NZ's road to their 4-Test Tour of Australia 2026-27

[Zinzan]

This must be a record for the earliest "Road to..." thread on this forum

NZ get a 4-match Test series once every 25 years making this 5 times bigger than any Ashes series in history, so yes even a 10 year in advance tour thread wouldn't be soon enough.

 

[SteveNZ]

Wait, this is a 4-match series? Holy ****. This thread is absolutely necessary, then. Every ounce of our focus should be on making sure we are competitive in this series.

We have 2.5 years to give the right guys international red-ball exposure, because a 4-0 embarrassment would be near the end of our credibility. Certainly Australia won't be arsed playing us, although to be fair they're going to go through a significant transition with seemingly not a lot to follow, as well.

Surely G.Stead won't be the coach, either. If he spends 2.5 years wringing the final liquids out of these 32-year-olds who are already on the downward spiral, I don't know what that will do to my mental health.

 

[SteveNZ]

Agree, & I'm quoting you in this thread because for the future and credibility of NZ Test cricket, NZC should NOT take their eye of the ball in preparation for this series albeit 2.5 years away. That should include as many NZA type tours as possible, and yes the prospect of some of those bowlers above, and a fit Jamieson (probably in my dreams) is mouth-watering if we can get the timing right on form and fitness.

Couldn't agree more. The credibility is 100% on the line in this series. A really competitive series there has the ability to invigorate the game here - imagine the hype if you get a 4-match series where we take them on head-first and win? It would be mid-80s level of public investment in the game.