New Zealand won at Trent Bridge to give them a 2-1 Test series victory over England, in a contest which was overshadowed by Ben Stokes' absence from the second Test and subsequent retirement from international cricket.
Having won the first Test at Lord’s, England went into the second Test at The Oval without Stokes and Gus Atkinson, as investigations took place into their breach of the team’s midnight curfew following the end of the game. Kane Williamson also retired in between the first and second Test, but New Zealand won by 253 runs at The Oval to level the series. The third Test was dominated by Stokes’ shock retirement on day four, which preceded a high-octane session as England attempted one final Bazball act. However, a top-order collapse left England four down before the close, before they lost by 160 runs after Lunch on the final day.
Here are the talking points from a packed series.
England confront the realities of life after Stokes
Stokes as a player, captain and personality is irreplaceable. Nevertheless, that’s the task England are now having to face up to. Before they play Pakistan at the end of August, they must select a new captain. While there are three England captains in the dressing room beyond Stokes, none is a particularly appealing candidate to take up the reins on a permanent basis. At The Oval, England were unable to work a spinner into their XI without Stokes to balance it. Equally, while Stokes’ powers with the bat have waned over the last few years, they now lose the potential of what he brings as a middle order lynchpin, as well as their second-most experienced batter. While England’s batting lineup is star-studded with individual talent, they’ve lost one huge part of it, while already feeling like less than the sum of those parts.
England’s peripheral pacers struggle to cut through
The area on the field where England will miss Stokes the most is in what he gives with the ball. Only Atkinson has taken more wickets at a lower average than Stokes since the beginning of 2024, and both at Lord’s and Trent Bridge it was Stokes who made key breakthroughs. Ollie Robinson came back in and immediately made a match-defining impact, but stiffness in his left knee, which kept him out of the next Test, confirmed England’s misgivings about his ability to maintain his fitness. In the absence of Atkinson and Robinson, England’s back-up pacers, Sonny Baker and Matthew Fisher, struggled at The Oval. Compared to New Zealand’s endless depth of bowlers as pacer after pacer fell away to injury, England’s lack of bowling depth came up wanting for the second series in a row.
New Zealand continue unbeaten run
In any other series, that New Zealand had completed their fourth consecutive series-win, consigning England to a first defeat in a bilateral home three-match Test series for 14 years, would be the front and centre headline. New Zealand outplayed England with both bat and ball. On a flat track at The Oval, faced with a barrage of bouncers from Jofra Archer, Glenn Phillips scored his long awaited maiden Test hundred, before Henry Nicholls stepped up in the second innings having been parachuted in following Williamson’s retirement. At Trent Bridge, the defining contribution was an all-timer of a Test hundred from Daryl Mitchell which left him battered and bruised. New Zealand haven’t lost a Test series since they played England at home in 2024, and no one has won more games than they have in the current World Test Championship cycle.
England continue losing streak with new low
In the aftermath of the Ashes, the highest item on the to-do list for England management was to get back to winning games. Despite their win in the series opener on an unsatisfactory pitch at Lord’s, that target hasn’t been met. England have now won just five of their last 14 matches, and their last win in a series lasting more than a single match was 18 months ago. The moments of positivity from Ben Duckett’s Trent Bridge hundred and the five-fors at Lord’s from Robinson and Atkinson were quickly outshone by their opposition, and the shortfallings of their teammates. Both Harry Brook and Joe Root must find ways of combatting keepers standing up to the stumps against medium pacers, a tactic which has now undone Brook in consecutive series. No matter how much they claimed not to care under Stokes, they are a distant seventh in the World Test Championship table, after another hefty over-rate penalty.
England’s spin dilemma unresolved
Shoaib Bashir started the home-summer as England’s incumbent spinner, despite having lost that position to Will Jacks in Australia and with Rehan Ahmed selected in the wider squad. He was surplus to requirements at Lord’s, and dropped when Stokes was left out at The Oval in order for another pacer to come in. He took key wickets at Trent Bridge, and looked energised by the occasion, but he played an eccentric role in the series, largely not of his own makings. All the same questions that existed over the winter for Bashir still stand, now with the added uncertainty of losing the captain who first backed him and consistently was able to get the best out of him. With Stokes gone, his future looks even more uncertain.
Wholesale change to follow Stokes retirement?
There will be a feeling of unjustness among some that, after the winter disaster, the one person out of the management triumvirate no longer in place is the enigmatic captain who tried to pull back the sinking ship before jumping off. Whether Rob Key and Brendon McCullum will be pushed into the water after Stokes is yet to be seen. The appetite for them to go following their handling of the Rex Rooms incident was strong, but both have weathered that storm. With Stokes gone, there’s an opportunity for them to get a tighter grip on this team, without a force of personality outshining them. Nevertheless, the road ahead is tricky, and the crucial fact remains that England still aren’t winning. Failing to rectify that quickly will once again bring increased scrutiny to their positions.
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