abandoned as a washout. That tour began with an ODI on October 31, just days after the end of the Rawalpindi Test in Pakistan, which meant several multi-format players - such as Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Jamie Smith, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse - couldn't be involved in the trip to the Caribbean. So it's back to Test cricket and Bazball again?
Yes and, presumably, yes. England suffered a chastening 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan, despite racking up 823 for 7 in a crushing victory in the first Test. A switch of tactics from the home side saw England's batters come thoroughly unstuck against the unlikely lags spin pairing of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali. After his team lost the deciding third Test, Brendon McCullum referenced the quick turnaround to this tour, saying "it would be nice to bounce back in New Zealand". As for Bazball, their method has been undergoing a process of refinement, but the prospect of flatter and pitches and more benign conditions might be just the tonic - albeit England haven't won a Test series in New Zealand since 2007-08. Presumably they haven't made wholesale changes after Pakistan?
Correct. The McCullum-Stokes axis is all about giving players backing - all the more so since their major goals are winning against India at home next summer, before trying to regain the Ashes in Australia. There was only one change to the squad for New Zealand, with Jacob Bethell called up as the spare batter due to Jamie Smith's absence on paternity leave; they have kept the faith to the extent that the three frontline spinners who went to Pakistan - Shoaib Bashir, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed - are all on this trip, too. But Baz back in NZ should be fun…
It was last time. England rattled along in the prescribed manner to win the day-night Test in Mount Maunganui before the less high-profile of Stokes' unsuccessful declarations in 2023 saw them become only the second team in history to lose a Test by one run at Basin Reserve. And the Kiwis always present a tough challenge
Yep. Aside from England's aforementioned drought in the land of the long white cloud, New Zealand will come in off the back of whitewashing India 3-0 in India, without the services of Kane Williamson. Which, as Brian Clough would probably put it, might not be the greatest Test series win of all time, but it's in the top one. A result which must have reignited their World Test Championship final hopes?
It certainly has. While England have slipped well out of contention, New Zealand are hovering just outside the top two after picking up maximum points in India. If they can do the same at home to England, it would push their win percentage up to 64.29% and give them a decent chance of reaching the final for the second time in three cycles. Given England got whupped 4-1 in India earlier this year, perhaps they should be afraid…
New Zealand have been going through something of a transition period - they lost an unbeaten home record that stretched back to 2017 when Australia went there and won 2-0 earlier this year - but Tom Latham's stint as permanent captain could not have got off to a better start. Williamson will be back for the England series, and while they have moved on from Trent Boult and Kyle Jamieson is still sidelined by back problems, Matt Henry has had his most prolific year in Tests and Will O'Rourke looks a frighteningly good prospect. Thanks, I feel like I'm getting up to speed. Is there anything else I should know?
Yes! This will also be Tim Southee's final Test series before retirement. Southee, who turns 36 between the second and third Tests, gave up the captaincy last month and has now decided to bow out on his own terms, against the same opposition as when he made his debut almost 17 years ago. He will finish as New Zealand's second-leading wicket-taker in Tests, behind Richard Hadlee - and is probably just too far shy of catching McCullum's six-hitting mark, too. At the other end of the career spectrum, with Smith awaiting the birth of his child, England are set to give Jordan Cox a Test debut as wicketkeeper. Hopefully Cox will have had time to get his bearings, having been involved in squads across all three formats in Pakistan and the West Indies over the last few weeks (and not kept wicket in first-class cricket since July last year).
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