New Zealand

Big picture: Threat of 3-0 overshadows Southee fanfare From whitewash to whitewash? It would be quite a humbling for New Zealand, after their exploits in India – though there is still time to salvage some pride. While they have been blanked at home by Australia on several recent occasions, those have tended to be two-Test

Joe Root isn’t the No. 1 Test batter in the world anymore. The man he said was “far and away the best player in the world at the minute”, Harry Brook, has gone to the top of the pile following his 123 and 55 in the second Test in New Zealand, which came on the

Devon Conway will miss New Zealand’s third and final Test against England this week ahead of the birth of his first child. New Zealand coach Gary Stead said the team supported Conway’s decision. “Family comes first in this environment and we’re all really excited for Dev and his wife Kim to welcome their first child,”

Ben Sawyer has been reappointed head coach of the New Zealand women’s team for two years. Sawyer, who oversaw New Zealand’s first-ever T20 World Cup win earlier this year – they beat South Africa in the final – will remain at the helm until December 2026. This period includes the women’s ODI World Cup in

Ben Stokes has credited England’s “more dominant cricket” for securing their first series win in New Zealand since 2008, with Black Caps captain Tom Latham ceding his side were unable to cope with the pressure they were put under by the tourists. England needed just three days to secure a 2-0 lead in the three-match

England 280 and 427 for 6 dec (Root 106, Bethell 96, Duckett 92, Brook 55) lead New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) by 582 runs England batted on for 6.3 overs before declaring their innings closed on the third morning at Basin Reserve. That was enough time for Joe Root to notch his 36th

Lunch England 280 and 82 for 1 (Duckett 39*, Bethell 34*) lead New Zealand 125 (Atkinson 4-31, Carse 4-46) by 237 runs England stamped their authority on the second Test against New Zealand, stretching their lead beyond 200 during another fast-forward session at Basin Reserve. After Gus Atkinson had become the first bowler in history

Harry Brook has hailed his 123 on the opening day of the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington as the best of his eight Test hundreds, eclipsing the 317 he scored against Pakistan two months ago. Brook’s 115-ball innings – including a century from 91, his second-fastest in Tests – has put England in

Big picture: The Basin revisited Twenty-one months later, there’s still so much to unpack from that last extraordinary contest between New Zealand and England at Wellington. A packed crowd at the Basin Reserve had been invited in for free to witness one of the most extraordinary finishes in Test history – one that left even

Ben Stokes has asked the ICC to revisit its over-rate thresholds and criticised them for not engaging with players, after both New Zealand and England copped over-rate penalties from their first Test in Christchurch. Both teams were docked three World Test Championship (WTC) points with 15% match fee fines across the board last week at

Craig Cumming, the former New Zealand batter, has been appointed as head coach of the Blaze for their first season affiliated to Nottinghamshire as part of the Tier 1 women’s domestic structure. Cumming has enjoyed success in his home country with Otago Sparks, leading them to two 50-over Hallyburton Johnstone titles in four years. He

Tom Latham, New Zealand’s Test captain, dismissed the notion that his team need to work on their catching after a litany of errors contributed to a chastening eight-wicket defeat in the first Test against England. The hosts dropped a staggering eight catches in the tourists’ first innings, with Harry Brook the lucky recipient of five

Ben Stokes suffered an injury scare on day four of the first Test against New Zealand after aborting a spell with the ball midway through his fifth over, but played it down as “more management than anything else” and declared himself fit for the second Test. England’s Test captain opened the bowling with himself on

Gavin Larsen is to step down as Warwickshire’s performance director after 18 months in the role, the club have announced. Larsen moved to the UK from New Zealand in early 2023, taking over in a new role after Paul Farbrace’s departure as sporting director. Larsen had previously spent eight years as New Zealand selector. The

Tom Latham, New Zealand’s Test captain, has signed as one of Warwickshire’s overseas players for the 2025 season. With little overlap between New Zealand’s schedule and the English summer – they could still qualify for the World Test Championship final, to be held at Lord’s in June, and will tour Zimbabwe in July-August – Latham

