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*Official* New Zealand tour of Ireland and England 2026

NZTailender

NZTailender

I can't believe I ate the whole thing
The big ticket:
Ireland vs. New Zealand, Only Test, at Belfast, May 27-30

Post-Ireland warm-down net sessions:
  • 1st Test: Thursday 4 June – Monday 8 June 2026 at Lord's Cricket Ground, London.
  • 2nd Test: Wednesday 17 June – Sunday 21 June 2026 at The Kia Oval, London.
  • 3rd Test: Thursday 25 June – Monday 29 June 2026 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
New Zealand Test squad: Tom Latham (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Kristian Clarke (Ireland Test only), Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Dean Foxcroft, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will O'Rourke, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae (Ireland Test only), Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears (Ireland Test and travelling reserve for England Tests), Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner, Kane Williamson, Will Young (Ireland Test only)

England Test squad: Ben Stokes (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Sonny Baker, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, James Rew, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue
 
S

SteveNZ

International Coach
Before I get too serious into the tour, I absolute appreciate England's dedication to giving their newspaper headline writers sufficient fodder.

Foakes/Woakes/Stokes, a short opener named Duckett, a Fisher, a Butcher, a Baker, a Gay, a Root, a Tongue...Jamie Smith should be dropped for his **** name as much as his woeful Ashes tour and that wipe off Marnus.
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

Hall of Fame Member
SteveNZ said:
Before I get too serious into the tour, I absolute appreciate England's dedication to giving their newspaper headline writers sufficient fodder.

Foakes/Woakes/Stokes, a short opener named Duckett, a Fisher, a Butcher, a Baker, a Gay, a Root, a Tongue...Jamie Smith should be dropped for his **** name as much as his woeful Ashes tour and that wipe off Marnus.
Click to expand...
Don't forget Wood (x2) and Stone, and definitely not noted T20I opening duo Salt and Pepper.
 
V

vandem

State Captain
NZ vs IPL availability clash update - Ravindra released early by KKR. Cricinfo: "He will now work on red-ball cricket in New Zealand before the Test squad leaves for the UK ". [assume "UK" means Ireland and UK]

NZ players in IPL who I assume will miss Ireland test (and possibly 1st test in England, with IPL final 1st June and England test starting 4th June): Phillips, Henry, Jamieson, Foulkes. So seamers vs Ireland probably O'Rourke + Smith + Tickner + Sears.
 
V

vandem

State Captain
Ireland warm up. looks like test XI is split across both trial sides, appears Strikers have better attack with Adair and Young (test seamers) and McBrine and Humphreys (test spinners), Raiders have stronger batting with test regulars Balbirnie, Tector, Campher and Tector.

cricketireland.ie

Emerald squads - Cricket Ireland

The two squads have been named for the Emerald Challenge – a four-day first-class fixture that is a vital part of the Irish senior squads preparation for this year’s home Test Match against New Zealand – with Andrew Balbirnie and Matthew Humphreys to captain their respective teams.
cricketireland.ie cricketireland.ie

 
ataraxia

ataraxia

Hall of Fame Member
vandem said:
NZ vs IPL availability clash update - Ravindra released early by KKR. Cricinfo: "He will now work on red-ball cricket in New Zealand before the Test squad leaves for the UK ". [assume "UK" means Ireland and UK]

NZ players in IPL who I assume will miss Ireland test (and possibly 1st test in England, with IPL final 1st June and England test starting 4th June): Phillips, Henry, Jamieson, Foulkes. So seamers vs Ireland probably O'Rourke + Smith + Tickner + Sears.
Click to expand...
Test is in Belfast, hence the "UK" language.
 
ataraxia

ataraxia

Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, this is our first four-day test in quite some time. Maybe since the 1960s? I presume it has 96-over days rather than 82-.
 
straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
*Official* New Zealand tour to End Bazball 2026

surprised the Ashes didn't already do it, but apparently not
 
straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
SteveNZ said:
Before I get too serious into the tour, I absolute appreciate England's dedication to giving their newspaper headline writers sufficient fodder.

Foakes/Woakes/Stokes, a short opener named Duckett, a Fisher, a Butcher, a Baker, a Gay, a Root, a Tongue...Jamie Smith should be dropped for his **** name as much as his woeful Ashes tour and that wipe off Marnus.
Click to expand...
It's genuinely amazing how many word-named-players England select; other mostly-anglo teams don't manage it nearly as much.

Smith does fit in as a trade-surname with Butcher, Baker and Fisher tbf to him.

Posted this over ten years ago and you could still do it - England are still committed to the bit.

1779402864260.png
 
Last edited:
Skyliner

Skyliner

International Regular
‘Batting all-rounder Glenn Phillips is highly likely to miss the Ireland Test due to his IPL franchise, the Gujarat Titans, making the playoffs. This absence opens the door for a direct battle between the recalled veteran Henry Nicholls and uncapped batting all-rounder Dean Foxcroft.’
 
V

vandem

State Captain
IPL update - CSK last game played and didn't qualify for knockouts, so Henry and Foulkes can fly, not sure if to England for 1st Test (4th June) or perhaps try to rush Henry into Ireland game starting on 27th May.
 
V

vandem

State Captain
Skyliner said:
‘Batting all-rounder Glenn Phillips is highly likely to miss the Ireland Test due to his IPL franchise, the Gujarat Titans, making the playoffs. This absence opens the door for a direct battle between the recalled veteran Henry Nicholls and uncapped batting all-rounder Dean Foxcroft.’
Click to expand...
Nicholls vs Foxcroft might depend on pitch, if green-ish then selectors will pick 4 seamers with Ravindra for spin, if brown then Foxcroft debut is possible.
 
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