England Vs New Zealand: Recap and Trivia news

* Ben Stokes' message to county cricketers: the new style of cricket required

Ben Stokes has urged county cricketers that they need to play with England-style aggression to make their claims for international selection. His message came following the Test whitewash of New Zealand, where England chased down 296 in just 54.2 overs at Headingley. Before this, they also chased 277 at Lords and 299 at Trent Bridge. Their series run rate is 4.54 per over, which is their highest in a Test series with three or more matches. 

The England Test captain Ben Stokes said, "These last three games should have sent a message to anyone who wants to play Test cricket for England in the next two or three years at least. It is the manner in which you play, whether that be bat or ball. It wasn't going to be about stats; it is the manner in which you play."

He also added, "And it's not just about us at the moment, it's about the future as well, and what I think we've done over the last three weeks is make people enjoy watching Test cricket again."

The skipper not only sent this message for the sake of doing so, but the team's performance in these three matches also supported the mindset of their new captain. Ben Stokes hailed every player's performance during the series, especially Jonny Bairstow, who smashed 136, 162 and an unbeaten 71 in the last three innings of the series to emerge as the leading Test run-scorer in the world in 2022 as he carried a phenomenal average of 64.50.

* NZ aging cricket stars are fading away: Tom Blundell and new cricket stars, the new crop. 

New Zealand lost the three-match series in a clean sweep against England. The visitors put in extreme efforts to be in the game but failed to seize on big moments. 

Looking from the beginning, at Lords, the Kiwis had hosts 69/4 in pursuit of 277; in Nottingham, they made 553 in the first assay; in Leeds, they had England at 55/6, 274 behind their first inning total. But each of these times, they failed to capitalise on the moments and had to see the game drifting away from their hands as hosts chased down 270-plus targets quickly with at least 5-plus wickets in hand.   

While the tour gave an impression of its experienced stars fading away from the game, it can be one aspect to look at. The Kiwis had a debilitating time in terms of injuries and covid outbreak. Their key match-winning players, Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandomme left the team depleted of a series win. The team has just won two of the nine tests and slipped to fourth in ICC rankings.

While the team looked to miss an experienced batter in the form of Ross Taylor at top-order, the inclusion of Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell has been a boon for the team. The duo starred to add four hundred partnerships and keep their team in the game. Apart from them, none of the top five actually made a worthy contribution in the Headingley Test to average more than 25 on tour. 

Kane Williamson had a challenging tour, especially after making a comeback post recovery from an elbow injury and then caught by Covid only to end up missing the second test match. The team selection was also a significant concern, choosing Michael Bracewell ahead of their leading spinner Ajaz Patel or all-rounder Rachin Ravindra where Jack Leach had to bowl 70 overs alone and take ten wickets. 

* Trent Boult IPL form continues

IPL was a good tournament for Trent Boult as his team went on to the finals, and Rajasthan Royals was considered one of the best bowling attack teams. While most of the New Zealand bowlers looked to struggle restricting or giving tough time to English batters on the field, Trent Boult was the only bowler who emerged with a better performance from the series. It was the first series he played after the Indian Premier League 2022. Trent Boult matched his overall IPL 2022 wicket tally in just 3 test matches he played against England. In the series' three games, the bowler scalped 16 wickets, eight of which came in the 2nd test match. He was the one who created significant difficulties for the English batters in his opening spells when his bursting run-up and swing put the batters in serious trouble.