Black Caps, England resume fierce rivalry
There’s no talk of revenge from the Black Caps ahead of their first cricket meeting with England since July’s contentious World Cup final.
New Zealand begin the home summer with a five-match Twenty20 series, starting at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval today.
Black Caps fans don’t need any reminder of the last time they faced England in the controversial World Cup final at Lord’s – a match that will go down as one of the greatest and eventful in one-day history.
England captured their first one-day World Cup after the teams couldn’t be separated during the match or a super over. The host nation prevailed on a boundary countback (England hit 26 to 17 in the match), a rule which has since been scrapped.
Some might view this series as a chance for the Black Caps to gain redemption, but with it being a different format, vastly changed squads, and no world title on the line, it’s a flawed argument.
The Black Caps have six members of their XI from the World Cup final featuring – Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson.
England have rested many of their stars for the T20 series, following a hectic few months with the World Cup and Ashes. Skipper Eoin Morgan, who captained the side to the World Cup title, opener Jonny Bairstow and legspinner Adil Rashid are the only three, who played in the final, involved in this series.
‘‘It’s a different format. We’ve had a tour to Sri Lanka [since the World Cup], so life goes on and you move on,’’ stand-in New Zealand T20 captain Tim Southee said.
‘‘What happened in England has happened and it’s time to box on and crack on to another series and look forward to the [T20] World Cup in 12 months time.’’
England are missing several key performers from the World
Cup for the T20 series, including New Zealand-born allrounder Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, and Chris Woakes.
With the T20 World Cup in Australia next October-november, the next 12 months will be critical with a heavy diet of short form cricket on the menu.
New Zealand, who are ranked sixth in T20s, have won their last three series, including September’s 2-1 away triumph over Sri Lanka.
Southee felt they were tracking in the right direction and had built stronger depth. Even without regular skipper Kane Williamson and star fast bowler Trent Boult, they have named a strong squad for the Christchurch opener.
‘‘The less experienced guys, who have come in and they’ve performed well, the likes of Daryl Mitchell coming in last summer and doing a job.
‘‘They’ve been able to make that transition from domestic level to the international level and I guess that’s made it a little bit easier with all the experienced guys around.’’
Reigning Supercars champion Scott Mclaughlin has chosen 11-year-old go-kart racer Tom Bewley as the first recipient of a new scholarship programme.
Bewley, from Hawke’s Bay, is the first driver inducted into the scholarship programme, which will see automotive retailer Repco support his racing programme alongside a mentorship from Mclaughlin.
The new programme was set up by Repco and the team Mclaughlin drives for, Shell V-power Racing Team, to help young drivers from Australia and New Zealand make it to the top.
Fabian Coulthard will also select a young driver to receive a similar scholarship.
‘‘It was only through the assistance of big companies like Repco that I was able to make it all the way through to become a fulltime race car driver. Support like this is massively important,’’ Mclaughlin said.
‘‘Being able to mentor Tom as he navigates the world of motorsport, as well as having Repco assist him with funding, will hopefully make a big difference to this talented kid.’’
Bewley is ecstatic to have been selected for the scholarship.
‘‘I love racing, but I know it’s a hard thing for my mum and dad to keep me on the track,’’ he said. ‘‘With this scholarship, and the great advice from Scott, I feel more confident and prepared than ever.
‘‘Thank you very much to Repco for helping to make my dreams come true.’’
Mclaughlin suffered a huge crash in qualifying last weekend at the Gold Coast 600, which wrote off his Ford Mustang.
His team is hastily building him a new car in time for next week’s Sandown 500, where he is expected to wrap up the 2019 Supercars championship.