Ed Hawkins is on hand with betting angles and all the action from the second Test 18.54 England 152-4 CLOSE A late flurry of wickets for the Kiwis - nightwatchman Sidebottom was last out - enlivened a rather quiet day. It was pretty dull stuff from England and all we would have needed to drift into a fully comatose state was for Paul Collingwood to sleepwalk out to the middle. He may be a decent one-day cricketer but recently Colly hasn't been able to muster a shot in anger. I don't know whether he has kids, but if he does he won't have trouble getting them off to sleep. All he would have to do is get padded up in his whites and go into his stance. They'd zonk out in no time. I'm off for a lie down now with images of Colly batting in my head.  read more »

I started to write this before Monty Panesar began ripping through New Zealand's second innings to give us hope of a win - a slim one, I'd argue, given Daniel Vettori's skills on a wearing surface. The arguments about England's...Patrick Kidd

Just before Day One: England vs New Zealand 2008 : Second Test Match

The Pitch is all green and England have picked two of their fastest - Broad and Anderson in place of Harmison and Hoggard. I am in complete agreement with this move. To use a greentop, you need enthusiastic young players who are green enough to get fired up by a challenge. If I have any reservations at all, then it is Hoggard. But how would you fit him in as the fourth seamer? England will need all the batting they can muster here for the Kiwis are pecking and have brought in Gillespie for the greentop.  read more »

The Hawkeye View - Ed Hawkins can't shy away from the Robin Hood references as the final Test moves to Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The toss will of course be crucial but what other factors do we need to consider?

WHEN England are in Nottingham for a Test match it is difficult not to resort to weak references to the legend of Robin Hood, the dastardly sheriff and, particularly when betting is concerned, taking from the rich and giving to the poor.

Michael Vaughan's band of merry men (see, I couldn't help myself) take on New Zealand at Trent Bridge tomorrow as firm favourites to wrap up the series 2-0 after their remarkable comeback at Old Trafford.

England are [1.73] for back-to-back Test wins - in recent history at home against West Indies and Pakistan when they have won one they have followed it up with another - with the Kiwis [6.4] and the draw [3.7].  read more »

As the IPL league winds down, with franchises getting eliminated and the attention shifting from players to owners, the Test match season has begun in right earnest. Earlier in May, New Zealand began their tour of England and forced a stalemate at Lord's. The second Test is being played at Old Trafford. In the Caribbean, Ricky Ponting's Australians have begun their defense of the Sir Frank Worrell Trophy at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Lord's Test began with both teams fielding unheralded line ups - the New Zealand batting and the England bowling, both without their experienced stars. New Zealand batted first, and reached 277 thanks in large part to Brendon McCullum's T20 hangover. England eked out a lead of 42 thanks to Michael Vaughan fighting century, and then had New Zealand reduced to a 120/5 (effectively, with McCullum retired hurt), when Jacob Oram came to New Zealand's rescue producing a strokeful hundred to force a draw.  read more »

19 yo debutant, Tim Southee of New Zealand, tears up reputations and England top order with some fine bowling - England 43/4

Day One, Third Test: England vs New Zealand 2008

Scorecard

Most things went according to script - the Kiwis were players short, Vaughan won the toss, England opted to bat and Kiwis got to bowl first....everything as per script. But trust 19 year old to do an extempore and shred carefully planned plays into the trash bin.  read more »

The English cricket team are an amazing bread of players. Batsmen who look the part, talk the talk, get the plaudits, and produce very little. Bowlers who are rejects from the ford agency. And wicket keepers that come on a conveyor belt of pasty balding fumblers who can bat a bit. Its a weird mix. On top of this, about every 2 years England has a new saviour, someone to deliver them to the promise land. Englands recent list of saviours Harmy, who, if he was a gladiator, would eat the lion one day, and get eaten by a mouse the next. Freddy, the drunkard superstar who can do anything on a cricket field, if only he was regularly on them. KP was South African, but unfortunately he had to pledge his allegiance to England so many times he his now English, and therefore not the saviour.  read more »

We expected England to lose. They’re an insipid outfit at the minute. We didn’t expect them to get thrashed though.
And they were thrashed. Getting bowled out for 110 is never too smart, but on this pitch it was jaw-dropping. Don’t let New Zealand’s 177-9 fool you. Runs were the only commodity they were interested in [...]

Betfair's resident Kiwi Dean Roulston tells us why the experience of Styris and Oram coupled with the fireworks of Fulton and McCullum can lead the Black Caps to victory

While this week's two Twenty20 internationals between the Black Caps and England are probably considered a lower priority in relation to the ODI and Test series, there is no doubt that both sides will be keen to get off to a flyer and inflict a few early mental scars. The kiwis will be hoping that there is plenty of rust in the England team given that they've only had a couple of one-day matches against a weak Canterbury side since their tour of Sri Lanka last November. England in return will be looking to expose a relatively inexperienced side which only has a whitewash against a pitiful Bangladesh side to crow about for the last few months.  read more »