England tour of New Zealand 2019

[MenInG]

Tour match, Cobham Oval, Whangarei (day two of three):
New Zealand XI 302-6: Phillips 116, Blundell 60, Archer 2-58, Stokes 2-64
England 355-8: Pope 88, Buttler 88, Denly 68, Mitchell 2-10, Tickner 2-19

Joe Denly says he is "as near as 100% fit" to face New Zealand in the first Test after scoring 68 on day two of the warm-up match against New Zealand A.

Denly, who is expected to bat at three, missed the Twenty20 series against the Kiwis after injuring ankle ligaments.

Jos Buttler and Ollie Pope both scored 88 to also help rescue England after they had fallen to 105-5.

New Zealand A declared on 302-6 in the final warm-up match before next week's first Test at the Bay Oval in Tauranga.

Denly, who has notched up half-centuries in each of the last three Tests, added: "When I first did my ankle it was touch and go whether I'd be fit for this game.

"I've been on the ice machine every hour of every day. I was a little bit emotional when I was sitting in that changing room looking at it and I feared my tour might be over.

"But it's been really good, responding really well to every day. It's not swelling up and it's in good condition now. Hopefully that can continue."

England, who had resumed Saturday morning on 26-1, saw captain Joe Root and vice-captain Ben Stokes dismissed for single figures within six balls of each other.

 

[Aman]

Glenn Phillips in the runs.

 

[MenInG]

Tour match, Cobham Oval, Whangarei (day three of three):
New Zealand XI 302-6dec & 169-8: Archer 3-34, Curran 3-42
England 405: Buttler 110, Pope 88, Denly 68; Kuggeleijn 3-46
Match drawn

Jos Buttler hit a century but England were unable to force victory in their final warm-up match against New Zealand A in Whangarei.

Resuming on 88 on day three, Buttler made 110 to help his side post 405 in reply to the hosts' 302-6 declared.

Jofra Archer and Sam Curran took three wickets each to reduce New Zealand A to 129-8, a lead of just 26.

But William Somerville and Ajaz Patel held firm for 22.4 overs to guide their side to 169-8 and ensure the draw.

England face New Zealand in two Tests, with the first match at the Bay Oval in Tauranga starting on Wednesday.

"It was really nice for me. Spending that time in the middle going into a Test series is great. It gives you confidence," Buttler told the BBC's Test Match Special.

"It's not a massive coincidence that when I've had time away from cricket and been able to refresh that I play well then.

"New Zealand will be a massive challenge. They are an excellent side and it should be a really exciting series."

Buttler, Ollie Pope (88) and Joe Denly (68) led England's recovery from 105-5 on day two at the Cobham Oval, as the tourists reached 355-8 at the close, a lead of 53.

Wicketkeeper Buttler put on 71 for the ninth wicket with Archer (41 not out) as he brought up his sixth first-class hundred - only his second in the past five years.

He finally fell after gloving a pull stroke off Scott Kuggeleijn behind to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.

Kuggeleijn, who was drafted into the New Zealand A side on day two after Hamish Rutherford failed a concussion test, then removed Stuart Broad for a duck with the next ball to end the innings, giving England a lead of 103.

With Rutherford out after being struck by Archer on day one, Tim Seifert was promoted to open - but he lasted just two balls before nicking Archer to Dom Sibley at third slip.

Archer's pace troubled the batsmen on an otherwise docile pitch and the fast bowler also had opener Rachin Ravindra and Blundell caught by Sibley as the hosts fell to 99-6.

This side is set to start the first Test and Surrey left-armer Curran backed up the decision to play him instead of Chris Woakes by having Glenn Phillips and Jimmy Neesham caught behind, before bowling Kuggeleijn.

Broad and Ben Stokes took one wicket each as England looked to close in on victory, but they could not remove Somerville (32 not out) and Patel (10 not out) and captains Joe Root and Blundell shook hands on a draw with just under an hour of play remaining.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/50450187

 

[Robert]

I am looking forward to the two tests. I think NZ will win because th England batting is being rebuilt, but we will get some pointers going forwards.

 

[MenInG]

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson and new-ball star Trent Boult have both failed to finish the first Test win over England, placing them under an injury cloud ahead of the three-Test tour of Australia.

World class batsman Williamson was playing down an apparent back injury that forced him off late in the innings and 65 run victory at Mount Maunganui on Monday.

However, Boult may have suffered a bigger blow, having exited Bay Oval in pain after completing one over in the morning session.

Medical staff diagnosed an issue down the right side of his torso and the 30-year-old will undergo an MRI scan on Tuesday.

He is in serious doubt for the second England Test starting in Hamilton on Friday and there is only a short turnaround before the three-Test series in Australia, starting in Perth on December 12.

Left-arm swing expert Boult will be a key figure if the Black Caps are claim their first series win on Australian soil in 31 years, having been their best performer with the ball on a consistent basis for the last five years.

He is currently ranked sixth among all Test bowlers.

New Zealand have decent depth in their pace bowling stocks, with experienced pair Tim Southee and Neil Wagner supported by Matt Henry and the uncapped Lockie Ferguson.

Pace bowler Ferguson was tipped to make his debut in Mount Maunganui and may now be in line for a call-up in Hamilton.

