Silly Point of View

ICC World Test Championship New Zealand and West Indies are two teams which generally do not play many three-match Test series. Since the inception of the World Test Championship, both teams had played only four such series until the start of this tour. It was refreshing to see three red-ball matches which followed the white-ball games on this all format tour. The final result was heavily in favor of the home team as New Zealand wrapped up the T20I series 3-1 with one game washed out, ODI series 3-0 and the Tests 2-0 with the first game being a hard-fought draw.   Duffy completes a record-breaking year Before the start of this series, the New Zealand bowling attack was going through a transition after their longest serving fast bowler and ex-captain Tim Southee retired last year. If you add to that the recent retirements of Trent Boult and workhorse Neil Wagner, it meant a total of 249 Test match experience was missing. Matt Henry with 32 Tests was the most experienced pacer a...

ICC World Test Championship Six days. West Indies batting came crashing back to reality within a total of six days from a history-making show to a more habitual state against the hosts New Zealand. The second Test at Wellington did not even last three complete days as the Kiwis completed an easy 9 wicket win even after playing the majority of the game with 10 players. The Windies shot selection was questionable as they gave away soft wickets after looking in control in tricky conditions. A slender lead of 73 runs helped New Zealand in the second innings with a target of 56 achieved without breaking a sweat. New Zealand face more injury problems With their spearhead Matt Henry and fast-bowling all-rounder Nathan Smith ruled out of the opening Test, the hosts were forced to give a last minute call-up and debut to Canterbury seamer Michael Rae and a recall to the tall pacer Blair Tickner. Mitch Hay took the gloves in his maiden Test replacing Tom Blundell. There was some good news too, wi...

ICC World Test Championship Approximately 2500 kms away from Brisbane, in "The Land of Long White Cloud" there was a Test match building up to show us the lovely paradox of the game. A stubborn West Indies defied their opponents New Zealand for more than 5 sessions to close out one of the most memorable draws at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch. In the shadow of the highly viewed Ashes and the India-South Africa ODI series, many of us missed a chance to watch the old-school, boring but high-skilled defensive marathon from a team which has hugely missed their mark in red-ball cricket of late. West Indies' Justin Greaves, Shai Hope and tail-ender Kemar Roach fought against all odds and pleasantly surprised all the cricket fans who gave this side close to zero chance of surviving 164 overs where about 8 of the 11 players were playing the first time in New Zealand.                                ...

ICC World Test Championship New Zealand last played a WTC Test match almost a year ago which was coincidentally the last test played by their highest all-format wicket-taker and current English pace-bowling consultant Tim Southee. They lost that home series 2-1 against England after winning 3-0 against India away. New Zealand's WTC journey has been random like the above since winning the inaugural WTC final in 2021 against India at Southampton. The Kiwis are the last team to start their journey in WTC 2025-27. Their opponents on the other hand have already played and lost all five matches so far. A 3-0 defeat against Australia at home and a 2-0 defeat against India away means they are already placed at bottom with 0 points so far. Having only played one 3-match series in the last two cycles this will be the first time West Indies will be playing two 3-match series in a single WTC edition. This three-match series will be a significant moment for Roston Chase and his men as they look...