It took two years for Ollie Robinson to force his way back into the England set-up and then about five minutes to win over their supporters. Steaming in from the Nursery End, Robinson produced a devastating three-wicket first over – and four overall – to cap an absurd opening day against New Zealand.
Some 16 wickets fell across only 60 overs of rain-affected play and, if this Test was being played in Australia, the groundsman might be feeling twitchy about having to give a press conference on Saturday. The pitch may ease up before then, even if the quicks on both sides will be hoping it stays just as fruity.
We’ll have Ali Martin’s report on the site shortly. For now, I’ll leave the final word to Rory McIlroy. Goodnight!
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A smiling Ollie Robinson speaks to Sky Sports
It was a pretty remarkable day. When we looked at the pitch this morning, we thought it would play a lot better than it did. They bowled really well and we knew we had to follow suit – to get them six-down at the end is a great effort from everyone.
[After all the work you had to put in, how special has today been?] Yeah, really special. I can’t really put it into words; it feels a bit surreal. Couldn’t have dreamt it to be honest. It’s just so good to be back.
[Did you ever think you’d get back or were there doubts?] There were obviously doubts, yeah. At Christmas, I thought I was never playing for England again, so to get back in and to have the support of everyone up there has been amazing.
[On his name being chanted by the Lord’s crowd] I couldn’t hear much to be honest! I was in a bit of a daze, just trying to focus and keep as calm as possible.
[On his approach with the ball] I was just trying to wobble it and hit a full length. This pitch reacts better when you try to wobble it; the swing seems to die in the wicket a little bit. It was my day – two of the decision we’re umpire’s call, which sometimes doesn’t go your way.
[Why were you bowling at the Nursery End this time?] Erm, there’s a guy called Gus Atkinson up there, he got 12-for last time! He had choice of ends and I’d have bowled wherever the skipper asked me.
[A five-for would be nice tomorrow…] Yeah definitely: five-for, get them mopped up quickly and get the batting boots on.
Stumps: New Zealand trail by 79 runs
Quite the first day at Lord’s, where there were 59 overs, 201 runs and 16 wickets. The star was Ollie Robinson, who started his much-hyped comeback with – and I still can’t believe I’m typing this – a triple-wicket maiden. But manyt of the seamers had a day out, including Kyle Jamieson (5 for 62), Nathan Smith (3 for 38) and the brilliant Will O’Rourke (2 for 25).
The two best innings of the day were the most aggressive, Harry Brook’s 56 from 71 balls and Glenn Phillips’ unbeaten 31 from 34.
Bad light stops play
19.2 overs: New Zealand 61-6 (Phillips 31, Smith 6) After two balls of Stokes’ fourth over, the umpires check the light and take the players off. That’ll be it for the day.
19th over: New Zealand 61-6 (Phillips 31, Smith 6) Phillips’ counter-attack has changed the mood, and right now – with around 15 minutes remaining tonight – New Zealand look comfortable.
“Bit early handing this in, sorry,” writes Kimberley Thonger, who has sent in the 2000-word essay I requested a few overs ago. The most depressing thing is, at first glance it looks better than anything I’ve written since 2019.
18th over: New Zealand 57-6 (Phillips 31, Smith 2) Phillips turns a loose ball from Stokes to fine leg for four. New Zealand have doubled their score since the loss of the sixth wicket. Well, Phillips has – he’s scored 26 of the 29 runs and faced 26 of the 30 deliveries in this partnership with Smith.
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17th over: New Zealand 51-6 (Phillips 25, Smith 2) A truly disgusting lifter from Tongue is defended brilliantly by Phillips, who gets his head out of Dodge but still manages to get his hands high enough to drop the ball safely on the off side.
He’s beaten by the next two balls, mind. It’s an occupational hazard for batters at Lord’s today.
A fantastic stat from Tim
England’s three best bowlers of the 21st century (by average; min 20 wickets) are all playing in this game. Please explore this in a 2000-word essay to be in my inbox by 9am tomorrow.
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16th over: New Zealand 49-6 (Phillips 24, Smith 1) Phillips continues his compelling counter-attack with two excellent boundaries off Stokes, a scrunch down the ground and a back-foot force through the covers. Batting like this when your team are 30 for 6 tasks some nerve, even when you know it’s probably the best approach.
“Should we speculate yet on the size of the first innings lead the Kiwis have by lunch tomorrow?” wonders Kimberley Thonger.
Only if we’re doing it in the spirit of Clockwise.
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15th over: New Zealand 40-6 (Phillips 16, Smith 0) Phillips pulls Tongue superbly round the corner for four. He’s not going to sit and wait for a ball with his name on it, and he gets four more with a flashing back cut. He has 16 from 17 balls.
As John Starbuck mentioned in the sixth over of this innings, the forecast is better tomorrow so we could be heading for England’s third two-day Test in the last six. And two-day Tests can be won by cameos.
14th over: New Zealand 32-6 (Phillips 8, Smith 0) Stokes replaces Robinson, who bowled a glorious spell of 6-3-10-4. His grandkids will never hear the end of it. A sharp first over from Stokes finishes with a ludicrous 88mph legbreak that beats Nathan Smith.
“I thought the point about the phrase ‘Nude Nuts’ was that when they’re Nude, they’re not moving?” writes Ian Mallender. “These are Fully Clothed Nuts.”
You might be right. At first I thought Matthew Hayden was referring to Robinson’s speed (“124kph nude nuts”) but on reflection I think that was an additional layer of criticism. In which case, today’s nuts were dressed by Tom Ford.
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13th over: New Zealand 28-6 (Phillips 5, Smith 0) That was Tongue’s 50th Test wicket; he’s taken them at a startling strike-rate of 39.40. To put that in context, Jasprit Bumrah’s is 42.86.
WICKET! New Zealand 29-6 (Blundell b Tongue 4)
Josh Tongue sends Tom Blundell’s off stump flying with a 90mph ripper. Blundell played the wrong line, but that can happen against Tongue and it was still a very good delivery.
