All posts tagged: England vs New Zealand Test series 2026

‘He is committed and loves playing for England’

‘He is committed and loves playing for England’

Published by Webster

2 min readJun 3, 2026 10:36 PM IST England captain Ben Stokes said that Jofra Archer is committed to the national team despite the pacer missing the first Test vs New Zealand after wrapping up his Indian Premier League commitments for Rajastha Royals on May 29. On Tuesday, England coach Brendon McCullum also cast doubt on Archer’s availability for the second test, which starts June 17, saying he is having “a little bit of a break at the moment” and needs to be assessed. Due to his unavailability, Archer has faced scrutiny from many experts but skipper Stokes said that it’s a sign of the times with the proliferation of franchise leagues around the world. “A lot of the points that people would be making around Jof and that situation I think are to do with the landscape back when they were playing. It’s completely different now. There’s opportunities for cricketers now that there wasn’t 10, 15, 20 years ago. Yes, in an ideal situation, it would be unbelievably great to have everyone who you …

Why Michael Vaughan is ‘staggered’ that England head coach Brendon McCullum arrives in country just 5 days before 1st NZ Test on June 4 | Cricket News

Why Michael Vaughan is ‘staggered’ that England head coach Brendon McCullum arrives in country just 5 days before 1st NZ Test on June 4 | Cricket News

Published by Webster

3 min readUpdated: Mar 25, 2026 04:50 PM IST Former England skipper Michael Vaughan said that post the heavy defeat to Australia in the Ashes, he found it staggering that head coach Brendon McCullum wasn’t in the country already in order to watch county cricket and scout talents from there in preparation for the New Zealand test series, set to start in June. “Now we are told there will be a greater emphasis on attention to detail. If that is the case, then Brendon should be here early this summer watching county cricket and meeting people face-to-face to rebuild bridges because a lot of people in the county system were more than happy to see England get royally beaten in Australia and that cannot be right,” Vaughan wrote for his column in The Telegraph. “McCullum is the highest-paid international coach in the world so expecting him to arrive in England earlier than five days before the first Test is surely the bare minimum. Instead he is having a Zoom call with the county directors of …

‘You should see the state of the cricket ball’: Ben Stokes reveals gruesome injuries after getting hit on face | Cricket News

‘You should see the state of the cricket ball’: Ben Stokes reveals gruesome injuries after getting hit on face | Cricket News

Published by Webster

2 min readUpdated: Feb 5, 2026 07:37 PM IST England Test skipper Ben Stokes revealed a severely bruised right eye and a bleeding nose when he got hit flush on the face by a ball while in training. ‘You should see the state of the cricket ball,” Stokes posted with a laughing emoji on Instagram. According to reports, Stokes wasn’t batting when the incident occurred but was standing on the side with his teammates. He couldn’t see the ball which ultimately struck him on the right side of the face. Stokes is currently recovering from an injury he sustained at the Ashes. Stokes, who is out of England’s white-ball setup, will not be featuring in the upcoming T20 World Cup and is expected to return to action against New Zealand in a Test series in June. Stokes position has been under the scanner after England took a 4-1 drubbing against Australia in the Ashes. Fast bowling great James Anderson had said that he was puzzled with captain Stokes appreciating the efforts of the players in …