Come rain or shine, New Zealand cricketers tend to wear a smile on their faces. But this week there is a palpable glow around the place, that remarkable clean sweep in India, coupled with victory for the women’s team in the T20 World Cup, still fresh in the memory. Hagley Oval is sold out for the first Test against England, folks drawn to its inviting grass banks.
English cricket has felt a little less cheery by contrast, be it their women’s team flunking that latest shot at a global title, the continuing culture war as the sale of the Hundred teams gathers pace, or the men’s Test side having lost in Pakistan to reopen the debate about the merits of so-called Bazball. Ben Stokes seemed to embody the mood in Pakistan, his return from a hamstring injury resulting in what he calls one of his toughest trips. A burglary back at home added to the stress levels and nearly forced an early flight back, only for his wife, Clare, to persuade him otherwise.
But before the first Test that gets under way on Thursday (10pm on Wednesday in the UK), Stokes appeared refreshed and re-energised. A break at home between tours to see family followed by an early flight to see more relatives in Christchurch, the city of his birth, provided a period of introspection. The conclusion? He had been a bit selfish in Pakistan, tunnel vision about his rehabilitation and, for the first time in his almost three years as Test captain, visibly frustrated on the field. It is something he admitted to his players when they regrouped last week.
“I can’t take myself into that sort of area ever again,” Stokes said. “Not only does it have an impact on myself, but also has a massive impact on the team. There’s no doubt my frustration was showing when things weren’t quite going our way and that definitely has an impact on not only the players around me but also the group and the management as well.
“Everyone is sort of treading on eggshells around you, because they can sense it. I’m not doing that again. I cleared the air pretty early on with the lads when they got into Queenstown [where England played a warm-up match last weekend].”
New Zealand (possible): Tom Latham (capt), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(wk), Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell (Debut), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope (wk), Ben Stokes (capt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
Stokes fancies he is now “good as gold” fitness-wise and, as has long been the case, this can only be good for the team. England’s seam attack is back to the fore after that spin-heavy series in Multan and Rawalpindi and looks a decent one, with Chris Woakes the experienced head and Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse the two new thrusters. But with Shoaib Bashir still a novice spinner, and in a country where that role will be a supporting one, it needs Stokes to be performing his dual role if they are to right the ship and challenge a New Zealand lineup that, by virtue of Kane Williamson’s likely return in place of Will Young, the star in India, is clearly strong.
It is England’s top half that has been disrupted in the lead-up, Jamie Smith’s paternity leave and a fractured thumb sustained by his intended replacement, Jordan Cox, exposing what looked an unbalanced squad when it was named. As well as three spinners, bizarrely, there was no cover for a top three that contained a player battling for consistency in Ollie Pope. Given he was also the back-up wicketkeeper, something since activated until Durham’s Ollie Robinson can get a new passport processed and fly over, it looks a fair old oversight.
England have decided, not unreasonably, that Pope cannot bat at No 3 and keep wicket and so he slides down to No 6, with the spare batter, Jacob Bethell, now set for a baptism-of-fire debut in that role. Joe Root, about to play his 150th Test, was not even asked whether he could step up, with Stokes and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, fancying that would be too many moving parts and not least against a home attack led by Matt Henry, the king of Canterbury who has 30 wickets from his past four Tests at Hagley Oval. Not that sticking a 21-year-old with zero professional hundreds in at No 3 is necessarily confidence-inducing.
Selecting to satisfy public opinion is a road to nowhere, even if Stokes is aware Bethell’s promotion will grind a few gears back home. “You have got to be true to yourself,” he said. “We’re not picking players just to wind people up. Over the course of me and Baz being in charge we’ve not necessarily picked on stats. We see more to it. And we’ve got a pretty good understanding and a good eye for picking players to fulfil a role if we need to. There is thought and a process towards it, even if it does raise a few eyebrows.”
An away series win would certainly change the narrative and, while Tom Latham’s hosts are favourites – they also have extra motivation, being able to qualify for the World Test Championship final and keen to send the admirable Tim Southee into retirement with a win – Test cricket has thrown up a fair few surprises this year, none more so than India’s shock defeat by the Black Caps at home.
But then India, inspired by the magical Jasprit Bumrah, have just given Australia a hiding in Perth; an Australia side that crossed the Tasman Sea in March and swept New Zealand 2-0. It would simply continue the merry-go-round were England to prevail here. And to be fair, had a pretty clear wide been called at the end of the Wellington Test last year England, for all their self-inflicted wounds in the match, would have won 2-0 rather than been forced to settle for a 1-1 series draw.
Not that there was acrimony, just like the 2019 World Cup final when the rub of the green went England’s way and then some. The spirit of friendship between the two countries is as strong as it gets and has now been solidified by the creation of the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy; a fitting tribute to two great players for a series that looks as enticing as those grass banks.