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12th over: New Zealand 24-5 (Blundell 4, Phillips 1) Blundell gets a thick edge off Robinson that bounces short of gully and is half stopped by the diving Bethell. Ben Stokes is warming up, so that might be Robinson done for this spell.
“Ollie Robinson’s average has just dropped below Big Vern Philander’s,” notes Gary Naylor. “That’s pleasing.”
I bet Vern would clean up on this pitch, even at the age of 40. In fact, I’d fancy 50-year-old Darren Stevens’ chances. And as for that bloke at Lancashire.
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11th over: New Zealand 21-5 (Blundell 2, Phillips 0) Tongue rams in a yorker that is beautifully defended by Blundell.
Incidentally, Robinson celebrated his last wicket by giving Mitchell a bit of a verbal send-off. It all looked fine, and it’s good to see he still has plenty of what Steve Waugh used to call “mongrel”. Even when he’s bowling nude nuts.
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10th over: New Zealand 20-5 (Blundell 2, Phillips 0) Ollie Robinson’s figures are 5-3-7-4. Thing is, he’s still bowling nude nuts, and yes that link is safe for work. But when the ball moves this much, they are nigh-on unplayable even at 80mph.
Even, what the hell am I talking about.
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WICKET! New Zealand 20-5 (Mitchell b Robinson 12)
Four wickets for Ollie Robinson! Mitchell shoulders arms to another gorgeous nipbacker that pings the top of off stump.
Top of off stump – that’s where Robinson lives, today and every day, and for some reason it’s gone a bit damp again.
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9.3 overs: New Zealand 20-4 (Mitchell 12, Blundell 2) Robinson goes wider on the crease to beat Mitchell for the umpteenth time. Even allowing for conditions that could have been custom-made for him, Robinson has bowled majestically.
Mitchell tries to smear Robinson off his line but can only cloth the ball into the ground. He’s broken his bat, in fact, so the umpires are going to call for drinks. Play can continue until 7.30pm local time, weather permitting.
9th over: New Zealand 20-4 (Mitchell 12, Blundell 2) Josh Tongue, one of the few good things about England’s Ashes FFSilis, comes on for Atkinson. He ends a relatively quiet first over – relatively – by beating Blundell with a jaffa. That could eaisly have taken the outside edge of the bat or the off stump.
“On the punctuation before bloody hell (3rd over)” begins Tim de Lisle, “the late great Paddy Barclay went for a dash.”
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8th over: New Zealand 17-4 (Mitchell 11, Blundell 0) Robinson tries a surprise short ball that is savaged for four by Mitchell. No need to bowl that length in these conditions, so maybe it just slipped out of the hand.
A more familiar delivery snakes past Mitchell’s outside edge. Robinson now has figures of 4-2-7-3, which is coincidentally the formation Florentino Perez and Jose Mourinho plan to play at Real Madrid next season.
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7th over: New Zealand 12-4 (Mitchell 6, Blundell 0) Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell batted magnificently together in England four years ago, adding 724 runs across three Tests. They might be happy to add seven tonight.
Blundell is sent back by Mitchell and makes his ground before Atkinson’s throw hits the stumps.
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WICKET! New Zealand 12-4 (Latham LBW b Atkinson 3)
Gus Atkinson joins the orgy of wickets. Latham pushed outside the line of another terrific nipbacker that thudded into the bad. Adrian Holdstock raised the finger straight away, and Latham’s hopeful review was unsuccesful.
That’s the 14th wicket of the day; we haven’t even had 50 overs.
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Sky have just shown a lovely slow-motion replay of Ollie Robinson’s third wicket. He was imploring Rod Tucker to give Ravindra LBW, then turned round towards the slip cordon to plead for a review. As he did so, Tucker raised his finger and Robinson saw the decision on the faces of his team-mates.
6th over: New Zealand 10-3 (Latham 3, Mitchell 5) Mitchell walks at Robinson and is beaten outside off stump. He reaches the obvious conclusion – ‘sod this for a lark’ – and tries to get down the other end asap. The result is a crazy run on the off side and a missed run-out chance. Latham wasn’t even in the picture when Stokes’ throw missed the stumps. Gay could have backed up but decided to retreat in case there were potential overthrows.
Robinson trampolines another brilliant delivery past Latham, who then takes a more considered single on the off side.
“Could it be that, as Friday is likely to be the best day weatherwise, both sides hope to finish the match by this time tomorrow?” says John Starbuck.
Two-day Tests are so damn hot right now.
5th over: New Zealand 8-3 (Latham 2, Mitchell 4) These are horrible batting conditions, as they have been all day. Never mind Harry Brook’s blistering 56; right now Shoaib Bashir’s 14 feels like a serious knock.
Mitchell almost falls to Atkinson when an inside-edge bounces just short of Gay at short leg. “I don’t often feel sorry for batters but my goodness me this pitch is moving today!” chirps Stuart Broad on Sky Sports.
4th over: New Zealand 5-3 (Latham 2, Mitchell 2) Robinson’s pace is around 80mph. The problem for New Zealand is that he’s bowling 80mph legbreaks – and he has a googly.
Latham plays and misses before turning Robinson this far short of Stokes at leg slip. That’s another refreshingly unorthodox bit of captaincy from Stokes, who wasn’t himself at all in the field in Australia.
Robinson has to settle for a wicketless maiden and figures of 2-2-0-3.
3.1 overs: New Zealand 5-3 (Latham 2, Mitchell 2) The hat-trick ball is left calmly by Tom Latham.
With Robinson waiting at the top of his mark, the umpires check the light. Daryl Mitchell tries to get over the field quicksmart, like Alec Stewart at Headingley in 1998, but play will continue…
3rd over: New Zealand 5-3 (Latham 2, Mitchell 2) No disrespect to Gus Atkinson but who cares.
“The obligatory…” is the subject of Brian Withington’s email, which reads simply:
Cricket. Bloody hell.
I’ve always wondered about that phrase – should there be a full stop, a comma or a question mark before the BH? I used to think a question mark but eventually came round to the comma, and now I have no idea.
