Community post
Fantasy Test Cricket England vs New Zealand - New Contest on Sportsblock
Whether you're a cricket lover or not, what's really fun with these Sportsblock contests is that they provide a proof of concept for future development in any sport!
The latest Sportsblock contest is Fantasy Test Cricket.
Easy to play
500 MEDALS to be won!
How to play
You can join the contest here.
Entries close 4 June 11am BST (10am UTC)
Team Selection Rules
Each user must select a team of 11 players from across both teams, following this exact structure:
5 Batsmen
1 Wicketkeeper
1 All-Rounder
4 Bowlers
There's no limit on how many players you select from either the England or New Zealand teams but choose wisely - balance is the key!
The players to choose from across both teams and their type is shown across 2 tabs
Scoring System
Players in your XI will earn points based on their real-life performance in the First Test of the series between England and New Zealand that starts on 4 June
Batting Points
1 point per run scored
+1 point per four hit
+5 points per six hit
Bowling Points
20 points per wicket taken
5 points per maiden over bowled
20 bonus points if economy rate is under 4 runs per over (min 5 overs bowled)
40 bonus points if economy rate is under 3 runs per over (min 5 overs bowled)
Fielding Points
10 points per catch taken
Who to pick in your XI?
Like any fantasy game, first and foremost it's a case of picking 11 players who will actually take part - you've gotta be on the pitch to score points!
England
England have all but named their top 7 for this match with James Rew being the man to miss out.
Emilio Gay will debut at the top of the order after his excellent returns for Durham in recent months. He'll partner Ben Duckett who opted to miss the IPL and focus on red ball cricket this Spring culminating in a double hundred for Notts last month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp1g8G-kpbg
At 3, Jacob Bethell did choose to go to the IPL. He then didn't play in RCB's opening 6 games, came into the side, made modest returns at the top of the order and then injured his finger. He is expected to be fit but as always seems the case with him, has so little cricket behind him coming into the series.
Root, Brook and Stokes were nailed on for the middle order while Jamie Smith has found form for Surrey in the County Championship often batting up the order.
Their bowling attack is likely to be lead by Josh Tongue and Ollie Robinson.
Tongue was the standout performer for England's attack in an otherwise disappointing winter Ashes tour. The 28-year-old has taken 49 wickets in 9 Tests, a very decent return considering that 7 of those Tests have come against Australia and India.
Robinson meanwhile is being given his 2nd coming. His 20 Tests to date have delivered 76 wickets and at his peak the Sussex seamer was ranked as the 4th best Test bowler in the world. Then came injuries (Robinson suffered back spasms in his last 2 Tests for England) plus the England management's obsession with picking bowlers of raw pace.
After 2 years in the wilderness Robinson is back and with a point to prove. Don't underestimate his batting either, he hit a century against Surrey last month and has scored 313 runs in 9 innings this season at an average of over 60!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJTM0v_fGgo
Who takes the other 2 spots is less clear!
Gus Atkinson's recovery from injury was hampered when he was hit in the head by Josh Tongue. It means that Atkinson has bowled just 63 overs in 2026, taking 3 wickets in the process.
England could look to his Surrey teammate Matt Fisher who is still hoping to add to his solitary Test cap won back in 2022.
Alternatively they could give a Test debut to Sonny Baker whose raw pace and skiddy action would compliment their other seam options.
Lords, where the first Test takes place, has never been a spinners pitch but England have 2 in their squad. It would be a risk to go into the game with 5 right arm seamers and nothing else.
At the same time, whether they feel they will get enough bowling from Shoaib Bashir, a man deemed 'unselectable' during the winter remains to be seen.
The alternative would be Rehan Ahmed who of course can bat. The wrist spinner has 5 caps for England, none of which have come in Tests played on home soil!
New Zealand
New Zealand's form and likely XI can be determined by looking at their squad from the 1 off Test against Ireland last week which they won with ease.
At the same time, the Black Caps have played so little Test cricket compared to England in the last 18 months that there are still a few question marks, particularly over their bowling attack.
During that period, they have played just 6 Tests, 3 against the West Indies, 2 against Zimbabwe and the 1 they just played against Ireland - hardly challenging opposition!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUb5XCINrj4
Again, you've got a top 5 that looks pretty set in stone with Latham and Conway to open, Williamson at 3, Ravindra at 4 and Mitchell at 5.