England won the toss and chose to bowl first vs New Zealand England won the toss and chose to bowl first in the first Test at Christchurch, on a green-tinged pitch but under clear skies, with the prospect of a hot day in the field if New Zealand can negotiate the early movement against the

Since Ben Stokes became Test captain in 2022, he has made a note of addressing his England squad ahead of each series. His first that summer was an array of individual chats which took place St George’s Park, England’s national football centre, where the team had gathered for medical screenings, outlining his vision. Ever since,

It may be a different XI in different conditions, but Tom Latham has challenged his side to bring the same intensity and cunning against England that secured a remarkable 3-0 win in India. A lush green Hagley Oval pitch for Thursday’s first Test will be on the other end of the spectrum to the Wankhede

Big picture: Back to Baz-ics? How on earth do you follow that? New Zealand’s 3-0 Test series win in India may not have been the greatest result in their country’s cricketing history, but it was surely in the top one. Three deeply contrasting matches, in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai, were united by a single unquenchable

As the New Zealand Test squad reconvened at the Hagley Oval, three weeks on from a remarkable 3-0 win in India, they welcomed a familiar face back in their ranks. Kane Williamson, now shorn of the groin injury that kept him out of that historic tour, was donning BlackCaps training gear once more on Monday,

New Zealand Cricket has elected former allrounder and national selector Dion Nash to its board. Nash fills the vacancy left by Martin Snedden, who had to step down by rotation following a lengthy service to the game as a player, chief executive, board member, chair of the board and ICC director. “It’s good to have

Kane Williamson returned to competitive cricket after nearly two months out with a groin injury, and scored 60 for Northern Districts on day one of their Plunket Shield game against Auckland in Hamilton. Auckland asked Northern Districts to bat after winning the toss, and Williamson walked out to the crease at the fall of the

Toss New Zealand opt to bat vs Sri Lanka New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first in the final ODI in Pallekele. Sri Lanka have already secured the series win having won the first two games. Both sides have made changes, with Sri Lanka in particular seeking to test their bench strength.

Kane Williamson has paid tribute to the “incredible” career of his close friend Tim Southee after the pace bowler announced he would retire from Tests after the England series. The careers of Williamson and Southee have run side-by-side from junior and Under-19 level through domestic cricket into to all formats for New Zealand with the

Doug Bracewell, the New Zealand seamer, has been suspended for one month by the country’s Sports Tribunal for “the presence and use” of cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine. Bracewell “was provisionally suspended without opposition” on April 11 this year following an “adverse analytical finding” from an in-competition test on January 13 at the Super Smash

Toss Sri Lanka opt to bowl vs New Zealand Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl first in the 2nd ODI in Pallekele. Sri Lanka currently lead the three-match series 1-0. Charith Asalanka said that the high possibility of dew in the evening played a role in the decision to chase, while Mitchell

Tim Southee, New Zealand’s legendary seam bowler, has announced that he will retire from Test cricket on his home ground in Hamilton next month, at the conclusion of England’s tour of New Zealand. Southee, 35, has claimed 385 Test wickets in 104 appearances to date, second among New Zealanders behind Sir Richard Hadlee (431), and

Southee revealed he thought about retiring from the format on the recent tour of India, where he bounced the idea off coach Gary Stead, and decided his final three Tests would be the “marquee” series against England at home, especially after the series win in India gave New Zealand a boost to qualify for the

Kane Williamson has recovered from the groin injury which kept him out of New Zealand’s tour of India to take his place in the squad to face England while Wellington allrounder Nathan Smith has been handed his first Test call-up. Uncapped seamer Jacob Duffy is also part of the squad with Bear Sears (knee) and

New Zealand may have lost the first ODI in Dambulla on Wednesday by a fairly comprehensive 45-run margin, but for a youthful outfit with no less than three debutants in the playing XI, it was an opportunity to grab the “best seat in the house” in terms of learning how to play in unfamiliar conditions.