2nd over: New Zealand 2-3 (Latham 1, Mitchell 0) I don’t think I’ve ever cried this much while watching cricket. Robinson’s absence has been one of the saddest stories in English cricket for decades; there was fault on both sides, probably a fair bit of misunderstanding too. It’s not worth going back over all that, not when he has just bowled probably the greatest comeback over in history.
Ravindra is out! He prodded defensively and was beaten by another beautiful bit of seam bowling. This time theer was a slight doubt over height – but again it was umpire’s call and Ollie Robinson has bowled an over that we will be talking about forever.
Oh, and he’ll be on a hat-trick at the start of the next over.
WICKET! New Zealand 2-3 (Ravindra LBW b Robinson 0)
DRS permitting, OLLIE ROBINSON HAS BOWLED A TRIPLE-WICKET MAIDEN!
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Ollie Robinson has figures of 2 for 0! Williamson was beaten first ball, then pushed defensively with hard hands at a nipbacker. The ball hit the pad, looped up and was caught with glee by the diving Emilio Gay. He’d only just been placed at short leg by Ben Stokes, and Robinson ran straight over to Stokes in acknowledgement of his captaincy.
WICKET! New Zealand 2-2 (Williamson c Gay b Robinson 0)
Magnificent bowling from Ollie Robinson!
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It took just three balls for Robinson to strike. The first two took the inside-edge of Conway’s bat; the third seamed back to beat him on the inside and hit the pad. Robinson implored Rod Tucker to give the LBW and was rewarded.
Conway reviewed in the hope it was missing leg – but it was umpire’s call and Robinson has his 77th Test wicket. I suspect it’s the sweetest of them all. He celebrated with an almighty roar, and to tell you the truth my eyes went a bit damp at that point.
It was close, just clipping leg, but it was also highly skilful bowling from a world-class cricketer.
WICKET! New Zealand 2-1 (Conway LBW b Robinson 1)
Ollie Robinson is back, baby!
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Like Kyle Jamieson, Ollie Robinson is playing his first Test since February 2024. The reasons for their absence are quite different, and probably don’t need exploring any more. It’s just exciting to see such a skilful bowler back in the team.
There was a fascinating and confusing stat on Robinson in this month’s Wisden Cricket Monthly. I forget the exact details, but the gist of it is that, he has a significantly better bowling average in Tests when his pace drops below 80mph. Riddle me that.
1st over: New Zealand 2-0 (Latham 1, Conway 1) Atkinson has bowled the first over of a Test innings on three occasions before today, including both innings of his last appearance at the MCG.
He starts pretty well from the Pavilion End, drawing a thick edge from Latham that is well stopped by Bethell in the gully. Accurate stuff from Atkinson; two singles from the over.
The players are back on the field. Gus Atkinson and Ollie Robinson, in that order, will open the bowling to Tom Latham and Devon Conway.
Thanks Tim, hello again. England will hope this match follows a similar pattern to the first Bazball Test against New Zealand on this ground four years ago. But only in the first innings.
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New Zealand 132 & 285
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England 141 & 279-5
Time for me to hand over again. Thanks for your company, correspondence and waspish remarks about Brendon McCullum, and I’ll leave you with the great Rob Smyth. I’m due back on Sunday, if the game lasts that long.
England 140 all out!
40th over (Tongue 12, Bashir c Williamson b Smith 14) England’s last pair stuck around long enough to precipitate a bowling change. Jamieson takes a break (14-0-62-5) and back comes Nathan Smith, whose trajectory is much lower. His first ball goes down the leg side for two byes. Two balls later, Bashir has a heave over the leg side and moves to his highest Test score. Next ball, he hangs his bat out and gets a rather limp edge to third slip.
Kyle Jamieson holds the ball up to the crowd and his team-mates go off feeling that’s a job well done, especially after Matt Henry pulled up lame. Jamieson took 5-62, Smith 3-38 and the fearsome O’Rourke 2-25. So the question is, can Atkinson, Robinson and Tongue return the compliment?
39th over: England 136-9 (Tongue 12, Bashir 10) O’Rourke continues and Tongue keeps him out, helped by a pair of bouncers, which he ducks, leaving one of these fast bowlers with a glare on his face, the other with a smile.
38th over: England 136-9 (Tongue 12, Bashir 10) Cork could bat a bit and Bashir is threatening to emulate him. Facing Jamieson, he conjures up a tuck for two and a cut for two more. Double figures! He celebrates in true No.11 fashion, with a play-and-miss. The partnership is 18, which makes it the third-highest of the innings.
37th over: England 132-9 (Tongue 10, Bashir 8) A maiden from O’Rourke, and the stats are piling up: one of the commentators mentions that Bashir is the first Derbyshire player to play for England since Dominic Cork, 24 years ago. No offence to Bashir, but in this predicament, Cork might be more use.
36th over: England 132-9 (Tongue 10, Bashir 8) Jamieson offers some width and Bashir says thanks very much, flashing for four and driving for two.
Meanwhile Rob has a great spot about Jamieson’s place in history. “He now has 85 Test wickets at 19.18. The last person to take more Test wickets at a better average was SF Barnes, who played his last Test four months before the death of Franz Ferdinand.” That average may be marginally higher now, but the point probably stands.
35th over: England 126-9 (Tongue 10, Bashir 2) From the Nursery Enf, it’s the alarming Mr O’Rourke. Josh Tongue rises to the challenge with a shovel for two past mid-off and a cover drive, on the up, for four. That makes him the fourth man to reach double figures today, after Duckett, Brook and Stokes. And the second right-hander.
34th over: England 120-9 (Tongue 4, Bashir 2) So, in no time, England are down to their last man. Shoaib Bashir plays one solid defensive shot, a waft outside off and then a very respectable nurdle for two. Jamieson strolls off to the deep with figures of five for 52 off 12 overs. In the away dressing-room, the engraver gets to work.
