After competing well for five days at Lord’s, it was pretty disappointing to come out on the wrong side of the First Test against England.

Many are calling the Test one of the most entertaining ever seen at the Home of Cricket, and it certainly was a great showpiece for the game. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that we are gutted to have lost. 

 Firstly, we have to give England credit. Alistair Cook showed great determination to bat for all of day four and he combined really nicely with Joe Root and then Ben Stokes who scored the fastest Test hundred at Lord’s. It was a special performance and probably the defining period of the Test. We bowled nicely that morning, picked up the wicket of Ian Bell and could so easily had three or four more but we didn’t. That is cricket. Still we fought to the very end and I still believed when Corey and BJ were going along well, we had a good chance to save the Test.

It was a physically demanding match at Lord’s. Corey picking up an injury meant that we were one seam bowler down and as a result our strike bowlers had to pick up more of the load. That takes its toll. BJ was also unlucky to cop a blow on his knee on the first morning and then hurt his neck when he was batting. They are by no means excuses as we were outplayed by England over the five days.

I’d like to make pay tribute to our two lads who made their way onto the Honours Board at Lord’s. We have known for some time that Kane is a special talent and he confirmed that again last week. His 132 in testing conditions, as he combined in partnerships with Ross, Brendon and BJ, was world class as we dominated the second day of the Test. To see him finish it off on the morning of day three was one of the defining moments of the tour so far. It is moments like that you know you’ll remember for a long time. To have 10 Test match hundreds by the age of 24 is incredible and it is great to see him carry on his Test form and put his name alongside many legends who have managed that feat.

The other highlight was seeing Trent Boult become the sixth New Zealand bowler to add his name to the Away Honours Board. After finishing the ICC Cricket World Cup as the joint leading wicket taker, it was pleasing to see him claim the final four wickets on the final day to secure his fourth wicket bag in Tests.

I’d also like to pay tribute to some other special performances. Lost in the final four days was the impressive debut of Matt Henry. Henners is a 23-year-old who has lived a charmed life in recent time. He was called in for semi-final and final of the ICC Cricket World and then went onto make his Test debut at the Home of Cricket. His four wickets for 93 in the first innings were the best figures in history by a debutant at Lord’s which is some achievement.

Martin Guptill, in his first Test in two years, and Tom Latham combined beautifully for an opening stand of 148 in the First Innings. That set the tone for us and played us back into the Test match. With BJ’s injury, Tommy was also called up last minute to keep and did a fine job for us at Lord’s which has its challenges with the famous slope. He did a superb job.

All of those performances speak volumes about his character. Of course, this BLACKCAPS side is much more about Team First than it is about individual milestones. I’m sure all of the boys would have happily traded their achievements for a Test win, but we move on. The guys arrived in Leeds pretty sore after two long days in the field so the build up to the Second Test has been less about putting the time in and more about getting the guys ready to play again. The team is also ready to fight.

This BLACKCAPS Test side has gone undefeated in the past six Test series and that is a record we want to continue at Headingley. It’s been a short turnaround and the guys know that more of the same for longer periods will give us the result we want come Tuesday afternoon.

As always, a huge thanks to all the BLACKCAPS supporters and for your warm messages from home. They mean a huge amount to the team and we will look to make you proud to support this team over the next five days.