[Lord Snooty]

An unbeaten triple century. And now he's just said on SSN that he is meeting with Andrew Strauss tonight.

[Lord Snooty]

And in that meeting, it looks like Strauss has farted in his face.

---

New Zealand 237 & 310
Somerset 204 & 277 
New Zealand won by 66 runs

---

May

8-11: v Somerset, Taunton (11:00 BST) - New Zealand won by 66 runs Scorecard
14-17: v Worcestershire, Worcester (11:00 BST)
21-25: 1st Test, Lord's (11:00 BST)
29-2: June 2nd Test, Headingley (11:00 BST)

June
6: v Leicestershire (50 overs), Leicester
9: 1st ODI, Edgbaston (d/n)
12: 2nd ODI, The Oval (d/n)
14: 3rd ODI, Southampton
17: 4th ODI, Trent Bridge (d/n)
20: 5th ODI, Chester-le-Street
23: Twenty20 international, Old Trafford (d/n)

[Lord Snooty]

England squad for 1st test: Alastair Cook (Essex, capt), Adam Lyth, Gary Ballance (both Yorskhire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Mark Wood (Durham).

---

14-17: v Worcestershire, Worcester (11:00 BST)


Day 1: No play due to rain.

[Lord Snooty]

Close day 2:

New Zealanders 261-9 dec

Worcestershire 65-1 (Moeen Ali 20no, Mitchell 15no)

[Lord Snooty]

Close Day 3:
New Zealand 261-9 dec & 89-2 (Guptil 61no, Taylor 13no)

Worcestershire 291-7 dec
New Zealand lead by 59 runs with 8 wickets remaining

[Lord Snooty]

Scorecard

New Zealand 261-9 dec (Rutherford 75) & 275-9 dec (Guptill 150, Choudhry 5/78)

Worcestershire 291-7 dec (Whiteley 103no) & 230 (Kohler-Cadmore 55, Craig 4/56)
New Zealand won by 15 runs

[Lord Snooty]

England v New Zealand

The 1st Test Match
Thursday May 21st - Monday May 25th
at Lord's
starting at 11:00

Teams news (courtesy of Cricinfo):


Adam Lyth will be England's 666th Test cricketer - and has no qualms about the number of his cap - so becoming the sixth opening partner for Alistair Cook since Andrew Strauss retired in 2012. Mark Wood may also be handed a debut in place of Chris Jordan as England aim to add greater cutting edge to their pace attack.


England (probable): 1 Alastair Cook ©, 2 Adam Lyth, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Joe Root, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Jos Buttler (w), 9 Mark Wood, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson.

Martin Guptill all but assured himself a recall, for his first Test since Headingley 2013, with his 150 against Worcestershire and is set to open alongside Tom Latham as Hamish Rutherford misses out. Brendon McCullum always likes a specialist spinner so Mark Craig's place is secure leaving the third frontline quick as the final question mark. The suggestion is that Matt Henry will make his debut, preferred to the workhorse Neil Wagner, who would be able to consider himself unfortunate to miss out.


New Zealand (probable): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum ©, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 BJ Watling (w), 8 Mark Craig, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult.

[jjamez]

Ross taylor has been a bit iffy of late. Guptill might slot in at three or four with kanos taking the other.

Wouldnt rule out dougie bracewell playing either depending on wicket condition and over head conditions

[Lord Snooty]

Good recovery from 30-4. Root and Stokes both got out in the 90s. Might get home in time for the last half hour.

[Lord Snooty]

Scorecard

England

Alastair Cook ©
Adam Lyth
Gary Ballance
Ian Bell
Joe Root
Moeen Ali
Ben Stokes
Jos Buttler (W)
Mark Wood
Stuart Broad
James Anderson


New Zealand

Tom Latham
Martin Guptill
Kane Williamson
Ross Taylor
Brendon McCullum ©
Corey Anderson
BJ Watling (W)
Mark Craig
Tim Southee
Matt Henry
Trent Boult

---

Whoa! Butthead out in the final over.

---

Close Day 1:
England 354/7 (Moeen Ali 49no)