Wicket! Robinson c Blundell b Jamieson 1 (England 118-9)
And here is that fifth wicket. Robinson pokes at a ball that keeps low and gets a nick that is picked up by the stump mic, and more importantly, Ultra Edge.
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Play!
The players are out there and the ball is in the hands of Kyle Jamieson, who needs one more wicket to get on the honours board.
It’s been a dream of a day so far for the New Zealanders. Kyle Jamieson has taken four wickets and he hasn’t even been the best bowler. Will O’Rourke has been quicker, more threatening and just as tall.
Play will resume at 4.51
The umps have ruled that play will resume at 4.51pm, in about 15 minutes… as long as the rain holds off.
The rain has relented. As the covers come off, the umpires are in the middle carrying out an inspection. Meanwhile, in front of the pavilion, most of the England captains you can think of are lining up for a team photo, from Mike Brearley to Michael Vaughan. Alec Stewart, ever The Gaffer, is making a forceful point to his predecessor, Mike Atherton. David Gower, in a pinstripe suit, is having a laugh with his successor, Mike Gatting.
Rain-break reading
This is a good question.
And another correspondent is back for a second spell. “Brendon McCullum is clearly not enjoying Lord’s today,” says Ken Andrew. “The England balcony is so small he’s unable to put his feet up to show the world how chilled he is...” Ouch!
Another good spot from Mark Puttick. “Harry Brook’s ten Test innings v NZ: three scores between 0 and 1 (0, 0, 1), the remaining seven all over 50 (89, 54, 186, 171, 123, 55, 56).”
I feel a song coming on.
Still off for rain
“But,” says Ian Ward, “the mop-up has begun.”
Many thanks to Rob, whose paragraphs were a pleasure to read as usual. Though he did seem to bring a lot of England wickets with him. When he took over from me at 1.45 or so, Duckett and Bethell were still together.
The weather is improving so hopefully play will resume soon. I’m going to hand over back to Tim for a little while.
Tea
The umpires have brought tea forward, which means play is scheduled to restart at 4.11pm. That looks unlikely, because there’s biblical stuff falling from the sky.
“It may sound harsh to criticise Harry Brook after a highly entertaining and crucial half-century in bowler-friendly conditions,” says Colum Fordham. “But perhaps he could have reined in his natural aggression after Stokes got out.”
He was batting with the No9, so slowing down would have made no sense. Given the match situation and the noise around the England team, I thought Brook’s tempo and risk-management were about as good as could be reasonably expected.
That was an extremely tough session for England, who made 94 for 7 in 23.1 overs. New Zealand bowled beautifully, Will O’Rourke in particular, and most of the England batters were out playing defensively. The exception was Harry Brook, who rode his luck to make a brilliant counter-attacking 56.
Bad light stops play
33.1 overs: England 118-8 (Robinson 1, Tongue 4) So much for Jamieson’s fitness. He has changed ends to replace Smith – maybe New Zealand just want to ough up England’s quicks with their tallest bowlers – and immediately beats Robinson with a preposterous, unplayable delivery.
That’s the last ball of this session: the light has deteriorated and the players are going off.
33rd over: England 118-8 (Robinson 1, Tongue 4) Kyle Jamieson is replaced by Will O’Rourke. That might seem harsh, when he’s one short of a five-for, but he’s bowled 11 overs today and his enduring fitness is far more important.
Tongue is hit high on the bat by O’Rourke but survives the last four balls of the over.
“Is it cowardly to pray for a near-biblical deluge covering just St John’s Wood for the period between now and 6pm on Monday?” asks Richard O’Hagan.
32nd over: England 117-8 (Robinson 0, Tongue 4) A very good ball from Smith is inside-edged past the stumps and away for four by Josh Tongue.
WICKET! England 113-8 (Brook c Jamieson b Smith 56)
Stop the press: New Zealand have caught Harry Brook. After pulling Smith for four and missing an attempt to launch six over extra cover, Brook flicked high towards fine leg and was well taken by Jamieson. The end of a highly entertaining innings, without which England would be in an even deeper stink.
31st over: England 108-7 (Brook 52, Robinson 0) Kyle Jamieson has Benson & Hedges Cup figures: 11-0-50-4.
The new batter is Ollie Robinson, who made a first-class hundred against Suirrey this summer. But what we really want is to see him bowl in these conditions.
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WICKET! England 108-7 (Atkinson LBW b Jamieson 4)
After Brook flashes Jamieson for four to reach a blistering fifty, Atkinson is plumb LBW to a majestic off-cutter. Jamieson is one away from his sixth Tet five-for.
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30th over: England 102-6 (Brook 47, Atkinson 3)
29th over: England 100-6 (Brook 46, Atkinson 3) It’s so good to see Kyle Jamieson back after all his injury problems. This is his first Test appearance since February 2024 and only his fourth appearance since New Zealand’s tour of England four years ago.
Four is also the number of wickets he should have in this innings, because Brook has been dropped again. He picked up a short ball towards deep square leg, where Ravindra spilled a relatively straightforward running chance. Ravindra got himself in a weird position, jumping to meet the ball with both feet off the ground.
I think he’d have taken that had it been any other batter, but Brook puts fielding teams under so much pressure. New Zealand dropped him five times when he leathered 171 at Christchurch in that 2024-25 series.
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28th over: England 99-6 (Brook 45, Atkinson 3) Atkinson, who scored a pulsating maiden century against Sri Lanka on this ground two years ago, times Smith nicely down the ground for three to get off the mark.
England’s seamers must be itching to bowl in these conditions, though you never know if or when the pitch will start to flatten out.
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27th over: England 94-6 (Brook 43, Atkinson 0) Gus Atkinson, who for reasons I can’t fathom has become a bit of a forgotten man, is the new batter.
There’s a slight concern over Stokes’ fitness as well. Earlier in that over he turned sharply after being sent back and appeared to hurt his groin in the process.
WICKET! England 94-6 (Stokes c Williamson b Jamieson 12)
That’s a joke of a shot from Harry Brook, a disdainful pick-up/pull off Jamieson that flies over square leg for four. There’s a long way to go but Brook’s batting today has been so similar to the series-winning counter-attacks in New Zealand 18 months ago. On those occasions England were 71 for 4 and 43 for 4.
