England Vs New Zealand Betting
In recent years England may have gotten the better of New Zealand in T20 and ODI formats but when it comes to test match cricket, New Zealand have been firmly in the ascendancy. The visitors haven’t lost a test match in their last two series’ against England winning by an innings + on two occasions. Of course after these two sides met in the fantastic Super Over in 2019, their matches always come with an extra edge. However, it will interest fans that James Bracey and Ollie Robinson have been included in the squad. Bracey has six ton+ finishes in 44 first class games while Robinson has taken 10 wickets in 5 matches already in his first class career. If either of those players can transfer their club form to an international level, this could be the start of two promising careers on the grand stage.
Squads
| England | New Zealand* |
|---|---|
| Joe Root © | Kane Williamson © |
| James Anderson | Tom Blundell |
| James Bracey | Colin de Grandhomme |
| Stuart Broad | Henry Nicholls |
| Rory Burns | Trent Boult |
| Zak Crawley | Devon Conway |
| Ben Foakes | Ross Taylor |
| Dan Lawrence | BJ Watling |
| Jack Leach | Matt Henry |
| Craig Overton | Kyle Jamieson |
| Ollie Pope | Tom Latham |
| Ollie Robinson | Ajaz Patel |
| Dominic Sibley | Mitchell Santner |
| Olly Stone | Tim Southee |
| Mark Wood | Neil Wagner |
- New Zealand squad also includes: Daryl Mitchell, Will Young, Doug Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra and Jacob Duffy.
After a disappointing fall against India in their last test series, England have made changes with the hopes that fresh blood gives them a bit of an edge. However, after New Zealand’s impressive performance against Pakistan, this should shape up to be a very exciting contest.
The squad sees Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow miss out after they were participants in the 2021 Indian Premier League. Meanwhile, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes miss out through injury.
Test Match Record since 2015
| Opponent | England (W-D-L) | New Zealand (W-D-L) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 5-2-8 | 0-1-7 |
| Bangladesh | 1-0-1 | 4-0-0 |
| India | 5-1-8 | 2-0-3 |
| Pakistan | 4-3-5 | 6-0-1 |
| Sri Lanka | 7-1-0 | 5-1-1 |
| South Africa | 8-1-3 | 0-2-3 |
| West Indies | 6-1-5 | 4-0-0 |
| Zimbabwe | 0-0-0 | 2-0-0 |
Our Verdict
Winner Full Time
England can’t seem to get over the line when it comes to playing bigger sides and with the brilliant run of form that New Zealand are on now. 15/8 seems like a bizarre price for a New Zealand victory and one that we can’t ignore with this prediction.
New Zealand to Win the 1st Test - 15/8
Top England 1st Innings Batsman
Last time England faced off against New Zealand, they were decent in two innings with the bat but atrocious in the other. However, only one player managed to get a score of 30+ in all three innings and that is Rory Burns. Burns picked up 184 runs in that test series and looked very impressive. His odds here represent good value.
Top New Zealand 1st Innings Batsman
There are a number of New Zealand players who could win the top batsman prize for the 1st innings and as Ross Taylor is constantly a thorn in the side of England in test matches, he seems to be the safest bet in our minds, despite being a little further down the betting odds than his fellow countrymen.
*All odds correct at time of writing