Ben Stokes starts his Test captaincy at the home of cricket against the country of his birth, New Zealand
There promises to be a great deal of pomp and pageantry at Lord’s this week, if the preparations are anything to go by. With the Queen’s Jubilee apparently upon us, the union flags have been draped around the ground and the sound checks a day before the toss – deafening renditions of the national anthem over the public address system – point to an incoming avalanche of red, white and blue.
But for those well-heeled enough to afford a ticket or subscribe to Sky Sports all this will be secondary when players take the field at 11am. England versus New Zealand, the reigning world champions, over five days at the Home of Cricket? Few adornments should be required to make this a special fixture, even if MCC were busy decorating the place while trying to ride out the grumbles about pricing.
