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[Buzz]

The first test starts tomorrow at Lord's, the pitch looked green from a tweet this morning.

Going to be a fascinating game.

England will be virtually unchanged, lyth coming in and Wood will be 12th man again.

New Zealand will welcome back the in form Guptill and are looking good. Their struggles are around the lack of red ball cricket played recently as they return from the IPL.

series loosers drop to 7th in the rankings, winners move 3rd (Eng) or 4th NZ

Middle order batting for both teams look strong, keepers evenly matched, I think the kiwi bowling is stronger, so they hold the edge...

Toss all important tomorrow

[FattusCattus]

I'd like to see Wood for Jordan.

[fros23]

The first test starts tomorrow at Lord's, the pitch looked green from a tweet this morning.

Going to be a fascinating game.

England will be virtually unchanged, lyth coming in and Wood will be 12th man again.

New Zealand will welcome back the in form Guptill and are looking good. Their struggles are around the lack of red ball cricket played recently as they return from the IPL.

series loosers drop to 7th in the rankings, winners move 3rd (Eng) or 4th NZ

Middle order batting for both teams look strong, keepers evenly matched, I think the kiwi bowling is stronger, so they hold the edge...

Toss all important tomorrow

Surely that can't be right as New Zealand are already 3rd?

[ppccopener]

Like to see Wood for Jordan too.Stokes has some serious talent and we need a forth seamer-close but he's a better bat than Jordan.
Unfortunatley/fortunatley depending on your viewpoint,this is the most important match in recent history simply because the confidence in England is at rock bottom,and the press are luing in wait.
Win and we get some feelgood back,lose and all the wheels could come off
I think NZ will go for us and their aggresive play could come off
They are a good side now....
lyth finally gets a chance-we need a permanent opener,cook i think has had6 partners since strauss
Ill be on the edge of my seat

[Tailendfielder]

I'd like to see Wood for Jordan.

What about selection?

[Buzz]

Surely that can't be right as New Zealand are already 3rd?

have probably cocked that up then!

Wood for Jordan has been a very popular option over the years.

Jordan will play because of his catching.
Frankly they should play Ricky Clarke if the are going to take that approach.

Still more chat about the kiwi players please. Williamson, Taylor McCullum is quality. Can Ballance Bell and root match them ? Guptill is flying and the keeper, wartling is a tremendous hitter.

[Alvaro]

Buttler is wasted at eight.

[Cedrictoad]

have probably cocked that up then!

Wood for Jordan has been a very popular option over the years.

Jordan will play because of his catching.
Frankly they should play Ricky Clarke if the are going to take that approach.

Still more chat about the kiwi players please. Williamson, Taylor McCullum is quality. Can Ballance Bell and root match them ? Guptill is flying and the keeper, wartling is a tremendous hitter.

Not sure Watling is much of a hitter... more a nudger and deflector judging by what I saw of him over the winter (he seems very good at batting time and is a good judge of his off stump). 

Interesting that they are going to go with Corey Anderson, I am not sure if he has the temperament to bat at 6 (or will he be 7)... and whilst handy with the ball is probably not going to take big bags of wickets.  Will Craig play?  He looked handy with the bat (if your an Aussie think annoying like Peter Sleep) and ok with the ball (albeit against the Windies and Sri Lanka in New Zealand).

If the Kiwis win the toss it will be interesting to see Lyle, Cook and Balance versus Southee and Boult... the first session is going to be riveting (and I will be at work... there is no justice in this world!)

[Bats_Entertainment]

Mark Footitt was seen bowling in the England nets.

[potzy248]

Anderson started his test career off very well hitting a 100. Since then he has been average. Jimmy Neesham was the preferred allrounder last season but he is injured.

McCullum is the key. He has been the reason why we have turned our form around. His aggressive batting and his captaincy are fantastic. Williamson will be our greatest ever batsman, he just keeps getting better and better. Taylor has been in terrible form for about a year now so is due for a turn around.

I can't wait to see Southee and Boult with the Duke ball, especially Boult to Cook. He pitches it up and gets it hooping. Boult to the LH batsmen and Southee to the right handers. It starts at 10pm here but I'll be watching a few hours a night.

[Scruffy]

I would really like us (NZ) to win the toss and send in Cook & co to bat. Watching Boult and Southee on a green top, hooping it around would be a great start to the tour.

In regards to Watling, he is a brilliant batsman to have come in at number 7-8. Very underrated. Supports the top and middle order and has a knack for HUGE partnerships. He and McCullum put together a world record partnership for the 6th wicket of 352, and then broke the same record a year later with a unbroken partnership of 365 with Kane Williamson.

[Manormanic]

Two quite evenly matched sides, with the solidity of New Zealand's selection, McCullum's brilliant captaincy and the slightly less patched together make up of their side making them just slight favourites.

For England, the question is going to be how much the turmoil of the last few weeks has affected them - in Barbados it seemed that it had, and they are likely to field two debutants unjustly short of competitive cricket as a result.  If Lyth beds in - tricky given those circumstances - then he gives the side a solidity and verve at the top that it has lacked whilst Wood is the tpe of bowler England desperately need. 

For New Zealand, its more about lack of red ball cricket and the fact that Guptill and Latham are not the most reassuring of opening pairs - LAtham can't buy a run at the moment and Guptill...well, lets just say that runs against Worcestershire 2s doen't make him any better than a text average int eh high 20s would initially suggest.

[skip1973]

One team I love to watch because the positive way they play and one team I love to see get beaten because..... well because they are England. McCullum is just one of those players that keep you glued to the game while he's in, and I think Southee will be the man with the ball.

[skip1973]

How's the weather looking?

[jamielsn15]

Weather should be good.

I called it last week and I think Wood will play.  There's also been a few articles/comments on radio that with the IPL some NZ players may be undercooked.  McCullum may be the best set of the returning batsmen, but Taylor may take time and Williamson hasn't played a long innings since early September - we're saying on here Lyth will be undercooked and he's had more cricket recently than that...

Southee and Boult will always be dangerous in familiar conditions, but again will they take time finding their Test length after playing so much IPL?

Wood to play, Buttler to bat at 7.  The toss will be interesting; potential for NZ's middle order to be undercooked vs facing Boult and Southee first up with a Test debutant.  Tough call.