New Zealand Cricket announces dates of upcoming three-match Test series against England

New Zealand Cricket has announced the venues for the upcoming three-match Test series against England. Besides England, Australia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are also expected to visit New Zealand later this year.

However, the dates for the upcoming visits of other teams are yet to be announced, while the dates of the New Zealand-England Test series have been announced by the hosts’ cricket board.

Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton have been decided as the venues for the three Tests against the Three Lions. The first Test will be played at the Hagley Oval on November 28, while the second Test will be hosted at Basin Reserve on December 6. The third and the last Test of the series will start on December 14.

We're looking forward to welcoming the England team and their fans - NZC Chief Executive Scott Weenink 

The series will be a part of the ongoing cycle of the World Test Championship 2023-25. The last time was in February 2023 when England toured New Zealand; however, that series was not a part of the WTC cycle; the Blackcaps won the second Test by a narrow margin of 1 run to equal the series.

Notably, England is being coached by the former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum, who will be ‘heading’ England against his country’s team.

“In the past, there's often been a lot of talk in New Zealand about the popularity of Test cricket - without that translating into ticket sales or viewership numbers. The difference over the past summer, and in terms of the upcoming Tests against England, is that the interest is being converted to bums on seats and is driving record viewership numbers,” said NZC's Chief Executive Scott Weenink, in an official statement.

“We're looking forward to that continuing over the upcoming summer, and to welcoming the England team and their fans to the Tests, and of course all the Kiwi-based supporters as well,” he added later.