Andy Schooler previews this week’s second Test between England v New Zealand at The Oval.
England v New Zealand: Second Test Preview
Venue: The Oval, London, England
Date/Time: Wednesday June 17, 1100 BST (5 days)
TV: Sky Sports Cricket
Usually, the tourists’ star batter retiring mid-series would have been considered headline news. But this is England. While New Zealand’s Kane Williamson puts his feet up, so too do England skipper Ben Stokes and bowler Gus Atkinson, albeit that’s not their choice. After breaching a team curfew and then being involved in a nightclub ‘incident’, both men are effectively suspended for this contest. So, with the skipper out, the vice-captain steps up, right? Wrong.
Having been involved in his own booze-fuelled incident in New Zealand at the back end of last year, Harry Brook been overlooked and Joe Root handed back the reins on what is said to be a temporary basis. All this comes on the back of a crazy start to the series at Lord’s where a shocking pitch made batting very difficult and England emerged as victors, despite putting just 140 on the board first time around.
I backed New Zealand for that contest and they looked to be in a great position after the first innings, going odds-on in-running before being undone, largely by the pitch. There should be a much happier balance between bat and ball here. At least, recent Test matches at The Oval would suggest so. There have been five opening-innings scores of 300+ in the last 10 Tests at this venue, with only two above 350 ensuring that the Oval’s former reputation as something of a road has long since dissipated.
England v New Zealand: Batter’s Paradise
That said, County Championship games here so far this season have been bat-friendly with two scores above 600 and if bowlers are going to asked to work really hard for their wickets, then I do worry for England’s inexperienced attack. Losing Stokes, Atkinson and Robinson all at once is a big blow and while Jofra Archer now comes back, Sonny Baker will be making his debut and Matt Fisher playing in only his second Test. In total, the four-man England attack has only played 29 previous Test matches.
With Matt Henry set to be fit after some back problems at Lord’s, the Black Caps’ attack looks set to remain the same. Nathan Smith impressed, although the height of Will O’Rouke and Kyle Jamieson may enjoy more success on this deck. It’s hard to truly know how well they all bowled at Lord’s but they certainly reaped dividends on the opening day when skittling England. I don’t really want to read too much into that first game given how big a part the pitch played so my feeling here is that the points originally made about this being a strong, well-balanced New Zealand side remain.
England v New Zealand: Line-Ups
England undoubtedly look weaker with all-rounder Stokes being replaced by a debutant specialist batter in Jordan Cox, while Fisher and Baker are clearly further down the pecking order than Robinson and Atkinson. While Williamson leaves a hole in the tourists’ batting line-up, England’s problems right now are bigger and so I’ll happily have another go with them to claim victory. Likewise, I’m going to recycle a bet from the first Test in the New Zealand top-bat market.
Tom Blundell looked in a great position to win when his top-order team-mates fell cheaply but he failed to cash in as number nine Jamieson eventually landed the prize. Despite his two Lord’s failures, Blundell still averages well above 50 against England, with his last tour here bringing him a ton and three half-centuries. There was also a 186 against Ireland last month in the warm-up Test in Dublin. Coming in at six when the shine has come off the ball can have its advantages in this market and Blundell has proven he has the stickability to capitalise.
England v New Zealand 2nd Test 2026: Best Bets
New Zealand to win the 2nd Test @ 2.35 with kwiff
Blundell New Zealand top batter (1st inns) @ 6.25 with kwiff
By Andy Schooler
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