England Cricket

A wicket maiden for Potts in his first Test match over. It doesn't get much better than that and getting Kane Williamson, too. Sure, two or three wickets ...

And I’ve just been able to be a sponge in a way and soak up all the information and experience that this team has. Just to sit in that changing room has been pretty special, and to sit here now on the eve of another Lord’s Test is pretty cool.” He’s a huge character of the game, one of the legends of the game and probably the greatest to have played it. You understand that things ebb and flow and you have a great perspective on the game. It's then a play and a push on the off side and another leave to finish up. I would like to think that the way I've operation over the last couple of years is to be that natural leader... Takes the edge and that is a superb take from Bairstow low to his left at slip! Anderson sends one in, Latham plays out to the off side a little wildly and it flies to Bairstow at a good height at slip... A sharp one this time as Conway pushes hard at it and it just about carries about a foot off the ground. Anderson gets the edge of Williamson but it's very soft hands and it lands about a yard or two short of second slip! Leach gets back up and heads to the pavilion. it sounds like there's a noise on its way through to Foakes but it could have just clipped the back leg.

Jonny Bairstow takes three catches as England remove Will Young, Tom Latham and Devon Conway in the first hour on day one of the first Test at Lord's.

England implode after their seamers wreck havoc to bowl out New Zealand for 132 on the opening day of the first Test at Lord's.

Even Stevens at the end of day one?— ICC (@ICC) #WTC23 Trent Boult made Jonny Bairstow (1) drag one back onto the stumps and then removed Potts (0) two balls later to leave England stuttering at 100/7. Potts' first wicket was that of New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (2), who nicked behind in his first over and there was no looking back from there. “On the fourth of March the game lost a cricket legend and the greatest leg-spinner of all time. "Pottsy (Mattew Potts) has had a fantastic start to the season. Shane Warne, who passed away unexpectedly in March this year, was paid a special tribute at the Lord's at the end of the 23rd over.

Matthew Potts takes a wicket with his fifth ball in Test cricket as he dismisses New Zealand captain Kane Williamson for two. It was the kind of morning that ...

Even on a day when the batting failings left an ominous cloud hanging over England's bright new dawn. Stokes' bowlers were making his life a whole lot easier but he, too, deserves credit for holding his nerve when New Zealand went on the offensive after lunch. Such was their accuracy, those boundaries were rare in the extreme. The plan was clear: entice the drive. Indeed, Anderson ended his opening spell of six overs with figures of 2-4 with five maidens. The slip cordon was packed, there was no fielder at cover, let alone sweeping on the offside boundary.

England's bowling performance was as bright and optimistic as the weather, but once again their batting let them down in a display reminiscent of their ...

No evidence was offered up here either as he was dismissed tamely for seven in his first knock in the new position as he feathered an edge behind from the towering Jamieson. With the popularity of the Ashes and the fact that tickets will inevitably sell out regardless of price, this will be a major test of MCC’s public relations. By the end of the innings, Anderson had three more wickets – Tom Latham, Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee – as he took four for 66 overall. Williamson is the No 3 ranked Test batter in the world but he could nothing about the 85 miles per hour delivery from Potts that kissed his bat and was skilfully gathered by diving England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. For on a sun-drenched day at Lord’s, England’s bowling performance was as bright and optimistic as the weather. Will Young, victim of a spectacular low catch from Jonny Bairstow at third slip, was the scalp for England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in the third over of the day. In all the hosts lost seven for 97 in the final session as New Zealand’s bowlers stormed back. Joe Root, captain Ben Stokes, Alex Lees and Potts all perished during that mad passage of play. Thefirst day of the first Test of the summer. You wonder if you really are up to it despite the 35 wickets culled for Durhamthat got you through Ben’s door. That moment when the skipper chucks you the ball and says, here you go son, you’re on. Yet the end result was still the same.

Led for the first time by the captain-coach pairing of Stokes and Brendon McCullum, with new director of cricket Rob Key also watching on, England enjoyed a ...

Anderson had Kyle Jamieson and Southee caught hooking at fine leg to finish with four for 66, with Potts snaring Ajaz Patel lbw with the first ball of his second spell. The early breakthroughs laid an ideal foundation for Potts to take over and made a superb case for the next generation. That approach allowed them to nudge up beyond three figures, Colin de Grandhomme’s unbeaten 42 and a chancey 26 from Tim Southee helping swell the total, but the hosts remained in control. Williamson is short of form and Potts has been flying in Division Two, but it was still a significant scalp. Jonny Bairstow leapt into action, diving low to his left to pull off a one-handed stunner. England’s record wicket-taker, 39-year-old James Anderson, and Durham’s 23-year-old debutant Matthew Potts took four each as the combination of experience and fresh blood paid off in spades.

