England will be hoping to continue their excellent recent form when they come
up against New Zealand in the three test match series at home starting
on the 15th of May 2008. The England national cricket team won their
first away series for the first time since December 2004 a couple of months
earlier in New Zealand and confidence is high in the English camp for this series
against a struggling New Zealand test cricket outfit.
Click for Live Score Card of England vs New Zealand
After a poor One Day Series down under and a comprehensive drubbing in the
first test match, England regrouped brilliantly to win the next two matches
to win their first ever Test Series in New Zealand for over a decade. Now on
home turf, confidence will be high in their ranks especially given the fact
that they have lost just one test series at home in the past decade. The tour
of New Zealand saw the emergence of young stars in the form of Ryan Sidebottom
and Phil Mustard both of whom filled in admirably for the likes of Steve
Harmison and Matt Prior and now look to be automatic starters for this series.
While Andrew Flintoff remains a big doubt with a knee injury there is no doubting
the huge talent underneath the English outfit and with the likes of Monty Panesar
and James Anderson itching to go, the New Zealand batting line up will not have
it easy in alien conditions. The batting line up looks geared up to the challenge
with the return of form of Kevin Pietersen and Alistair Cook. Even though trump
card Andrew Flintoff will not be back till the third test, the England line
up looks strong enough to cause a ripple of two in the New Zealand ranks in
the upcoming test Series.
New Zealand on the other hand will be hoping for a much better performance
than the one they put up a couple of months ago at home. Even though they are
weakened by the absence of Stephen Fleming who has retired from the game,
the likes of Ross Taylor and Jamie How and good enough to put up a fight against
a strong English attack. New Zealand have cause to belief that they can muster
up a victory in England given their recent success in England. New Zealand won
their last series back in 1999 2-1 and will be aiming for the same this time
around. The bowling attack will depend heavily on the guile of Daniel Vettori
and the pace of Kyle Mills. With James Bond quitting international cricket over
a dispute with the board, much will be expected from young Kyle Mills as New
Zealand aspire to notch up a much needed series win against their Northern Hemisphere
opponents.
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