As England look to a kiwi for fresh vibes once again, Aotearoa's Blackcaps keep on grinding. The first Test of this tour goes down overnight Thursday and with defending champions Aotearoa sitting 6th on the World Test Championship ladder (2-3-1), this series serves as a key juncture for the campaign. All three Tests fit into WTC matters and Aotearoa summers now revolve around two-Test series which frames this series as flashy moments are likely to be overshadowed by grit, grind and winning mahi.

England's fresh twist feels less suited to grinding out overs and days of Test cricket than Aotearoa. Aotearoa's squad for the first Test includes Henry Nicholls and Trent Boult, although folks should not expect them to play. Nicholls' absence will likely be absorbed by Daryl Mitchell, while there are low ley signs pointing to Ajaz Patel's selection in the spot left vacant by Boult.

Coach Gary Stead highlighted the drier pitches in England since their arrival and the two warm up games saw Patel finish with the most wickets of all kiwi bowlers used (7w @ 24.42avg). Matt Henry was the next best bowler with 4w @ 20.25avg and he's competing for that slot in the bowling unit as well. Henry is also fabulous in England, then again Patel took 4w in his lone Test of last year's tour of England.

Aotearoa will have no shortage of seamers fizzing for overs, even with Patel in the line up. If Mitchell plays then he will sit behind Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Kyle Jamieson and Colin de Grandhomme. That's five seamers and a spinner in Patel who I view as the perfect counterpart to such a seam unit. Boult is a beast and along with Henry, they are the only frontline bowlers averaging below 20 in this WTC cycle.

Don't buzz because the long-haul slog of this series is a key idea and having Boult up the sleeve is nifty. Playing Patel in what might be quasi favourable conditions could offset Boult's absence, while de Grandhomme has now played five games in England since linking up with Surrey in mid-April. Three County Championship games for Surrey and two warm uppers have seen de Grandhomme take 10w and groove his way to a knock of 66 for Surrey at a steady strike-rate of 64sr.

Will Young has also been bullying English cricketers. After back to back centuries for Durham last year, Young returned to County Championship cricket with Northamptonshire this year and his four games conjured up scores of 33, 96, 63, 2, 3 and 134. Young has now played eight games of County cricket in the past 12 months across two Kiwi County Tour stints and with five 50+ scores featuring three centuries.

Which brings us to an odd feeling for kiwi cricket fans as I'm feeling extremely confident in the Blackcaps top-four batters. Young will open alongside Tom Latham, with Kane Williamson and Devon Conway next up. Aotearoa hasn't had an opening duo like Young and Latham for as long as I can remember and while Luteru Taylor is our favourite at the Niche Cache, his best mahi came with a revolving door of openers. Taylor was also lacking runs late in his career and Conway picks up that slack.

Aotearoa will need most of their runs to come from this top-four as England have James Anderson and Stuart Broad frothing to bowl in home conditions. Conway cruised to that double-banger on Test debut at Lord's last winter, while Williamson and Latham didn't do much in that Test but have both put up scores in previous Lord's excursions. Young didn't play at Lord's last year but did hit an 82 in the second Test of that tour and loves England.

A first Test of the English summer at Lord's will always be a lovely occasion and England will operate with plenty of energy as they look to reinvigorate their set up. All the basic-boy narratives will be rolled out about England and their coach, their connections to cricket in their colonized land of Aotearoa. England have big ambitions right now and yet they also love a review, they love to stink and then try to fix it. Through our lifetimes we have seen review after review, this revolution and that plan to find more money.

Aotearoa's Blackcaps are solid in comparison to England. Last winter the Blackcaps rotated out half their team and defeated England. England's T20I outfit was meant to be awesome, yet it was Aotearoa that made the T20 World Cup final. Aotearoa have a squad of grizzly cricketers, mature in their mahi as well as fabulous team culture that encourages a 'do your mahi' mindset.

These two forces will run it straight at each other for the first Test at Lord's. How the Blackcaps deal with this energy will be crucial in setting up the series. Lads like Boult and Nicholls will be eager for game time for the next two Tests, which highlights the long-haul grind aspect of the series. What happens over the course of this series will be most important in the context of the WTC, while this first Test at Lord's feels like the momentous occasion where legends are brewed.

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Peace and love.