New Zealand's loss to England in the first Test featured a dodgy pitch and the continuation of some grand trends for the Blackcaps. One of the positives for the kiwis is a reminder that Aotearoa has the best cricket pitches in the world and yet when such clear themes are present for the Blackcaps, all the noise about the Lord's pitch becomes a soft hum.

Aotearoa has lost four consecutive Tests vs England in England. Not only that but they have all been by hefty margins of 50+ wickets or 100+ runs and that includes a 5 wicket loss at Lord's to start the 2022 tour. This is compounded by a 2-7 record in all Tests against England since the start of 2022 and the biggest issue is how experienced Blackcaps batters have crumbled in most challenges from an England seam attack that has seen plenty of turnover in this period.

As tricky as it was to bat at Lord's, the Blackcaps batting unit is one of the most experienced and talented that New Zealand has ever offered in Test cricket. Instead of driving the high standards of grit and resilience, the Blackcaps batters once again crumbled against an England bowling attack and while this has happened in Aotearoa (1-2 series loss in 2024), there are pockets like Kane Williamson averaging 19 vs England in England that make for grim reading.

Williamson, Tom Latham and Devon Conway have all batted at least six times in four Tests in England vs England since the start of 2022. They are all averaging below 25 with Latham the lowest on 15.5avg and Conway on 24.1avg. Latham and Conway have at least been in decent form recently and along with Rachin Ravindra they are the three best Test batters for Aotearoa over the past year.

Ravindra is Aotearoa's best batter overall right now and he averages 17.1 in Tests vs England as another example of how Blackcaps capitulate against England. The concern sits with Williamson's dip in form over the last two years and a bigger drop for Daryl Mitchell, who benefited from the form-slump spotlight on Tom Blundell as Mitchell's struggles are more notable than Blundell's.

Williamson is averaging below 50 in consecutive years for the first time since 2013. This is the only phase of his career without a century in consecutive years after 13 consecutive years with a century prior to 2025. Williamson has one 50+ score in his last nine innings and his last century was in the first Test vs South Africa in early 2024.

Since the start of 2025, Williamson has the lowest batting average for Blackcaps with 150+ runs (34avg). Mitchell doesn’t have 150+ runs in this period so he’s excluded from that last stat but he does have the lowest average for Blackcaps with 100+ runs (21.5avg) and he is the only Blackcap with 100+ runs averaging below 30.

Mitchell was once awesome in England and that can't be relied upon anymore as his general Test form is now alarming. His last Test century was vs Sri Lanka early in 2023 and after a a dominant phase of three years averaging 40+ in Test cricket, Mitchell’s now in his third consecutive year averaging below 40.

Keep in mind that Williamson and Mitchell have struggled in a phase of Tests against teams who aren't in the World Test Championship or at the bottom of the ladder. Aotearoa doesn't have the luxury of cricket cartel nations picking and choosing which Tests matter and which don't, although we also need to be realistic about measuring performances in wider context.

We can't go full steak and cheese pie in celebrating dominance against Ireland. But when batters aren't scoring many runs against Zimbabwe, West Indies and Ireland then we have nuggets to work with. Conway, Ravindra and Latham have three centuries over the last year and half, Williamson and Mitchell have none ... just one 50+ score each.

These pockets have been brewing for a couple years now and buck up against the perception of these batters. Williamson is New Zealand's greatest batter ever, Mitchell's career mahi puts up among the best and yet they aren't at those levels right now. Add in how all the batters stink against England and we are left pondering what all the experience of batting around the world for over five years actually means when the outcome is a crumbly batting unit.

The bowling is a different story because the Blackcaps have a group of seamers who have all settled into tremendous grooves to start their Test careers, along with Matt Henry who flipped from ho-hum seamer to legend a few years ago. Henry's injury early in the first Test would have been an issue in previous Blackcaps squads but the combination of Kyle Jamieson, Will O'Rourke and Nathan Smith did their jobs.

Jamieson and Smith took baggies in either innings, while O'Rourke was smashing gloves and ruffling feathers as usual. They were helped by the Lord's pitch but Jamieson's been awesome in Test bowling for a few years, Smith's improving with each year of Test bowling and O'Rourke is considerably better overseas than he is in Aotearoa.

All three of these seamers sit among the best who have ever played Test cricket for Aotearoa. There are only seven Blackcaps bowlers with 20+ wickets and averages below 25 which includes Jack Cowie, Shane Bond and Sri Richard Hadlee. The other four? Jamieson, Smith, O'Rourke and Jacob Duffy...

Jacob Duffy: 25w @ 16.28avg
Kyle Jamieson: 86w @ 19.55avg
Jack Cowie: 45w @ 21.53avg
Shane Bond: 87w @ 22.09avg
Nathan Smith: 27w @ 22.18avg
Sir Richard Hadlee: 431w @ 22.29avg
Will O’Rourke: 43w @ 23.67avg

Jamieson is the only New Zealand Test bowler who has 50+ wickets and averages below 20. Duffy, Smith and O'Rourke have all started their Test careers with legendary mahi and while other legends all sit over 27avg (Henry, Boult, Wagner, Southee etc), the Test squad also features Blair Tickner who has 22w @ 26.5avg.

This will be useful through the remaining two Tests as Blackcaps are unlikely to roll out the same seam attack for three consecutive Tests. Tickner could be a factor and is more likely to earn selection ahead of Zak Foulkes who sits behind Smith with the all-rounder skillset. Blackcaps can also squeeze in Mitchell Santner in place of a seamer and Glenn Phillips was the only kiwi who had two 30+ scores in the first Test so he won't be dropped.

Anyone who has followed Blackcaps cricket closely over the last 10 years knows that the batters won't be dropped. Instead, they will probably be given all three Tests to work through their woes. There are tweaks available though with Henry Nicholls covering the batters and Phillips capable of moving up the order.

Blackcaps have dropped to fourth in the WTC. They maintain their top-four status in world cricket having stayed in this zone through recent tournaments and WTC cycles. The batting and fielding standards shown in England weren't top-four status though, so it will be fascinating to see how this group responds to another heavy defeat to England. They should respond with kiwi grit and resilience but it doesn't look like we can assume these things anymore.

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Peace and love.