2 hours ago
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Key events
It was a day Sonny Baker will never forget.
Even this morning I could feel the anxiety build up in my stomach, I was trying to play cards on the bus to try and take my mind off the gravity of the situation.
Simon Burnton was focused on the old-new captain.
Would we once again see the Root who led and often carried the team between 2017 and 2022, a new Root reshaped by four years spent working with Brendon McCullum? Or a Root who – as Stokes’s stand-in – felt obliged to attempt an impersonation?
Andy Bull kept a close eye on the unreadable Brendon McCullum yesterday.
It’s increasingly hard to say what’s going on behind those shades. The man’s the Anna Wintour of the wicket.
Preamble
Well, that was nice: a semi-normal day of Test cricket, wickets in single figures, enough there for the quicks, New Zealand’s batters able to get in … with only Glenn Phillips still on course to go big.
Of course, this isn’t a normal Test at all for England, with three debutants in the mix alongside an interim captain. Sonny Baker got to show off his wheels yesterday, firing the ball in at the toes, highlighting his value on this stage after a couple of torrid white-ball appearances. He’s still got work to do this morning, though; Joe Root may well turn to him to help wipe out the tail. And then, potentially, a glimpse at the new shiny toys at six and seven.
It’s cloudy but dry in south London so we’ll get going at 11am BST (fingers crossed). Join myself and James Wallace for all the fun.
English (US) ·