Here are your 2026/27 Men's Domestic contracts.
One more to be released from each association in the coming weeks.
Pls no one steal my graphics without permission!
I have been following KW for a long time and the first thing that I have understood from his nature is that if he feels like he is holding up someone else's position ,he would be the first to selflessly give up his position.
However the way he has handled his retirement from all formats seems so strange and sudden . I remember he gave it his all after a ACL tear to cone back for the 2023 ODI wc. Even after the 2024 t20 wc when asked about his retirement plans , he said he would love to continue and also expressed interest in the 2028 olympics and 2027 ODI wc . If he had felt he was mot up to the standard ,he would have retired then and there ,not just skip t20 series one after another and just before the squad selection declare that he is retiring from the format .
Same thing for tests . He is the most passionate about this format and to quit do suddenly in the middle is very intriguing.
I might be reading too much into it but do you guys think that change in head coach from Stead to Walter played any role like maybe they had their own differences just like Kohli had with his new coach.
Aussies ragging on the Brits is nothing new, but it seems they’ve taken a real dislike, or maybe macabre delight, in Englands loss and the way Stokes retired?
Feels like every Aussie with a podcast has jumped on the band wagon and are laying into McCullum & Stokes.
After yet another debacle, McCullum's days as England coach are probably numbered. I just hope we don't see that as an opportunity to involve him in our setup in any way. His attitude towards the game has always been a joke, even as a player, but he articulates things in the right way in interviews that make it seem like he's great. Left a lot on the table as a player given his talent, never won anything, crumbled in big games, and tbh never really seemed to care. These same traits have been seen in his coaching. I just worry his sweet talking will convince NZC to give him a gig at some point. Let him lead some IPL team to 5th place every year instead
What an absolute peach of an inswinger delivery from Bhuveneshwar Kumar to clean up Jos Buttler on his very first ball
Matt Fisher called up and Jacob Duffy returns.
Absences:
Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, and Will O’Rourke will miss the series to rest after a heavy workload during the first half of 2026.
Blair Tickner will return home for scheduled surgery on his ankle and was unavailable for selection.
Devon Conway will miss the tour to spend time with his family after the birth of his second child during the England Test series.
As was pre-agreed with NZC, Rachin Ravindra willalso miss the series to take part in Major League Cricket and was not available for selection.
want your opinion
Just think how bad our test stats would be if we hadn't had a good last decade. Unbeaten against Ireland and Zimbabwe, have lost 2 tests against Bangladesh. Then it gets grim.
Australia: played 62, won 8, lost 36, drawn 18. ( 2 test wins in last 33 years).
England: P 118, W 16, L 55, D 47.
India: P 65, W 16, L 22, D 27.
Pakistan: P 62, W 14, L 25, D 23.
South Africa: P 49, W 7, L 26, D 16. (2 of those 7 came in last series).
Sri Lanka: P 40, W 18, L 11, D 11.
West Indies: P 52, W 19, L 13, D 20.
EDIT: just adding this wasn't to bag us - was merely pointing out how few wins we have against some nations still, and the level of catch up required to make an even win/loss record with them.
He was peppered and beaten black and blue by the English bowlers, but managed to hang on for nearly 7 hours to secure an incredible century (and MotM), and set NZ up for a match and series win!
edit: "braviest" smh
The amount of boneheaded and reckless decisions this guy has made as coach is incredible, not to mention he never admits mistakes, always refuses to be flexible about his tactics and always puts his EGO first. I don't want him anywhere near NZC not even our provincial teams.
While we at it, I don't want Tim Southee and Ben Stokes near our set up either. Southee has Jofra Archer in his prime and hes somehow bowling worse than hes ever been, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse (whos injured this series) remember them? They tore us apart in our home series in 2024, yet ever since Southee took over as bowling coach they all been bowling worse!
Ben Stokes is self explanatory, like Baz he puts himself first ahead of the team also you can tell by his body language he's not exactly a supportive captain. If he ever becomes a coach or director of cricket he probably brings the same mentality
(Jeetan Patel however you can come anytime you like. Bashir has come leaps and bounds under him also Rashid is one of the best at white ball spin bowling)
So we play 4 tests in Oz which is awesome. How can we beat them? Last time we toured there it was 3 zip and all the games were thrashings. We didn't even come close.
In Oz, you gotta hit the deck hard. There isn't much traditional swing unless it's the type of whippy swing that Starc gets. So floating the ball up NZ/England style is not going to work. We need the likes of Jamieson, Sears and O'Rourke to be bowling a heavy ball just short of a length and threatening the top of off stump. At a brisk pace also. I don't think 145+ is necessary. Anything in the high 130s with good line and length will trouble the Aussie batsmen. Basically we need to emulate the way Cummins and Boland bowl on Oz pitches.
Under his captaincy India's and England's dominant home test streak ended after being for 5+ years. 3 overseas test series wins all against strong teams. Plus a great batter too
RIP Bazball
Wins:
- Against England in England: 1-0
- Against India in India: 3-0
- Against West Indies at home: 2-0
- Against Ireland in Ireland: 1-0
- Against England in England: 2-1
Loss:
- Against England at home: 2-1
In an age where keeper batters are judged by the latter skills, it's so nice to see a keeper change the game and maybe the series with his keeping. That Jofra Archer catch in the second test was a joke. He had no right to catch that.
Just realized Mitch Santner is quietly putting together one of the most underrated all-round resumes in modern cricket.
Currently, he has:
1000+ runs in each format
133 ODI wickets
142 T20I wickets
80 Test wickets
If he bags just 20 more Test wickets, he’ll become only the second player in history after Shakib Al Hasan to complete the 1000 run/100 wicket trifecta across all three formats.
Considering how much he’s been a workhorse for the Blackcaps over the years, seeing him hit this milestone would be massive!
Might have been lost in all the excitement but we have a 5-match ODI series in the West Indies coming up in 2 weeks, from July 12 to 21. Will be interesting with relatively little ODI cricket being played these days, and the World Cup in a year.
I'd guess the squad will look something like
Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips (if fit), Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Will O'Rourke (if fit), Dean Foxcroft, Josh Clarkson, Matt Henry (if fit), Jacob Duffy
Personally I'd be inclined to consider resting O'Rourke and Henry even if fit and bring in Tickner and Foulkes.
Ravindra, Santner and Henry are all playing in The Hundred which starts on July 21 so I suppose they might miss some or all of the tour