Ben Stokes opted out of Indian Premier League to prolong England career

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Ben Stokes opted out of Indian Premier League to prolong England career

New Zealand, fresh from a breathtaking 3-0 series win in India, welcome prolific batter Kane Williamson back from injury and give a first cap to seamer Nathan Smith, who spent part of last summer with Worcestershire.

Of a green-tinged pitch, Stokes said: “If you saw that pitch in England, you’d be praying to **** that you won the toss and could bowl first.

“It’s amazing in New Zealand. You can look at a wicket and it plays completely different to what it looks like. We’ll have to see how we go tomorrow, see what conditions we’re faced with as the game goes further, and if we need to adapt to anything we’ll try to do that.”

New Zealand’s win in India means they have an outside chance of reaching the World Test Championship final, having won the inaugural competition in 2021.

They join India, Australia, South ******* and Sri Lanka in vying for the two spots available, but England sit sixth in the table and are out of contention.

“The World Test Championship is a bit confusing. I don’t look at it,” said Stokes.

“Over a long ******* of time, if you’re playing really good cricket, you’re getting results that you want, you’ll end up finding yourself in the final and in the mix.

“For me and this team it’s about taking it game by game, series by series, and if you end up finding yourself in the position where you happen to be in the final, then it’s great. I can’t really ever remember if I’ve ever given any real time specifically to thinking about the World Test Championship.”

England have not won a Test series in New Zealand in four attempts, dating back to 2008. Their last match in this country, a thrilling one-run defeat in Wellington in 2023, was only the fourth time any team had lost a Test after enforcing the follow-on.

“It’s a cool rivalry that we’ve got,” said New Zealand captain Tom Latham.

“We’ve had some great battles over the last five, seven years with England and that was no different a couple of seasons ago when they were out here.

“I’m sure it will produce some more thrilling games and both teams are looking forward to getting into it.”

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