England are currently playing their first Test match of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era. The Three Lions face Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in a three-match series. The first of the games is being played at the Lord’s Stadium, London. 

Batting first, the Kiwis were bowled out for 132. In response, Stokes and company were 60/1 after 15 overs. 

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McCullum, known for captaining aggressively during his playing days, was made England’s Test coach after they lost 4-0 in the Ashes and then 1-0 against West Indies. The Kiwi had said that he wants to ‘get rid of England’s fear of losing’. 

Coaching the team in the first Test, Baz recalled the likes of James Anderson, who picked four wickets, and Stuart Broad. He handed a debut to Matthew Potts, England’s best bowler in the first innings vs New Zealand. The 40-year-old had spoken about getting white-ball experts like Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Jonny Bairstow back to playing Test cricket. Bairstow was included in the playing 11 on Thursday. 

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Moeel Ali, who announced his retirement from Test cricket last summer, reealed that during the IPL, he and McCullum discussed  the prospect of the all-rounder’s comeback into the red-ball format. While the all-rounder played for the Chennai Super Kings, the former New Zealand skipper coached Kolkata Knight Riders. 

“Baz [McCullum] messaged me asking if I was ‘in’,” he said. “I have played with him in the Indian Premier League and really enjoyed the way he works. We spoke and he mentioned potentially, in the future, if there is a tour – or whenever, really – would I be available? I said ‘call me at the time’. We’ll see,” Moeen said while speaking to The Guardian and PA Media. 

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Ali announced his retirement from Test cricket after being snubbed from the squad for months and with injury issues mounting. He walked away with 195 wickets and 2914 runs from 64 Tests. Reports suggested that Moeen Ali  did not enjoy playing under Joe Root but the all-rounder rubbished the speculation. 

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“The door is open. But I don’t want to disrespect [current England spinner] Jack Leach. It’s a difficult job – especially in England – and I know that I back him, I’m right behind him. I don’t want to put any pressure there, he’s a fantastic bowler. I saw the suggestion of me not enjoying Joe Root’s captaincy but I did, he was always good to me. He’s a friend of mine and a great guy. When I retired, I was finding it hard to get going. I had a few niggles, I was tired, I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I should,” Ali added.