Williamson left the field favouring his lower back about half an hour before victory was sealed.

He missed all of this month’s five-match Twenty20 series against England to recuperate from a hip injury that has dogged him for the last 18 months.

In a post-Test interview with Sky TV, Williamson suggested it may not have been a recurrence of the same problem.

“Just another little niggle, but it’s ok,” he said.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricke...y/news-story/f23edf59cd7c8631ffe4d2455d59156b

 

[Abdullah719]

New Zealand's Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme ruled out of second Test against England

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sk...omme-ruled-out-of-second-test-against-england

 

[Timewaster]

Boult is out and so is colin de Grandhomme, because Colin is out they will probably play Henry instead of Lockie

De Grandhomme is a big miss as he actually crucial for us now. Just hope we play Lockie instead of being safe becasue we cant lose the series, plus the next Test is in Perth so imo its better to debut him now at home

 

[MenInG]

England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler is an injury doubt for the second Test against New Zealand which starts on Thursday at 22:00 GMT.

Ollie Pope is on standby to take his place behind the stumps, with Kent batsman Zak Crawley a possibility to come into the side and make his debut.

"Jos has tweaked his back in the gym," said England captain Joe Root. "We'll have to see where he's at.

"We knew that this was a possibility when we selected the squad."

He added: "I'm quite happy that Popey's got the capability of doing a good job for us."

The tourists could also choose to recall seam bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes instead of picking Crawley.

"There's a number of different combinations we could go with and I think a lot of that will rely on the surface," said Root.

"We are trying to find the best combination to take 20 wickets and then balance that in terms of getting the batting where we want it to be.

"It could be an all-rounder, we'll see."

England lost the first match of the two-Test series by an innings and 65 runs.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/50583408

 

[Heisenberg111]

Why is New zealand-England test series not part of World Test Championship ?

I just noticed that the ongoing series between the two top teams England and New zealand is not part of WTC. Surely, that is very unfair on New zealand who are dominating England at the moment. It denies the Kiwis some hard earned points and gives the Poms a massive let off the hook. This whole WTC scheduling is just ridiculous.

 

[Hasan123]

The series was scheduled before the World test championship so they decided to just not include it.

 

[MenInG]

Over the past week, there were three Test matches which were going on simultaneously. Two of these, India vs Bangladesh and Australia vs Pakistan, were Test matches but only on paper. India smashed Bangladesh in less than three days while Australia got the better of Pakistan in four days by an innings and six runs.

However, the match between New Zealand and England went down to the final session of the final day and England, despite showing good fight, fell short and New Zealand bagged the match. It was a proper graft, it was pure Test cricket, but, well, it was not part of the World Test Championship. Yes, it was just another Test match and the result will have absolutely no bearing on the points table. So, we can all raise our eyebrows and question the scheduling all over again, but before we jump up and down, let us first understand, why this happened in the first place.

This is an anomaly - the introduction of the World Test Championship has impacted on the meaningfulness of this series. The format of the tournament mandates that each country would play six series under the Test Championship, with three of those being played at home while the others would be played overseas.

Hence, the series between England and New Zealand falls into the section of Test matches which will not be a part of the Test Championship because had it been a part, England would have played an away series more, which would have left the rest of the scheduling awry.

This World Test Championship is a good contest, but the scheduling is far from ideal. Indian captain Virat Kohli also suggested a format to make the World Test Championship more even... “A more balanced format would be one series home, one away. We are playing very good cricket but we have played only two Tests away,” said Kohli after the win against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-here-s-why/story-J6xuEkZVbJw31np4COzcYM.html

 

[Heisenberg111]

The series was scheduled before the World test championship so they decided to just not include it.

That s**ks.

 

[Heisenberg111]

Over the past week, there were three Test matches which were going on simultaneously. Two of these, India vs Bangladesh and Australia vs Pakistan, were Test matches but only on paper. India smashed Bangladesh in less than three days while Australia got the better of Pakistan in four days by an innings and six runs.

However, the match between New Zealand and England went down to the final session of the final day and England, despite showing good fight, fell short and New Zealand bagged the match. It was a proper graft, it was pure Test cricket, but, well, it was not part of the World Test Championship. Yes, it was just another Test match and the result will have absolutely no bearing on the points table. So, we can all raise our eyebrows and question the scheduling all over again, but before we jump up and down, let us first understand, why this happened in the first place.

This is an anomaly - the introduction of the World Test Championship has impacted on the meaningfulness of this series. The format of the tournament mandates that each country would play six series under the Test Championship, with three of those being played at home while the others would be played overseas.

Hence, the series between England and New Zealand falls into the section of Test matches which will not be a part of the Test Championship because had it been a part, England would have played an away series more, which would have left the rest of the scheduling awry.

This World Test Championship is a good contest, but the scheduling is far from ideal. Indian captain Virat Kohli also suggested a format to make the World Test Championship more even... “A more balanced format would be one series home, one away. We are playing very good cricket but we have played only two Tests away,” said Kohli after the win against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-here-s-why/story-J6xuEkZVbJw31np4COzcYM.html

Good point from Kohli, exactly my sentiments.

 

[HitWicket]

Good point from Kohli, exactly my sentiments.

It wouldn't be possible given the varying seasons. Would also mess up a lot of teams home calendar.