And today they are 94 for 6 because Stokes has gone! He pushed defensively at a length delivery that bounced to take a thick edge and was stunningly caught by Kane Williamson at third slip. Williamson swooped low, in from otf Latham, and clutched it one-handed just above the ground. What a catch!
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26th over: England 83-5 (Brook 36, Stokes 8) Stokes gets his first boundary with a crisp flick through midwicket off Smith. What England would give for Stokes to find some form with the bat. It’s been always three years since his poker-faced rampage against Australia on this ground, and in that time he averages less than 30.
“So,” writes Rory in Cardiff, “in what way is losing your off stump by not playing a shot any less a waste of your wicket than being caught on the boundary?
”At least with the more naked aggression of Bazball Mk1 wickets were lost trying to score runs, but that wicket takes us back to the drab old days before the current management took over.”
I think that’s a bit harsh on Smith, though there was arguably an element of being seen to do the right thing. Equally, the best batter today, by a distance, has been the most attacking.
25th over: England 79-5 (Brook 36, Stokes 4) Brook charges Jamieson and drags an inelegant, flamingoish boundary through mid-on. “You can’t just let Kyle Jamieson bowl in the same spot all the time,” says Stuart Broad on commentary. “You have to mess with his length.”
To prove the point, Jamieson’s next ball is too full and timed gloriously through mid-on for four more. Marvellous batting.
Drinks
Tea will be taken at 4.15pm due to the earlier rain.
24th over: England 71-5 (Brook 28, Stokes 4) Smith replaces Jamieson, who may change ends to replace O’Rourke. New Zealand are currently down to three specialist seamers because of Matt Henry’s back spasm.
“Ah yes, the new look England under the revitalisation of McCullum and Key!” writes X. “It’s just like the old-look England under McCullum and Key. The more it stays the same, the more it stays the same, non?”
The entitled moaning and thoughtless rants in my inbox has certainly stayed the same, even though the manner of England’s struggles with the bat today bear almost no resemblance to what happened in Australia.
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23rd over: England 70-5 (Brook 27, Stokes 4) Stokes smiles after playing and missing at another delivery from O’Rourke that moves extravagantly off the seam. These are seriously tough batting conditions, in which a par score is probably no more than 200.
“Early days, but this could be one of the shorter ‘resets’ in English cricket history?” wonders David Hindle. “We may be heading back to the days of despair with very short interludes of torture by nasty shards of hope? And admiring how much better at cricket all the other teams are than us?”
There are some 1986 vibes around this series, but ultimately England are struggling today because they lost a vital toss against a superb attack. The only player to get out to an ill-judged attacking shot was Jacob Bethell, and England were in similar positions against New Zealand 18 months ago when the garden was much rosier.
I suppose the main concern is how much the noise, the endless bloody noise, affects the subconscious of players like Jamie Smith. Among the batters, I’d be less worried about Brook, Bethell, Root and to a lesser extent Duckett.
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22nd over: England 68-5 (Brook 27, Stokes 2) A very wide half-volley from Jamieson is larruped square for four by Brook. He tries to pull the next ball and contrives to top-edge it over the bowler’s head for two.
“Last year we were debating whether Ben Duckett was the best all-format batsman on earth,” weeps Luke Dealtry. “My, how things fall apart - though a tour of Australia has done that to many a man. Watching him leave the first couple of balls this morning makes me wonder if he’ll rise again, though I appreciate it is a honking day to bat and he’s been great in the county championship. But it’ll be mentally very tough, and the making of the man if he does return to previous heights.”
He’s the least of our worries right now. His county form, and the way he played today, makes me think he’ll be fine. Not sure I can see England winning the Ashes next year without him.
21st over: England 61-5 (Brook 21, Stokes 2) A scruffy over from O’Rourke, who clearly started to believe the hype and has now lost the plot.
Meanwhile, Mark Puttick has spotted something unusual about the Jacob Bethell dismissal.
I would tentatively say that’s the first time a New Zealand bowler who was born in England has got an England batter who was born in Barbados out LBW after a review in a Lord’s Test.
20th over: England 61-5 (Brook 20, Stokes 2) There’s a further delay because of a problem with the sightscreen. Stokes then tries to leave a ball from Jamieson at the last minute; it deflects off the bat and not far wide of the stumps.
“Does Joe Root tend to take a bit of time to warm up?” asks James Brough. “I’ve a feeling he starts the summer with a couple of low scores and then comes into his own once the series is under way. Am I doing him a disservice?”
I think so. He started the first Bazball summer with a vital matchwinning century, then batted gloriously on day one of the 2023 Ashes (don’t get me started on the declaration, for all our sakes). Last year he took a while to get going against India, but overall I don’t think there’s a pattern.
19.4 overs: England 55-5 (Brook 20, Stokes 0) As Ben Stokes walks onto the field, Harry Brook runs off the field, presumably for a toilet break.
On reflection I suspect Smith left that ball on line as well as length. It came back a mile off the seam, but it’s not the first ball to do so today so it counts as a fairly bad misjudgement.
WICKET! England 55-5 (Smith b Jamieson 1)
No. Nooo. Jamie Smith shoulders arm to a nipbacker from Kyle Jamieson that clatters into the stumps. Jamieson is 6ft 8ins so maybe Smith thought it was a safe leave on length; he was wrong.
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19th over: England 55-4 (Brook 20, Smith 1) Four more to Brook, pulled handsomely behind square off O’Rourke – a shot that is easier typed than done. Brook’s burgeoning counter-attack, 20 from 29 balls, has already changed the mood a touch.
18th over: England 51-4 (Brook 16, Smith 1) A short ball from Smith is pulled devastatingly for four by Brook. Smith responds with a fuller nipbacker that goes through the gate to hit the pad. New Zealand go up for LBW but, though it looks fairly close, there are doubts over both height and line and Brook survives.
