England v New Zealand 3rd Test Review: All-round Black Caps make history as Ben Stokes bows out

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Jamie and Stu look back at the third and final test between England and the Black Caps, this time at Trent Bridge. We talk about New Zealand's impressive victory and their collective effort throughout the series, plus Ben Stokes’ decision to retire from international cricket.

We start the show with plenty of positivity from the New Zealand side of the ledger after another impressive team performance. There was a huge partnership between Devon Conway and Tom Latham, runs for Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell scored one of the grittiest centuries you could hope to see. Throw in the performance of Tom Blundell behind the stumps and the effort and execution from a depleted bowling attack and it means there’s a lot to celebrate after a rare series win in England.

For England, it’s been a tumultuous few weeks. Right when the ship seemed to be steering in the right direction after the win at Lord’s, the crew went off course and they’ve been outplayed since that moment. And then Ben Stokes retired! We talk tactics, the emotion of it all and how the game ebbed and flowed, especially on the first few days.

It’s an episode that could have gone for days given the eventful nature of the game and the series. Fortunately, we'll be back again at the weekend (or Monday NZ time), when we’ll likely have more thoughts about this entertaining series, England will already be playing a white-ball series against India, and the Women's World Cup will be nearing its conclusion. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations with Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

1:30 Black Caps win!

11:20 A full reset needed for England?

17:45 New Zealand standout performers: Everyone

25:05 A game in the balance at the halfway stage

29:25 Ravindra and Mitchell partnership

33:45 Day 4: Ben Stokes retires!

46:20 Final thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices