England v Black Caps AYNTK first test at Lord's
Thursday, 4 June 2026
England host the Black Caps at Lord’s in the first outing of their eagerly anticipated three-match series which begins tonight.
The series, which forms an important part of the Black Caps World Test Championship campaign, begins 1t 10pm (NZT) each night.
The match is live on Sky Sport, while Stuff has live commentary updates.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Firstly and most importantly, the Black Caps are back playing England at the home of cricket and it doesn’t get any better than that.
Former Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum has retained his position as England coach after that disastrous Ashes campaign, but he’s swung the axe with several changes.
However, that hasn’t stopped bookmakers from listing England as favourites for the Lord’s test and the three-match series, where vital World Test Championship points are on the line.
With Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Will O'Rourke all fit again, the Black Caps will run out a fearsome pace attack that will likely be joined by Nathan Smith.
If New Zealand do line up with that four-pronged pace attack, there will be only room for one of Glenn Phillips or Mitchell Santner, the latter making a quicker-than-expected comeback from a shoulder injury.
Another former New Zealand captain, Kane Williamson, will almost certainly be playing his final test match at Lord’s. Williamson made it into the honours board with a century back in 2015 but will be desperate to add his name for a second time.
Will McCullum’s men, led by captain Ben Stokes, continue the aggressive ‘Bazball’ approach, or will we see a toned-down approach?
Follow live updates right here on Stuff to find out.
SQUADS
England: Ben Stokes (C), Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue.
Black Caps: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
TAB ODDS
England $1.78, New Zealand $3.05