17th over: England 44-4 (Brook 9, Smith 1) Brook plays another high-class square drive for four, this time off O’Rourke – but then he’s dropped by Conway! Brook sliced a flamboyant kind of cut/drive that flew towards backward point and burst through the hands of Conway.
New Zealand dropped Brook a gazillion times in that 2024-25 series, and he punished them royally with a couple of matchwinning hundreds.
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16th over: England 38-4 (Brook 4, Smith 0) Brook pushes nervously at a big outswinger from Smith and is beaten. He needs to laser one over extra-cover for six, or at least die trying, because right now England are sitting ducks.
Brook settles for a less extravagant square drive to the boundary. That’s an excellent shot.
“My only quibble about your description of Will O’Rourke is that he might be the world’s best already, certainly on a pitch offering a bit, as this one is,” says Gary Naylor. “Just because he looks like a choirboy doesn’t mean he can’t be a nasty-fasty, with a bit of movement and a lot of control. It’s a different game above 87mph, especially from that height.”
WHY DOES EVERYONE HATE JASPRIT BUMRAH? (I know what you mean, though, especially on a pitch like this. And O’Rourke is a greater physical threat, which counts for something.)
15th over: England 34-4 (Brook 0, Smith 0) Helluva time for Jamie Smith to start his new career as England’s Test No6.
I’m getting the shivers at the thought of how good O’Rourke could be; how good he already is. He was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, by the way – his parents moved back to New Zealand when he was four or five.
WICKET! England 34-4 (Root c Blundell b O'Rourke 1)
Too good. WIll O’Rourke is just too good for the greatest batter in English cricket history. Root was undone by a snorting, seaming lifter that shaved the outside edge and was taken by Blundell.
Don’t sigh, don’t shout FFS. England haven’t done much wrong today – they are being taken apart by a sensational seam attack. Sure, Root was starting to open the face but it was an absolute jaffa. Short of square-legging it like a No11, he was always going to edge that delivery once his instinct told him to play at it.
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14th over: England 34-3 (Root 1, Brook 0) Brook either defends or leaves the remainder of a challenigng over from Smith. Nobody wants to hear it, but this is exactly the situation in which Brook’s best approach is to tee off – as he did so brilliantly in New Zealand 18 months ago and against India at the Oval last summer. It’s much harder to do that after spending five months on the naughty step, so the next half hour will be a fascinating insight into the mind of Harry Cherrington Brook.
Brook is not out! Big inside-edge onto the pad, next!
New Zealand review for LBW against Brook! This looks close to me, maybe umpire’s call on line. England are under so much pressure from a forensic New Zealand attack.
13th over: England 33-3 (Root 0, Brook 0) O’Rourke greets Brook with a sharp bumper. Brook avoids that but is hit in the stomach (I think) by a nasty nipbacker. This guy O’Rourke is sensational – he looks violently unpleasant to face, with angles and lift that evoke the best of Steve Harmison.
WICKET! England 33-3 (Bethell LBW b O'Rourke 6)
Jacob Bethell 0-1 Will O’Rourke. It was a superb delivery from O’Rourke, much fuller than usual and angling back to hit the pad as Bethell missed an attempted drive. The ball deflected to slip, which brought the catch into play had Bethell inside-edged the ball onto the pad.
He had not – but he was plumb LBW and England are in the malodorous stuff. That was a slightly loose stroke from Bethell.
New Zealand review for LBW/a catch against Bethell!
One way or another, I think this is out.
A cracking read, this, from Wisden’s Jo Harman-McGowan on English cricket’s answer to Brexit
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12th over: England 31-2 (Bethell 4, Root 0) This New Zealand attack were always likely to give England a serious test in these conditions. Both openers were got out, rather than giving their wickets away, and if anything England haven’t gone hard enough.
There were three reds on the Duckett dismissal, no umpire’s call, so he was correct not to review. Smith gets some lavish outswing to the new batter Joe Root, who defends watchfully.
WICKET! England 31-2 (Duckett LBW b Smith 19)
Nathan Smith strikes with his third ball of the match! Duckett, who struck the previous delivery for four, was caught in front by a length ball from around the wicket that nipped back sharply to hit both pads.
I thought Duckett would review – there was a bit of doubt over height – but after a discussion with Bethell he decided to walk off.
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11th over: England 27-1 (Duckett 15, Bethell 4) O’Rourke is on for Matt Henry, who suffered a back spasm in the first session and is off the field. That’s a concern for New Zealand, though at least they have four specialist seamers in their team.
O’Rourke’s first ball is a jaffa, just back of a length and seaming past Duckett’s outside edge. When he overpitches later in the over, Duckett times a classy push-drive through extra cover for three. Bethell sees our the rest of the over.
Will O’Rourke is going to start after lunch. If you haven’t seen him before, you’re in for a treat over the next month – he has the potential to be world No1.
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Hello one and all, Rob here. There’s good news and bad news. The bad news, for you, is that Tim is having laptop problems so I’m taking over. The good news, for you and me, is that Jacob Bethell will be batting in a couple of minutes. We might even see him up against Will O’Rourke for the first time* since their immense contest at Hamilton on 17 December 2024.
* I think
Resuming at 1.45!
That said, the covers are off and the sun is out. Play will resume at 1.45pm, in about 15 minutes… if the rain doesn’t return.
Latest from a few miles south-west of Lord’s. “A while earlier,” says Neil Parkes, “when Bethell and Duckett where ducking and… bething (?), it was blowing a gale with horizontal rain here in Ealing and I was amazed they were out there. Now it’s bright sun here. No wait, it’s clouding over. No it’s sun again. No wait… err.”
Inspection at 1.30
Sure enough, things are not looking so good.
Not wanting to put a dampener on things, but I’ve just had a glance at the forecast. The chance of rain at Lord’s from 1 to 2pm, according to the Met Office, is greater than 95 per cent. And it doesn’t get much better in the hours after that: 80pc, 80pc, 70pc, 50pc… The best bet is 6-7pm, when it’s 30pc.
