We rate England’s players out of 10 after their eight-wicket win over New Zealand in the series opener at Christchurch.
Zak Crawley – 3/10
0 off 12 balls
1 off 8 balls
The spotlight is always on someone and perhaps that glare has now moved to Crawley after the under-the-pump Ollie Pope silenced some of his critics with a half-century, bouncing back from a woeful series in Pakistan when he averaged just 11.
Crawley’s form also nosedived in the subcontinent after a knock of 78 in the first Test in Multan, with a best of 29 across his next four knocks, while he scored just a solitary run against New Zealand from a combined 20 balls, albeit that the Kiwis bowled well to him.
England have backed Crawley for so long that you cannot say his place is in jeopardy and coach Brendon McCullum once said they were not necessarily looking for consistency from him. It is just a shame that having found that consistency in the 2023 Ashes and last winter’s tour of India, it now appears to have deserted him.
Oh, and if you are wondering why Crawley has been given 3/10 after only scoring one run, that is because he took a couple of key catches in New Zealand’s first innings, including Kane Williamson for 93 – and because we try not to be too horrible with these ratings!
Ben Duckett – 6/10
46 off 62 balls
27 off 18 balls
Frantic cameos but no more for the diminutive England opener in Christchurch, although his first-innings knock was key as the rest of the top four made just 10 runs between them – and all of those came off Jacob Bethell’s bat, with Crawley and Root sent packing for blobs.
Duckett then spanked a speedy 27 in the second innings to tee up England romping to a target of 104 in 12.4 overs. McCullum loves the intent the left-hander brings at the top of the order and Duckett will hope that helps him become a fixture in white-ball cricket, too, with McCullum taking charge of the the limited-overs team in January.
Jacob Bethell – 7/10
10 off 34 balls
50no off 37 balls
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Sky Sports’ Michael Atherton was impressed by the way Jacob Bethell carried himself on Test debut
England could have been made to look foolish for picking a 21-year-old batter with a first-class average of 25.44 and no century, especially in a No 3 position in which he had never batted before, but the precocious Bethell showed he is some talent.
The left-hander hit eight fours and a six to secure England’s win, playing the sort of shots we have seen from him in white-ball cricket, but he did not do badly the first time around either, amid some excellent bowling, and it took a jaffa from Nathan Smith to dismiss him.
It remains to be seen whether Bethell is England’s long-term No 3, but he certainly looks to have a long-term future with the team, across all three formats of the game.
Joe Root – 4/10
0 off 4 balls
23no off 15
We have to be honest and say things were not looking good for Root’s rating after he failed to score a run in the first innings – suffering his first duck in 40 Test knocks – and then dropped a catch in the slips, but he did then contribute second time around.
Everyone is allowed a quiet game now and again, although Root would have preferred that not to be in his landmark 150th Test. He has been magnificent in most of his first 149 and you would not bet against him being so again in his 151st.
But, right now, it is another Yorkshireman that everyone is talking about…
Harry Brook – 9/10
171 from 197 balls
Harry Cherrington Brook: great name, one hell of a player.
Unfortunately, we cannot give him 10 out of 10 for his knock of 171 from 197 balls as he was dropped FIVE times by New Zealand – if we were grading the Kiwis’ fielding, we would be talking minus numbers – but he still scores extremely highly after a seventh ton in 22 Tests.
In this game, Brook became the second-fastest Englishman to 2,000 Test runs (36 innings) and took his average in away Tests to a dizzying 89.40, behind only Sir Don Bradman. That is some company. Oh yeah, and his overall average of 60.05 is the second best of all time for England.
Brook had his luck against New Zealand but, boy, did he cash in. He is on the road to greatness.
Ollie Pope – 8/10
77 off 98 balls
Pope sees his long-term future at No 3 but has given England pause for thought after striking 77 from No 6 at Hagley Oval, having dropped down the order due to also keeping wicket.
That role lower down is where he built his reputation at Surrey and seems a more natural fit for someone who can be a little frantic.
Although wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson’s arrival means Pope could revert to a specialist batter at No 3 for the second Test, England may look to keep things as is, especially as Pope did nothing wrong with the gloves during a strong outing across both disciplines.
Ben Stokes – 8/10
80 off 146 balls
0-89 from 19.3 overs in the game
It was a welcome sight to see Stokes with a smile on his face, captaining proactively and scoring runs after a tough tour of Pakistan in which we saw very little of those things.
We now know that not only was he coming back from a hamstring injury sustained in The Hundred but that he was also dealing with the news that his home in England had been burgled by a masked gang while his wife and children were inside.
No wonder he was not at his best.
However, in Christchurch, the city of his birth, a more chipper Stokes scored a restrained 80 as he played the anchor role in England’s 499 all out while those around him tonked it.
He also got through 19.3 overs before a back issue – which he says is nothing serious – forced him out of the attack on the final morning.
Chris Woakes – 6/10
0-70 from 20 overs
3-59 from 19 overs
1 run from 2 balls
Perhaps it is a bit too hyperbolic to say Woakes was playing for his Test future after an innocuous first-innings bowling performance was followed by scoring just one run as his long-running Test travails away from home continued.
With Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse making breakthroughs with the ball and then contributing with the bat, you did begin to wonder where the veteran ultimately fits in.
Yet, he delivered a timely reminder of his talents with a game-altering two wickets in two balls on the third evening, pinning Williamson lbw and nicking off Tom Blundell for a golden duck.
Gus Atkinson – 7/10
2-61 from 18 overs
1-57 from 17.3 overs
48 runs from 36 balls
Atkinson had a few no-ball issues in the Christchurch Test, bowling 13 in the match, but we can largely gloss over that after he took three wickets all told, including a smart caught and bowled to oust Devon Conway early on day one and the key wicket of Williamson.
Atkinson also scores highly for his batting, with a rumbustious 48 from 36 balls backing up a Test ton against Sri Lanka. Looking ahead to The Ashes, with Woakes (possibly) and Atkinson and Carse (incredibly likely) they could have some batting depth
Brydon Carse – 10/10
4-64 from 19 overs
6-42 from 19.1 overs
33 not out from 24 balls
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Sky Sports’ Ian Ward discusses why Carse is an important asset to England’s squad, especially with a Kookaburra ball in hand
England’s triple theat. That was how Stokes described player-of-the-match Carse after his 10-wicket haul at Hagley Oval, in which he ruffled New Zealand with bouncers, picked up oodles of dismissals, and also recorded a frugal economy rate. He looks Ashes bound.
Stokes also called Carse a “workhorse” and saluted his character after rebounding from a three-month betting ban this summer to become the first England bowler since Monty Panesar in India in 2012 and first seamer since Ryan Sidebottom in 2008 to take 10 wickets away from home. It was something the great James Anderson and Stuart Broad never achieved.
“You dream of days like this,” said Carse, whose three sixes in an unbeaten 33 from 24 balls to go with his strong and skilful bowling meant there was no way he was not getting 10 out of 10.
Shoaib Bashir – 7/10
4-69 from 20 overs
0-65 from 12 overs
5 runs from 9 balls
The young off-spinner readily admits he is “learning on the job” and “is not perfect”, but it is easy to see why England have continued to invest in him after an indifferent tour of Pakistan.
Tall and able to generate good bounce, Bashir picked up four wickets on the opening day as the England seamers, Carse aside, struggled.
He fared less well in the second innings, going wicketless and conceding 65 runs from his 12 overs as that rawness was on display, but he did not need to be bang at it with Carse on point.