Stokes and McCullum need strong start to year that could define Bazball
The way the cricket calendar is carved up sounds a bit absurd; a kind of speed-dating event for the chief executives and chairs of the full-member nations that is hosted every four years by the International Cricket Council.Not that the ICC – more events company than governing body – gets involved.Its officials apparently have to leave the room before the bigwigs start schmoozing at the tables and operations types plumb the fixtures into their spreadsheets.The men’s future tours programme emerged from one of these opaque lock-ins in 2022 and even at the time England’s winter of 2024-25 stuck out as slightly unimaginative.Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand were scheduled for the second winter in two years, the latter for the third time in five.
This despite England’s entire four-year block featuring no Tests in Sri Lanka or the West Indies and the gap between Tests in South Africa – a third favourite of their travelling supporters – set to be seven years when they return in late 2026.Given the number of moving parts – the alliances and the schisms, a free-for-all process and the World Test Championship (WTC) – hoping for a sensible, even spread was probably optimistic.In fairness, even with the repetition, and England being out of the running for next year’s WTC final at Lord’s, this winter is still an intriguing one.The 2-1 loss in Pakistan in October, where they won 3-0 two years ago, rocked the good ship Bazball, such that the three-Test series that starts in Christchurch on Thursday feels pretty important.Under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, captain and head coach, England have enjoyed an upturn of fortunes compared with the bleak 18 months that came before.
Twenty wins and 11 defeats from 32 Tests is the second-best ratio behind Australia in this time and their pedal-to-the-metal cricket – the fortunes of which have lurched wildly – has been compelling to watch,Equally, they have won seven, lost seven in the past 12 months and have not won an away series since Pakistan in late 2022,That drawn home Ashes in 2023 was an opportunity missed, while New Zealand’s recent 3-0 triumph in India has made England’s 4-1 defeat there look a touch worse,Grumbles about their style grew stronger in Pakistan; a sense they are wedded to all-out aggression and are inflexible when the pitch is not flat,Even with McCullum’s contract now extended to 2027 and soon to incorporate the white-ball teams, next year – India at home and an away Ashes series – will probably define how the project is viewed overall.
To that end, England could do with a strong showing against the team they know better than most (and who could make that WTC final with a clean sweep).This will be the seventh time they have met for Test cricket in the past 10 years.Not that England’s familiarity with New Zealand has helped, having not won a series here since 2008; the tour when Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad struck up their record-breaking relationship to claim a 2-1 win from 1-0 down.The post-Anderson and Broad attack blew off the last dregs of jet-lag in postcard perfect Queenstown on Saturday, with Chris Woakes (three for 25), Gus Atkinson (three for 15) and Brydon Carse (four for 48) starting a two-day warm-up match by rolling an inexperienced Prime Minister’s XI for 136.They look the likeliest seamers for the first Test – Matt Potts and Olly Stone are the others on tour – with Shoaib Bashir likely to be first-choice spinner, given Jack Leach was running drinks.
In reply, England made 249 all out, with Zak Crawley (94) looking in particularly good touch,England were a bit loose after reaching 170 for two but it was more practice out in the middle than a match per se,As prop planes landed on the neighbouring airstrip, Stokes preferred to watch from the sidelines after doing his work before play began,Sign up to The SpinSubscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week’s actionafter newsletter promotionFitness was not the reason for sitting it out – he simply does not rate warm-up cricket – but his ability to play a full role as an all-rounder will again be key to England’s balance,After very little form on his return from a hamstring injury in Pakistan and a weirdly passive match tactically during the deciding Test in Rawalpindi – something perhaps explained in part by the stress of his family’s traumatic burglary back home – Stokes will be doubly keen to make an impact.
Another is Jordan Cox who, with Jamie Smith absent for parental leave, is inked in for a Test debut behind the stumps next week.Fresh from the recent Caribbean white-ball tour – and, like Smith, not the first-choice wicketkeeper for his county, Essex – the 24-year-old’s first outing behind the stumps for 15 months was tidy but he was out for 11 attempting a wild hoick.The intensity will be far greater at Hagley Oval, even if it will hardly be Galatasaray away.Indeed, 18 months on from their last encounter – the one-run win for New Zealand in Wellington that meant the series ended 1-1 – another hard-fought but friendly affair looks on the cards; the kind that will probably lead their bigwigs to make another beeline for each other when the speed-dating tables next come out.
