England and New Zealand will begin a series on the 16th of February. It is an extremely short series. It is so short that if you blink you will miss it. Just 2 Tests without any ODI or T20. England have travelled thousands of kilometres to play in just a couple of Tests. Talk of overkill and burn out. This is it. No wonder more and more cricketers are taking the easy way out. Retiring from one format or a couple of formats to focus on the remaining or in the case of Trent Boult, reneging on the contract itself so that to be available for every franchise cricket. Anyway, Bazball has just landed in New Zealand and it promises to be a good contest.
England’s series to lose
England defeated New Zealand in 2021 which sort of announced the arrival of Bazball to the cricketing world. They were blitzkrieg-ed in the 3 match series which England won quite comfortably in the end. Hence, England’s new approach will not catch New Zealand off-guard. They are by now used to it and in all likelihood, would have prepared for it.
The conditions in New Zealand are more or less similar to England. There will be swing in the air though it will be cold in New Zealand. Players wearing multiple woollen layers has always been the sight. The only difference will be the ball. New Zealand use the Kookkabura balls as compared to England who use the Dukes. It should not really matter for this England side who are in tremendous confidence after whitewashing Pakistan 3-0 in their own country.
9 wins in 10 Tests in 2022 is mindboggling by any yardstick. Especially, if you include the fact that 3 of them were achieved in the tough terrains of Pakistan.
Johnny Bairstow’s continued absence from the team is unlikely to be felt strongly. Harry Brooks has taken to international cricket like a duck to the water. New Zealand’s only opening is at the top with Zak Crawley under continuous scrutiny.
A rather thin bowling attack
New Zealand have already sprung a surprise by omitting Trent Boult. Agreed, he is not contrated by the board any longer but it does not mean that he is not available for New Zealand. What he did was wasn’t a crime. Sportspeople career is too short. They will have to make the most of it while they are playing and in form. If franchise cricket offers him the best chance to do that, he wasn’t wrong in not extending his contract. He never said that he will not like representing New Zealand. If New Zealand’s resources are unlimited, they are justified in omitting Boult but they are not. Hence, to look away from a proven performer is not prudent. New Zealand have shot themselves on the foot.
New Zealand are further depleted because both Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson are unavailable. More or less, Tim Southee will be forced to field a bowling attack that is severely short of experience. There is a sense of dread among the New Zealand supporters that this time, it will not only be different but difficult for New Zealand to pull off one of their famous wins at home against England.
New Zealand’s best chance lie in leaving a lot of grass on the pitch and depend on overhead conditions for the ball to swing. It may come back to bite them but that is the only way they will be able to stop the free flowing England juggernaut.
Since winning the WTC finals in England, New Zealand’s Test stocks have drastically gone down. They even lost a Test to the less fancied Bangladesh. They have won only a couple of the 11 Tests since winning the WTC. New Zealand have not lost a Test series to England in their own country since 2008. However, things will not be the same this time around. The Bazball theory is likely to take New Zealand by storm.
Wrapping up Bazball has just landed in New Zealand
Pakistan was a different sort of challenge but New Zealand will offer much more resistance than Pakistan did. Stokes and McCullum are unlikely to take a back step. They will continue their aggressive methods. Whether New Zealand’s thin bowling be able to stop England remains to be seen.