Five things we learnt from the third and final Test between New Zealand and England

England suffered a massive defeat of 423 runs in the third and final Test match vs New Zealand but won the series 2-1.

This game was New Zealand’s fast bowler Tim Southee’s last game before retiring from international cricket.

Sports News Blitz’s cricket expert James Melloy takes a look at what we learnt from the final Test in the series.

Zak Crawley is badly out of form

England opener Zak Crawley has only managed 57 runs from six innings in the New Zealand Test series and now averages 30 in Test cricket.

Since the 2023 Ashes series, Crawley only averages 27.

Matt Henry seemed to have Crawley’s number, getting the opener out seven times in this series and getting him out eight times in 64 balls in Test cricket.

Kane Williamson’s record in Hamilton is remarkable

Even by Kane Williamson’s standards, his record when playing in Hamilton is stunning.

In Williamson’s last five Tests at Hamilton, he has scored a century, scoring 885 with a high score of 251, and a stunning average of 221.

His most recent century takes Willamson to 33 Test hundreds and he is New Zealand’s greatest ever batsmen.

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Ollie Pope or Jacob Bethell to bat at three?

With how Jacob Bethell has played in this series, there’s now a selection headache for McCullum and the England selectors over whether to select Bethell or go with Ollie Pope to bat at number three.

With two massive series vs India and Australia next summer/winter it will be important for England to get that number three spot sorted.

Ben Stokes injured again

England captain Ben Stokes picked up another hamstring injury whilst bowling in the New Zealand Test series.

Stokes tore his hamstring playing in The Hundred in the summer and seems to have picked up a similar injury.

Looking back, Stokes will potentially regret the amount of overs he bowled, however he has plenty of time to recover as England’s Test team don’t play now until a Test match with Zimbabwe in May.

Tim Southee one of New Zealand’s greatest

Tim Southee bows out from international cricket as New Zealand’s all-time leading wicket taker and with Trent Boult, New Zealand’s best ever bowler.

Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner all were part of New Zealand’s bowling attack for over a decade, with all three being incredibly consistent.

It wasn’t just Southee’s bowling either, he was more than capable with the bat, hitting over 98 sixes in his career.

Southee ended up taking two wickets in his final ever match and leaves Test cricket as one of New Zealand’s greatest.

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