What went wrong for the Black Caps in first test loss to England, and how they fix it

Monday, 8 June 2026

ANALYSIS: The Black Caps mustn’t ‘flush the dunny and move on’, despite plenty of justification to do so.

Their 115-run defeat in the first test at Lord’s was mostly dictated by an awful pitch which offered almost ceaseless movement and inconsistent bounce, which was gratefully grabbed by the quick bowlers - four of whom leapt onto the famed honours board in the pavilion with five-wicket bags in an innings.

Yet no matter the surface, both teams had to play on it, and England did it better.

That resulted in the Black Caps suffering their seventh loss in their past nine tests since former captain Brendon McCullum took over as coach.

Prior to the start of the three-test series, it was clear coach Rob Walter and skipper Tom Latham needed to find a way to reverse the psychological and tactical hold it appears their opponents have on them in this format.

At Lord’s, they failed to find an answer and Latham later admitted they could have profited from a change in attitude with the bat, once they realised the problems posed by the pitch.

“I know the guys are already speaking about that - whether it was an opportunity to come out and be a little bit more positive,” Latham said.

“In saying that, the ball still was doing plenty and the result may have been the same. But whether we could have showed a little bit more intent, certainly if we're offered it… We saw GP [Glenn Phillips] today - I think the way he came out and played positive cricket, it's his natural game, but it put them under a little bit of pressure. I guess if we were potentially able to do that a little bit earlier then things may have been different.

“Whether you win or lose, you're always looking to finetune things, and things that you could maybe have done better, and I guess that could have been one thing.”

Latham said the side was unable to capitalise on bowling England out “for such a low total, which we thought at the time” on day one.

“Even from a bowling point of view, we had opportunities throughout both innings which we weren't able to capitalise on.

“From a batting point of view, we weren't able to build partnerships that could get us reasonably close or to parity. If that was the case, then things may have been slightly different in that fourth innings.”

Latham said he felt the pitch had “a massive part to play” in the result.

“We saw a lot of guys getting hit on the gloves today, which to me just shows that there's not necessarily the trust on the surface where you're able to trust the lengths that the bowlers are bowling.”

MCC chair Mark Nicholas has confirmed that the club will begin a programme of cultivating drop-in pitches on the Nursery ground at Lord's this summer, with the aim of integrating them into the main ground in 2028.

New Zealand’s other major problem came through dropped catches, with England’s only half-century makers in either innings, Harry Brook and Emilio Gay, given second chances which proved crucial.

“When you come up against England, who are a quality side, there's those fine moments in a game that can swing a test match either way,” Latham said.

“And with the game being so short, I think those small moments are really important and we just weren't able to capitalise on them, unfortunately.”

England skipper Ben Stokes admitted he was delighted about the win, given the added scrutiny after their Ashes humiliation in their previous test outings.

“I'm very, very happy that we've won this week. I know how big this game was in terms of the result and how it was going to be perceived externally if it didn't go well.”

That should sting for the Black Caps, who missed the ideal opportunity to pile further pressure on the hosts.

They could only get 11 overs from quick-bowling spearhead Matt Henry, after back spasms hit him on day one, and his control of seam and swing could have been another factor that would have given NZ a better shot at victory.

Latham said it would be “day by day” with the 34-year-old, with the second test set to start at The Oval on Wednesday week.

“Fingers crossed he keeps progressing the way he has from day one to where he is now. We've got a little bit of extra time now to hopefully get him right, and then fingers crossed we'll have a full bowling attack to pick from again.”