Against Ireland, they opted to bat Blundell at 6 and he scored 186. Their only other option would be to bring in either Henry Nichols as an extra batter or Glenn Phillips as a batting all-rounder. Both would strengthen the batting but certainly weaken their bowling options.
Dean Foxcroft debuted in that game against Ireland and hit 98 from the number 7 spot. Given the conditions and the speed at which the game was completed, he only bowled a solitary over of his off-spin.
Foxcroft's selection in the side was as a result of the injury sustained to Mitch Santner in the IPL but the Kiwi white-ball captain has since been declared fit to play in the first Test and could come straight back into the side - he's not available for selection in the fantasy game!
Matt Henry will lead a strong looking New Zealand seam attack which welcomes back Kyle Jamieson and Will O'Rourke after injuries. Neither played against Ireland which might suggest they are being saved for the opening test, although I imagine that both sides will look to rotate their seam options during the 2nd and 3rd tests of the series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z00ul-dlJA
If it was the case that the rest of the seamers were having a 'bowl-off' against Ireland for the 4th spot in the attack then Nathan Smith won it by taking 8 wickets in the match. The fact that Smith can also hold a bat would make him a strong candidate to fill the number 8 spot in this side.
Calling all the usual suspects. Free entry for 500 MEDALS closes Thursday at 10am (UAT)
@reiseamateur @uwelang @fullcoverbetting @bozz.sports @gwajnberg @chris-uk @dirtyleeds @dewabrata @danideuder @tsnaks @sportsgeek @twicejoy-sports @agcoeficiente10 @bitandi @zusi78 @imfarhad @mondoshawan @onemanonewrite @blockchainfpl @valentin86 @r1c4rd0 @rajpootg @wildlifelover @ogeewitty @workingdad @doombot75 @caspermoeller89 @jmehta @tengolotodo @lazzvi @kilvnrex @blanchy @niallon11
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Join here - https://sportsblock.app/contests/fantasy-test-cricket/eng-vs-nz-test-1-2026
Replies (16)
Let's go
Thank you very much for the tag
Great idea . Fingers crossed that it all works. Because I’m a few thousand miles away from my laptop 👀👀
!medals
Curated by @fullcoverbetting — 100 MEDALS awarded via SportsBlock
It looks an exciting contest
!BBH
I'm in!
https://c.tenor.com/R74sMGxfIK4AAAAC/tenor.gif
It has been years since I was into cricket. Reading this I can't believe how little test cricket NZ have played! They used to be pretty good, but I reckon they will get a trashing here.
Let's go indeed!
No problem
Let's talk fantasy football when you get back...
Let's hope so. Weather might ruin it!
I think you're better off using the gify link at the bottom of the comment box or old school downloading and upload as a picture
It's money! Test cricket is only really profitable for the likes of England, Australia and India and particularly profitable when they play each other!
Equally the cricket boards of those countries can afford to pay their players the big bucks to keep them interested in longer format cricket, no one else can. Most high calibre players will still claim that Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport but again, money talks so if you can make more money playing in franchise T20 leagues around the world than you can representing your country at Test cricket then that's what you'll do with your relatively short career.
New Zealand are still a very good side! They beat India in India 3-0 they also won in South Africa. They've just not had the chance to build on that.
A similar thing is occuring with South Africa who won the Test Championship in June last year. Their last Test match was November 2025 their next Test isn't until October 2026. It's the equivalent of PSG winning the Champions League then spending the next season playing 5-a-side football
I grew up with Richard Hadlee and the Crowe brothers then of course you had Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori in there too.
Do they still have Kane Williamson, I might see if I can catch some this year.
Money has ruined so many sports. I remember when the West indies ruled the roost at cricket, those were the days
Yeah Kane Williamson is still there and despite everything, New Zealand continue to produce great, albeit usually underrated, cricketers. Their series with England tend to be pretty good too so definitely worth a watch. Unfortunately the forecast for this week isn't the best! Fingers crossed for better weather later in the month as I have tickets for days 3 & 4 of the 2nd Test at the Oval.
My childhood dream was to be a fast bowler for the West Indies. My mum shattered it by telling me I'm not tall enough and not black enough.
My GIF looks ok on hive.blog - I can't see the one you uploaded though... I assume the rest of Hive are on peakd so I'm probably seeing something different!
I do like a GIF. I'd normally just "windows + ." it and click whatever suits but the options were rubbish for "I know nothing" so Google saved the day :)