England’s Summer preview

Mark Chapman is joined by three men who all played for England, former captain Sir Alastair Cook, former batter Mark Ramprakash and former fast bowler Steven Finn. Not many England coaches survive a thrashing by Australia. But Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes will continue to lead the side starting with that 1st Test against New Zealand on Thursday at Lord’s.

There’ll be at least one man making his debut at Lord’s on Thursday - Durham batter Emilio Gay is expected to open after a piling on the runs during the opening block of the County Championship. Ollie Robinson is also back in the squad for the first time since being dropped after the tour of India in 2024.

England’s Test summer begins where rain and grey skies are forecast. The panel get a look into the opposition and are joined by New Zealand fast bowler Matt Henry.

On Tuesday, it’s England women’s last match before the T20 World Cup which starts next week. They face India at Taunton with the series level at one all. All rounder Dani Gibson joins Test Match Special. TIME CODES

00:00 Intro 00:50 Brendon McCullum 03:50 McCullum given a second chance 08:30 Mark celebrating Arsenal’s Premier League title 09:30 How England should approach the New Zealand test 17:00 Emilio Gay 22:00 The challenges of making your England debut as an opener 26:10 Making debuts 28:12 The recall of Ollie Robinson 29:53 New Zealand bowler Matt Henry joins the pod 37:30 Are New Zealand underestimated? 40:30 England Women’s final game before the World Cup 40:50 Dani Gibson joins the pod 48:50 The 15-year-old MVP in the Indian Premier League