England began the Ben Stokes era with a chaotic day of cricket Lord's, with 17 wickets tumbling on a frantic start to their first Test against New Zealand.

Anderson bouncing out both Jamieson and Southee in between meant he and Potts were vying to make the honours board. The 23-year-old from Sunderland certainly offered a point of difference from the big two, even if he operates at a similar pace. Hustling in from the Nursery End, his fifth ball nipped away from Williamson, feathered the edge and offered Ben Foakes his first dismissal at home. Certainly Anderson and Broad hit a rich groove with the new ball, the pair bowling the lengths that Joe Root was still demanding during the final days of his captaincy to vaporise New Zealand’s top order. Zak Crawley had played a princely 43 only to fall to the latest booming drive of his nascent Test career, while Alex Lees dug in for 25. Stokes walked out for the toss alongside Kane Williamson, eschewing the captain’s blazer; instead he chose to wear a Test shirt with the name and cap number of Graham Thorpe on the back, a touching tribute for the team’s former batting coach who remains seriously ill in hospital.

Pre-match, there had been talk of England making a fresh start under new Test captain Ben Stokes and recently-appointed red-ball coach Brendon McCullum, the ...

Jonny Bairstow was also out fot a single before Boult brought Potts back down to earth by removing the newcomer for a duck in his first Test innings -- the last of a remarkable 17 wickets that fell in the day’s play. Anderson and Stuart Broad, England’s two most successful Test bowlers of all time, with 1,177 wickets between them prior to this match, had both been controversially left out of a 1-0 series loss in the Caribbean earlier this year. Crawley had looked in superb touch, with the best of his seven fours a straight drive off Tim Southee. But after he was caught behind off Jamieson, wickets tumbled. Potts took a superb four wickets for 13 runs in 9.2 overs, a reward for a challenging line and length, with recalled England pace great James Anderson returning figures of four for 66 in 16. England debutant Matthew Potts took four wickets against New Zealand only for the hosts to collapse as well on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s. But this was a reminder there are no quick solutions to the fundamental batting weakness that has contributed to England winning just one of their previous 17 matches at this level, a run that has left them bottom of the World Test Championship table.

England began the Ben Stokes era with a chaotic day of cricket Lord's, with 17 wickets tumbling on a frantic start to their first Test against New Zealand.

His swing was too good for Stokes, whose hopes of a captain’s innings lasted just nine balls and ended with a hopeful grope at one that curved away and into Blundell’s gloves. The 6ft 8in quick then made short work of Ollie Pope, whose bold promotion to number three yielded just seven runs and ended with an edge to the wicketkeeper. The latter helped himself to seven boundaries and looked in control until he was caught behind for 43 off the nagging Kyle Jamieson. He struck gold with his fifth delivery in the international arena, with Kiwi captain and star batter Kane Williamson edging low to keeper Ben Foakes to leave his side in disarray at 12 for four. There was another layer to England’s disappointment too, with the luckless Jack Leach suffering concussion after an awkward fall in the field. After two sessions setting up a formidable position, they limped to the closing line at 116 for seven.

The ICC Test Championship sees nine teams compete across a two-year cycle of matches before a two-team final decides the winner. The inaugural competition was ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. England vs New Zealand England vs New Zealand Australia are reigning world champions having taken victory in the 2021 tournament. The inaugural competition was won by New Zealand after a thrilling victory over India in June 2021. The 50-over World Cup is far older and has been competed for since back in 1975.

Because here it is. The new England regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has unfurled its blueprint for the reinvigoration of Test cricket … and, as you ...

So it was that England went to lunch on a rampant 39 for 6, with their only thoughts at that stage of the day being the size of their eventual first-innings lead, not an actual fight for one. All they can expect is that every man does his duty to the limit of their ability, in whatever guise each individual deems most appropriate. But the mentality was even more in evidence when England's turn came to bat. Seconds out, round two gets underway at 11am, and on this evidence it will be prudent to arrive in good time. But if this is the nature of the new England beast, it won't be long before Test matches are restored to their much-tarnished pinnacle (and they won't be long either…) The new England regime of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has unfurled its blueprint for the reinvigoration of Test cricket … and, as you might expect, there is still some room for finessing.