New Zealand v England report cards: grading every player after Test series
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Praise for Brook and Carse, with Bethell and O’Rourke announcing a new rivalry as Southee bows out. By Gary Naylor for the 99.94 Cricket Blog. Ben Stokes: 158 runs at 52.7; seven wickets at 36.9; one catch. A first series win in New Zealand since Tim Southee’s debut season in 2008 came with a little luck and a lot of ruthless authority when it really mattered. Stokes backed his players to the hilt, the hallmark of his leadership, in the two Tests that brought home the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy and found comforting words after the Hamilton debacle. His partnerships with Harry Brook and the tail transformed a deficit of 126 with five down in Christchurch into a first-innings lead of 151, a momentum shift that went a long way to deciding the series. If his increasingly onerous spells with the ball were intended to prove (to himself as much as anyone) that his body could stand up to the demands of the fourth seamer role, he received a brutal answer in Hamilton. Grade B+.
![[Jacob Bethell of England bats during day two of the second cricket test between New Zealand and England]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2ec92c850f2743c3cec5066c6da38eb28b3a2e73/0_105_3600_2160/master/3600.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Zak Crawley: 52 runs at 8.7; four catches. That 42 of those 52 runs came in boundaries speaks of a batter high on his own supply – truth be told, he was fortunate to get as many as that. It’s the way he’s been asked to play, and it’s a recipe for feast or famine, but Matt Henry deserved more respect. Not that the Kiwi will care, with all six Crawley dismissals in his bag. Grade E.
![[Ollie Pope keeping wicket during day two of the third Test]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/bcae4ae86195f1d46319cc3e0dddce25c6bc8ece/326_324_2632_1580/master/2632.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Ben Duckett: 180 runs at 30.0; four catches. England’s inscrutable dasher has adopted Kipling’s advice to meet with triumph and disaster just the same, the attitude and demeanour unchanging ball after ball. Just the one important knock, 92 at Wellington, that proved crucial in setting up the series-clinching win. Grade B-.
![[England’s Gus Atkinson, bottom left, celebrates after taking a hat trick in the second Test]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2fae9d8c96d7cd8b1172d072e8fc2c722e656613/0_35_3635_2182/master/3635.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