London City, Bristol and Birmingham airports reportedly for sale
Birmingham, Bristol and London City airports have reportedly been put up for sale by their Canadian pension fund owner as it looks to cash in on a resurgence in air travel after the pandemic.The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) is said to be in talks over a potential sale of its stakes in the UK airports to minority shareholders. The portfolio, which also includes Copenhagen and Brussels airports, is estimated to be worth more than £10bn.The minority shareholders have the right of first refusal for 30 days, but the move could prompt those smaller stakeholders to sell up instead.OTPP, which holds stakes ranging from 25% to 70% in each airport, has started to approach potential outside bidders including the Australian investor Macquarie in case smaller investors decline the offer, according to the Sunday Times, which first reported the sale talks
Brat banking: Charli xcx takes the stage in Revolut’s push to cleanse its image
Thousands of bank customers braved the wind and rain of Storm Bert on Saturday night, forming queues that snaked through the streets surrounding London’s Tottenham Court Road station.But this was no bank run. In fact, there was not a bank branch in sight.This was Revolut, Europe’s most valuable fintech firm, hosting a free customer gig with one of world’s biggest pop stars, Charli xcx, days before her sold-out UK arena tour. The concert by the woman whose album redefined the word brat was a flashy stunt, exhibiting the digital bank’s determination to cleanse a controversy-dogged image and snare young customers, before what could be a blockbuster UK stock market float
Don’t know what to buy your loved ones for Christmas? Just ask ChatGPT
Some people love buying Christmas presents. Polly Arrowsmith starts making a note of what her friends and family like, then hunts for bargains, slowly and carefully. Vie Portland begins her shopping in January and has a theme each year, from heart mirrors to inspirational books. And Betsy Benn spent so much time thinking about presents, she ended up opening her own online gift business.How would these gift-giving experts react to a trend that is either a timesaving brainwave or an appalling corruption of the Christmas spirit: asking ChatGPT to do it for them?The answer, like Christmas Day, will have to wait
AI increasingly used for sextortion, scams and child abuse, says senior UK police chief
Paedophiles, scammers, hackers and criminals of all kinds are increasingly exploiting artificial intelligence (AI) to target victims in new and harmful ways, a senior police chief has warned.Alex Murray, the national police lead for AI, said that the use of the technology was growing rapidly because of its increasing accessibility and that police had to “move fast” to keep on top of the threat.“We know through the history of policing that criminals are inventive and will use anything they can to commit crime. They’re certainly using AI to commit crime now,” he said.“It can happen on an international and serious organised crime scale, and it can happen in someone’s bedroom … You can think of any crime type and put it through an AI lens and say: ‘What is the opportunity here?’”Speaking at the National Police Chiefs’ Council conference in London last week, Murray revealed concerns over emerging AI “heists” in which fraudsters use deepfake technology to impersonate company executives and trick their colleagues into transferring large sums of money
Slick Scotland turn on the style to put Australia to the sword
Scotland’s autumn report card reads three wins out of four. That will do nicely, but they felt obliged to defeat a fast-improving Australia to regard the campaign as a success. The hosts eventually scored four tries in overwhelming Joe Schmidt’s young team – there will be no Wallabies grand slam, no emulation of the heroes of 1984 – but the tourists stayed in the battle until the final quarter.Storm Bert caused havoc across Scotland this week, disrupting both teams’ preparation, but the players awoke to blue skies and mercifully warmer weather compared to that which forced them to train inside a few days ago. Having made six changes from last Sunday’s win in Wales, Schmidt was forced into two further tweaks: the hooker Matt Faessler, who scored a hat-trick in Cardiff, was ruled out with a calf injury, before the lock Jeremy Williams withdrew on Sunday morning due to illness
‘Proud’ Max Verstappen hails fourth driver’s championship as his best
Max Verstappen hailed his fourth Formula One world championship as his best yet while his team principal Christian Horner said his victory made Verstappen one of the greats of the sport.“The beginning was a bit messy,” Verstappen said in Las Vegas of the furore that engulfed Red Bull before the season began. “But I’m quite calm in those situations. It’s very difficult to disturb me with anything. I’m very focused on the racing side of things
Jeff Jarvis: ‘Elon Musk’s investment in Twitter seemed insane, but it gave him this power’
Wire cutters: how the world’s vital undersea data cables are being targeted
Tesla’s path in China clears as Musk courts both Trump and Xi
What does the US Department of Justice want Google to do?
Deus in machina: Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus
Elon Musk to ‘summon MPs to US to explain threats to American citizens’