Latham promised 'old-school' grit — then NZ batted all day without losing a wicket

Two days before the Trent Bridge decider, Tom Latham sat in a press conference and told the world exactly what New Zealand were going to do. Nobody believed him because it sounded too boring to be true.

"It was a little bit more old-school," the captain said, describing the Oval gameplan that produced a 253-run demolition of England. "Trying to do things for long periods of time and keep being a threat for long periods of time."

Then he added: "If it's required throughout this week to do something similar, then we'll obviously be looking to do that."

On Day 1 at Trent Bridge, Latham didn't just replicate the old-school approach. He and Devon Conway turned it into an all-day masterclass — 311 runs for zero wickets across 70-plus overs in 31°C heat, the kind of attritional batting that makes pace bowlers question their career choices and spin bowlers reconsider their field settings. New Zealand's highest opening stand in Tests in England. Both openers with centuries. And not a single English celebration all day.

This was supposed to be Ben Stokes' redemption day. After a fortnight of nightclub headlines, ECB disciplinary hearings, written warnings, and an awkward press conference where he told the world "it's not my first rodeo," the England captain walked out at Trent Bridge — his spiritual home ground — to lead the side in a series decider at 1-1.

Brendon McCullum had set the scene beautifully. "Anyone can lead when it's easy," the coach had said before the match. "The true account of a leader, or leadership group, is to be able to lead when times are difficult."

Times got difficult fast. By lunch, New Zealand were 108 without loss. By tea, 213 without loss, Latham already past his century. By the time the third session was underway, both Latham and Conway had centuries and England's bowlers were operating on muscle memory and prayers.

Stokes brought himself on in the 20th over with New Zealand 64/0. Conway greeted him by driving his second delivery for four. It set the tone. By tea, the captain's figures read 11 overs, 0 wickets, 51 runs. He was expensive, wicketless, and watching his opposite number time the ball into gaps he couldn't close.

The cruelest detail for England was the chance they let slip. When Conway was on 71, he was struck on the pad by Shoaib Bashir and given not out by the on-field umpire. Ball-tracking showed three reds — the ball was hitting middle stump. England didn't review.

At that point, New Zealand were around 180/0. Conway went on to score 153 not out. The non-review cost England what would have been their only wicket of the day and potentially changed the trajectory of a match they're already losing.

Earlier, Bashir had created Conway's only uncomfortable moment when a miscued drive off the spinner narrowly evaded Joe Root at short extra-cover. That was Conway on 18. He batted for another 197 balls without serious alarm.

Latham, meanwhile, was given a life in the first session when he edged Jofra Archer through the vacant third slip region. England didn't have a fielder there. The ball raced to the boundary. The captain went on to make 148 not out — the kind of innings that turns a press conference platitude about "old-school" cricket into a statement of intent.

The remarkable thing about New Zealand's Day 1 is what they achieved without. Matt Henry — the man who took 11/109 at The Oval, the first ten-wicket haul at that ground since Warne in 2005 — is out with a calf strain. Glenn Phillips, who adds batting depth and part-time spin, has a side injury. Kyle Jamieson was rested as a precaution.

Three significant players missing, and New Zealand didn't need any of them to bat. Because Latham and Conway ensured nobody else had to pad up. Mitch Santner, Blair Tickner, and Ben Sears — the three replacements — watched from the pavilion as the openers did what Latham had promised: something old-school, something sustained, something that makes the scoreboard move without ever looking like it's in a hurry.

For context: this same opening pair put on 323 against the West Indies at Mount Maunganui in December 2025 — a WTC record. At 311 not out and counting, they were knocking on the door of their own benchmark. The Latham-Conway partnership isn't a one-off. It's a system.

McCullum's pre-match words about leadership were aimed at defending Stokes. But on Day 1, they applied more accurately to Latham. The New Zealand captain — missing his best fast bowler, his utility player, and a key seam option — won the toss, chose to bat on a dry surface in oppressive heat, and then walked out and scored 148 not out in a series decider against a team that had home advantage, crowd support, and a point to prove.

Stokes had his own version of difficult times: the residue of scandal, the weight of expectation, the knowledge that every English cricket fan was watching to see whether the nightclub rodeo was really behind him. He handled it the way he always does — he tried to will his team forward through personal intensity. But intensity doesn't conjure wickets on a flat track in 31°C heat against two left-handers who've decided that occupation is more important than acceleration.

Latham and Conway didn't play glamour shots. They didn't launch counter-attacks. They batted. For overs. For sessions. For an entire day. They made McCullum's quote look prophetic and Stokes' return look premature — not because Stokes did anything wrong on the field, but because old-school Test cricket has a way of making noise and narrative feel irrelevant.

New Zealand came to Trent Bridge promising grit. They delivered a wicketless day. The series decider is now theirs to lose.