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Lunch now, restart at 1.25 (all being well)
“Slightly better news,” says Ian Ward on Sky. “There’s going to be a restart at 1.25pm if there’s no further rain…. The teams are having an early lunch.”
Mid-rain reading
Jonathan Liew has a question for us.
Good news for people overseas wanting to track down TMS on YouTube. “This,” says Ben Mimmack, “is the link. For home Tests, the BBC usually includes it on their match updates page (other, arguably superior, over-by-over update pages are available).” Ha, thanks.
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“Kia ora, Tim, from a dismal evening in Rotorua, Aotearoa,” says Graeme Simpson. “A lovely tribute to Martin Crowe. Back in 1992, I directed Crowe on Crowe, a dialogue between Marty and his brother, Jeff.
“This was during the final of the Cricket World Cup in NZ and Australia. At lunch in the NZ v Pakistan semi-final at Eden Park, the Black Caps were in good shape with a possible final at the MCG. Instead, they were blitzed. My crew were on the park as the team did a final lap of honour. Grown men in tears. Marty as staunch as ever… a final wave to the crowd, freeze frame, fade out on Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits.”
Back to the weather. “Here in central London,” says Rob Grey, “the water is coming horizontally into my work canteen through an open door. Bad omen.
“Can’t help but feel the first and third innings will be the ones affected most, looking at the forecast. Ah well, we are due another loss.”
“Welcome back,” says Robert Lewis, “and long may you fill our computers and phones with your words of wisdom.” Thanks… or are you just softening me up?
“On your Preamble and heads rolling after last winter, I have just two words: Oliver Pope?”
Point partly taken! Pope’s head did roll, but in the middle of the Ashes, not afterwards, so that was why I concentrated on Crawley. Personally I feel a bit sorry for both of them. Crawley’s average, which has been much talked about, was good enough in home Tests – 37. (He was awful against Matt Henry, though.) Pope was prematurely promoted to vice-captain, did all right when standing in for Ben Stokes, and then lost the job to Harry Brook, who has also been given it too early.
Brook had never given captaincy much thought and although he can be good on the field, it shows every time he speaks to the media. Meanwhile England have a one-day captain in waiting, who would bring far more experience both as a captain and as a white-ball player: Sam Curran.
“Isn’t it great to have Test cricket back after all that IPL nonsense?” says Richard O’Hagan. Let’s assume that is a rhetorical question.
“Lovely that they are honouring Martin Crowe. The NZ social media team have been showing the new portrait of him in the Long Room. It’s incredible, like he is there with you.”
“Sorry to start the series in such a negative mood,” says Ian Batch, “but very disappointed with the England selection. What has Bashir done to be included? Why not blood a raw Baker instead of going back to Robinson? What does Rehan Ahmed need to do to get picked when he’s miles better as a cricketer than Bashir will ever be? Was the ‘we’ll look at county cricket’ just a PR line?
“Maybe I’m still suffering from a bad Ashes hangover, but I just can’t fathom how Baz is still in a job and to be honest, Duckett, Stokes and even Smith with the gloves are all fortunate to be in the XI.”
Are you sure about Stokes? He may have tailed off with the bat, but his bowling in Australia was excellent. All-rounders often go from bowlers who can bat to batters who bowl a bit, if at all, but Stokes has gone the other way.
“I’m in Portugal,” says Tim Stappard. “Can I get any radio coverage on YouTube etc? Boring question I know for you. Cheers if you can help.” I can’t, sorry, but I suspect the OBO knows someone who can.
A good spot from Mark Puttick, in fact two. “This is the first England men’s Lord’s Test since May 2007 v West Indies not to feature one of Anderson, Broad, and Woakes.” That was so long ago, the prime minister was Tony Blair.
“New Zealand are also Emilio Gay’s fourth international opponents. He played T20s for Italy against Guernsey, Scotland, and the Netherlands.”
This is bad news for the crowd but good news for our mailbag. The first email I open comes from John Starbuck. “The OBO no more?” he splutters. “It’s always a good feeling to have the OBO going again but what’s happened to its name. Has the Guardian’s style change removed it? If so, we really ought to have a debate about this.”
I couldn’t possibly comment.
Rain stops play!
Here we go. A sharp shower sends the players running for the Long Room.
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10th over: England 24-1 (Duckett 12, Bethell 4) Jamieson continues and has an appeal for caught behind against Duckett, not given. Bethell plays a nice shot for two, coolly steered past gully.
“Nice to see Brendon McCullum finally back in England,” says Ken Andrew, “after a big chunk of the season has already been played. I wonder if he’s had a chance to get acquainted with his new opening batsman yet ...”
Ha, fair point – the ECB should have said when they gave him the white-ball job as well, as the Test one, you can’t do this from the other side of the world. But to be fair to Baz too, he’s getting to know Gay now, sitting on the balcony with him.
9th over: England 21-1 (Duckett 11, Bethell 2) Tom Latham makes his first bowling change, replacing Henry with Nathan Smith, who is shorter and skiddier. He doesn’t need a loosener, jagging his first ball past Bethell’s defensive prod. After that there are five more dots. “Very good first over from Smith,” says Mike Atherton.
8th over: England 21-1 (Duckett 11, Bethell 2) Duckett seems keener than usual to get forward and he needs to be on a slow pitch. When he drives Jamieson through the covers, he gets only two for it. But then Jamieson surprises him with some bounce and he has to take a blow to the glove. At the end of the over he has a conference with Bethell. It’s odd to see Duckett with no Crawley, Little Without Large.
7th over: England 19-1 (Duckett 9, Bethell 2) Just a single from Henry’s fourth over. Nasser said there was a drop of rain a moment ago, but now the sun has come out. The British weather is like the British electorate: more capricious than it used to be.
6th over: England 18-1 (Duckett 8, Bethell 2) It wasn’t just a good ball: Daryl Mitchell took a good catch, down by his ankles at first slip. So Gay has to go and here’s another young left-hander, Jacob Bethell, whose last Test innings was his first Test hundred at Sydney, in fact his first in first-class cricket. He’s strong on the back foot and shows it immediately with a cut for two.
