In limited-over cricket England team has been through a lot this year. England has faced one of the worst World Cup journeys with just three wins in nine games. If we don’t talk about their limited overperformance they’ve done quite well in red-ball cricket this year. The year is in its last month so before going into 2024 let’s see how different teams have performed in different formats. Today we’ll about England in the test. England has toured only one country for a test this year which was New Zealand and two other teams Australia and Ireland have visited England. With all these teams England has played 8 games which 4 four were won by England and they lost three games. One game against Australia ended in a draw. In a test under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and coach Brendon Maccullum England is doing great and hopes that England can reach into the finals of 2025 WTC. there are so many stories that took place this year for England in the longer format so let’s take a look at the recap 2023 for England in the test.
England tour of New Zealand
Advertisement
In this tour, two test matches were about to play and England started well in the first game. England was invited to bat by New Zealand and the England team batted with their strategy which they call ‘Bazeball’. England’s team declared the inning before 60 overs on the first day at a score of 325-9. English bowlers summed up New Zealand’s first inning in just 306 runs and then scored again 374 runs. New Zealand had to chase 394 runs in the second inning but English bowlers overpowered them and stopped at just 126 runs. England has taken a 1-0 lead in two matches series by beating New Zealand with 267 runs.
In the second test, England made a monstrous score of 435 in the first inning and stopped New Zealand with just 209 runs. This game was a total roller coaster for both teams. England’s team was looking so strong that everyone predicted their win after they gave a follow-up to the Kiwis but after that New Zealand realized that they were at home and then they turned the table and scored 484 runs in the follow-on. While chasing 258 England left one run short to the score and lost the game by one run. The series ended up to draw, and England’s Harry Brook with 329 runs became man of the series. Neil Wagner with 11 wickets was the highest wicket-taker.
England vs Ireland
In June Ireland toured England to play a test in Lords. In that test match Ireland after losing the toss to Ben Stokes came for batting and didn’t stay for too long. Ireland only managed to score 176 runs and after that England’s team went for a big score. England has scored 524 runs with the help of Ollie Pope’s double century and Ben Duckett’s 182 runs. Ireland in reply crossed the lead of 348 and set the target of just 11 runs for the English team and England won the game by 10 wickets. Ollie Pope with his double century became the player of the match and Stuart Broad with 6 wickets was the highest wicket-taker of the game.
The Ashes
After winning an easy game against the neighbors England was about to face their arc rivals Australia in the same month for one of the most popular series which is called ‘The Ashes’.
The first test
In the first test of the Ashes England team came to bat after winning the toss and scored enough 393 runs in the first inning. Joe Root has scored a brilliant century Nathan Lyon has taken four wickets in the surface of Birmingham. In the second inning, the Australians left 7 runs short of the score made by the home team. Usman Khwaja has scored a brilliant 141 runs and helped Australia handle Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson. In the third inning England’s strategy of ‘Bazeball’ didn’t go well and they managed to score just 273 runs. In reply, Australia has chased the score in the last thrilling day. Pat Cummins played so brilliantly at the end and won it for Australia.
The second test
The second test which took place in the home of the Cricket ‘The Lord’s’. In the second test, Australia again proved their dominance in the format and beat the English team at home by 43 runs. Kangaroos scored 416 runs in the first inning with the help of Steven Smith’s century and England was just able to score 325 runs in the first inning and Australia has taken the lead of 91 runs. In the third inning, Australia scored 279 runs and asked England to chase the target of 371 runs. England fell short before 43 runs in the fourth inning but Stokes’s captain’s knock of 155 runs was a delight to watch.
The third test
After losing the first two games in the series England met Australia in the ground of Leeds. Australia scored 263 runs in the first inning in which Mitchell Marsh scored a brilliant century and Mark Wood picked five wickets. England team in reply scored 237 runs and went on the backfoot again. Australian captain Pat Cummins surpassed Wood and took 6 wickets in the second inning. Australia struggled in the third inning and only managed to score 224 runs in the third inning. While chasing 251 runs England this time managed to reach the target with the loss of 7 wickets. Mitchell Stac became the third bowler in the game to take a five-wicket haul.
The fourth test
In the second last game of ‘The Ashes’ in Manchester Australia scored 317 runs in the first inning and England scored a gigantic 592 runs in just 107 overs. Zack Crawly with 189 runs and Johny Bairstow with unbeaten 99 runs have totally destroyed the Australian Bowling lineup. Except for Josh Hazelwood (5-126), everyone seemed helpless. In the third inning when Australia was batting 214-5 rain entered in the game and ended up in a draw.
The fifth test
After the rain interrupted the fourth test, the last test became a must-win for the home team to escape from the loss. In the first inning, England scored 283 runs and Australia managed to add 12 more runs to their total. In the second inning, England scored 395 runs in desperation and set a decent target of 384 runs in front of kangaroos. In reply England Bowlers successfully defended the target and stopped Australia at 334 runs. England has managed to level the series after losing the first two games. Usman Khwaja with 496 runs and Mitchel Starc with 23 wickets were the top performers in the series.
It was the last test match England played this year in July and the next test match that England is going to play will be next year.
Stats
Top run scorer
- Joe Root – 787 runs
- Harry Brook – 701 runs
- Ben Duckett – 654 runs
Top wicket-taker
- Stuart Broad – 38 wickets
- Chris Woakes – 19 wickets
- Ollie Robbinson – 16 wickets
Top Stories
- English bowler Stuart Broad has played his last international game this year against Australia on July 27. He has 847 International wickets.
- England managed to draw ‘the Ashes’ series 2-2 after losing the first two games.
