They were the heady honeymoon days; a golden summer of new love. When last New Zealand came to these shores they encountered an England team in thrall to one of their own, wide-eyed and winsome as they forged a new path. For Brendon McCullum and his so-called Baz-ballers, it was proof of purpose and potential as they vowed to do things a different way; a 3-0 series success achieved in a daring run of fourth-innings chases. It was a time of blissful ignorance; a period of newlywed nirvana.
Four years on, the broken promises in a winter of discontent have snapped that lover’s spell. The fraying edges of a team and regime were, not for the first time, blown apart by Australia in a winter in which even the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) seem to admit that just about everything went wrong. England and McCullum have been given one more chance, but this is a weakened marriage and mandate after what felt a reluctant renewal of vows.
To what extent have the missteps of the Ashes been accepted or excepted? And how much have England actually changed? As New Zealand return, this series will provide a telling test. One would not expect a rebrand or rebirth quite as dramatic as that which McCullum and Ben Stokes executed in 2022. Having resisted revolution, their evolution has been more measured than some might have sought. There is still a shaving of square pegs for round holes: England’s openers at Lord’s this week have been batting at first drop in the County Championship, their wicketkeeper – largely – eschewing the job. Their lead spinner, Shoaib Bashir, is the same individual who sat on the sidelines in Australia throughout a series he had been groomed for.
It is, then, within the game’s great subtleties that signs of progress will be demanded, a desire to see the promised refinement of approach. “What’s required is for us to evolve slightly – still recognise the identity we want to play with, but to evolve slightly,” McCullum said this week. “And I think I’ve identified a lot of those areas, which we’re working on. New Zealand are a better team than when they came here a few years ago, I think. We know they’re going to do things really well for a long period of time. Our job is to find a way to be able to compete with that style, yet also disrupt it when we’ve earned the right to be able to do so. It’s a fascinating series. Again, two different styles, but we’ll see where we land.”
With it likely that Gus Atkinson completes the seam attack and takes the new ball, there is every chance that there is just the one fresh face in the England side. Step forward Emilio Gay into the top-order space left vacant by Zak Crawley. It is said that McCullum, Ben Stokes and the rest of an England selection panel that now includes a Durham ally in Marcus North like his strut; so, too, might a high-class seam attack led by Matt Henry if it is one made back to the dressing room. The 26-year-old has a weight of county runs this season – including a ton on the Lord’s slope – and a taste of international cricket with Italy to draw upon, and will appreciate the backing of the environment he steps into.
“One thing I said to him was, ‘don’t change’,” Stokes said of his county teammate. “You’ve got 700, 800 runs this summer doing what Emilio Gay does. What you have been doing has been good enough to get you here, so go out there and be Emilio Gay. He’s a very strong character, which is what you need to be opening the batting.”
Just as significant, perhaps, is a rapprochement with Ollie Robinson, in from the cold to fulfil a new-ball brief that he is as qualified for as any seamer in the country – when fit and firing. “The reason he has found himself back here is that he has done what we wanted to see from him. When he is operating at that level, he is world-class. The easy part was always getting back in, because he is that good. It is about, now that he is here, staying here as long as he can.”
The rest, it seems, is broadly as you were, which betrays the missed opportunity of the winter. A switch of positions in the order between the captain and Jamie Smith reflects a desire to get more out of the latter, and in Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook and, perhaps, Jacob Bethell, there are the bones of a strong top order. Josh Tongue’s reputation grows all the time and if there is frustration over the unavailability of Jofra Archer, it reflects the landscape in which all Test teams now operate. “I totally understand people’s frustrations around the situation,” a sanguine Stokes said of his unavailable fast bowler. “But there is also another side of it. A lot of it has to do with the landscape of cricket and where it is at the moment. Yes, in an ideal situation it would be unbelievably great to have everyone who you want available at every single opportunity. But that is not the way of cricket at the moment.”
New Zealand have had their own contingent involved at the IPL, including Kane Williamson in a coaching role. He and much of the rest of their likely XI were afforded a warm-up outing against Ireland in Belfast last week – useful preparation for a side that have played sparingly with a red ball in the last 18 months. They will fancy their chances of opening up any English wounds still festering, and may not much mind going under the radar. If rain may wreck the 150th Lord’s Test, visiting teams tend to relish the pomp and circumstance. “I think the way they maintain the tradition is quite special,” Williamson explained. “It’s unique to Lord’s; the history that surrounds it, the effort that goes into all of that, you come here and you notice those differences to all other grounds.”
For he and many in an ageing touring team, it may be a last visit; Father Time comes for all. Stokes will celebrate his 35th birthday on Thursday with fresh energy, direction and a desire to right some wrongs. “I guess we are at the point now where it doesn’t matter what we say. That all gets forgotten when the first ball is bowled. I think you’ve heard everything you need to hear – it is about going out there and winning games of cricket.”