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WICKET! Gay c Mitchell b Jamieson 8 (England 16-1)
Ah what a shame for Emilio Gay… but it does take a good ball to get rid of him. Jamieson finds the line, the length, the lift and the edge.
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5th over: England 15-0 (Duckett 7, Gay 8) England get their first runs that actually involve some running as Duckett tucks Henry off his hip for two. Then the openers change ends for the first time as Duckett repeats the shot to a ball that swings in late. The skies are still a darker shade of grey.
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4th over: England 12-0 (Duckett 4, Gay 8) England are getting ’em in boundaries. Gay gets a full ball from Jamieson and on-drives for four, holding the pose. “Nothing wrong with that,” says Nasser Hussain. “It means you’re in a good technical position.” The next ball beats Gay outside off and for a moment Tom Blundell thinks there’s a thin edge. Then he tries his first cut and doesn’t middle it at all. Nasser blames the pitch: “the bounce on the first morning is non-existent.” The over ends with a stifled appeal for LBW. Jamieson is finding his radar.
3rd over: England 8-0 (Duckett 4, Gay 4) Duckett, facing Henry again, finally finds the middle of the bat. He drives the first ball to mid-off and the second to the boundary at extra-cover, with conviction.
2nd over: England 4-0 (Duckett 0, Gay 4) Jamieson manages to land the other five balls and find some swing, but his line and length are all over the place. There’s one decent ball, drawing a leading edge from Gay which never looks like carrying to the cordon.
2nd over, first ball: England 4-0 (Duckett 0, Gay 4) It’s Kyle Jamieson and he has a present for Emilio Gay: a full toss! Gay guides it away behind square and smiles like a man who wasn’t expecting that.
1st over: England 0-0 (Duckett 0, Gay 0) The bowler is Matt Henry, the first ball a damp squib – a grubber outside off. Duckett leaves it, and the next one, which at least reaches the keeper aboce his ankles. Duckett does play at the third ball, and misses! He leaves the fourth and nudges the fifth and sixth. That may be the most sedate over of Duckett’s career.
The bell is rung by Emma Crowe, daughter of Martin, another fine player who didn’t live all that long. The series is being played for the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy. The anthems are sung. The England players head off with a few squeezes of the hand for Emilio Gay. The New Zealanders gather in a huddle. The openers, Gay and Ben Duckett, half-run to the middle.
The teams come out – both teams, in full, to take their places in one long, elegant line. Emilio Gay leans his bat against an ad hoarding and chews his gum. There’s a minute’s silence, the announcer says, “as we remember some of the greats of our game”. The faces on the scoreboard include Robin Smith and Hugh Morris, both gone too soon, and the equally well-loved MJK Smith.
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The second email of the day comes from inside the ground. “Morning Tim,” says Nick Parish. “It’s been a long and winding road to me first seeing a Test match at Lord’s. In 2022 I had tickets for the fourth day against South Africa and England lost in 3 days. In 2024 I had tickets for the fourth day against West Indies – I guess that was marginally better, because at least that time England won in 3 days.
“Learning from my mistakes, this year I have gone for the first day, only to face a tube strike and an apocalyptic weather forecast only a week after it was 33C. However I’m here, with a smile and the requisite two tinnies, and very much looking forward to it all. However much ‘it all’ is.”
Hoping you have a ball. Or even 540 balls.
Teams in full
England 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Emilio Gay, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wkt), 7 Ben Stokes (capt), 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Ollie Robinson, 10 Josh Tongue, 11 Shoaib Bashir.
New Zealand 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Dary Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wkt), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Nathan Smith, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Will O’Rourke.
Teams in brief
New Zealand have opted for the extra seamer, so the promising Nathan Smith squeezes out the venerable Mitch Santner. England have taken the opposite tack, preferring Shoaib Bashir’s mercurial off-breaks to Sonny Baker’s untried pace. The toss makes both decisions look better, as the team bowling last (England) will be the one with the specialist spinner.
Toss: NZ put England in
The toss has taken place! Tom Latham wins it and says he’ll have a bowl, as most captains would under these leaden skies. That makes it an even bigger moment for Emilio Gay, who has just been presented with his England cap by Alastair Cook. They both went to the same school, Bedford. Are they also members of the same school of batsmanship? We’ll soon see.
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The first email of the day comes from Tim Harnedy. “Oh my God the radar,” it begins. “Looking at the deluge making its way up the M4 towards London, I’m not sure how much use it is asking for help finding a way listening to Test Match Special over here in Ireland, but any hints gratefully accepted.
“Ireland didn’t provide a particularly stern test for New Zealand in the match at Belfast, but the weather was better. Maybe England should visit for a match sometime?”
They certainly should.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the first Test of the English summer. Ashes, what Ashes? There’s a lot to look forward to here.
It’s the 150th Test at Lord’s, the first ground to reach that milestone. The next one looks like being Melbourne, some time in the 2040s, so here is one facet of cricket where England still rules the world.
It’s a reboot for our old friend Bazball, which is now going to be “slightly smarter” (according to Baz McCullum) or “a lot smarter” (according to Ben Stokes). As in Australia, these two seem to be singing from half of the same hymn sheet.
It’s a big moment for Emilio Gay, who will make his debut for England and open the batting in place of Zak Crawley, the only head to roll after a sobering winter. It may be an even bigger moment for Ollie Robinson, the prodigal seamer, as he walks into the last-chance saloon.
It’s the biggest series for New Zealand since they last faced England in December 2024. They’ve played only six Tests since, but they’ve brought a strong squad, stuffed with seasoned batters and talented bowlers. Their last big series away from home went quite well: they beat India 3-0.
It’s all set to be a great occasion. But have you seen the weather forecast? Bad for today, even worse for Saturday, bad again for Monday. If a bit of water could just be allowed to seep through the covers, it might be the only hope of a result.
The toss is at 10.30am (BST), at least in theory.
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