The Crisis: England in Chaos Oval collapse: England lost 2nd Test by 253 runs, bowled out for 209 chasing 463. Last 5 wickets fell in 8 overs to Matt Henry 6-29Off-field mess: Ben Stokes + Gus Atkinson stood down for 2nd Test after breaking midnight curfew celebrating Lord’s win. Six defeats in eight Tests. Interim captain Joe Root led three debutants at The Oval in a “cobbled-together team. ”Batting woes: Collapse of 7-94 vs NZ at Lord’s, all out 140. Duckett, Bethell, Root, Smith all went cheaply. Stakes: “If chaotic England don’t win at Trent Bridge, something will have to give”. But history of a more seismic variety feels within their grasp this week, as New Zealand head north from their exceptional series-leveller at The Oval on Sunday, and prepare to cross paths with an opposition in undisguised disarray. Back in 1999, New Zealand's 2-1 series win caused England to plummet to the bottom of Wisden's then-unofficial World Rankings, and yet it feels that an even worse fate awaits Ben Stokes and his chastened team if they cannot pull out of their tailspin over the coming five days. Trent Bridge and New Zealand are synonymous with the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum regime. It was here, in the heady summer of 2022, that Jonny Bairstow went loco in a fifth-day sixes blitz, to power England to an incredible 299-run chase in exactly 50 overs and ignite the so-called Bazball era. How apposite it would be, then, if Trent Bridge also became the venue where the ethos was finally buried. Level at 1-1 after “old-school” win at The Oval. Match-winner: Matt Henry 11-109, best figures by a Kiwi vs England. Batting depth: Glenn Phillips 101, Henry Nicholls 121, Ravindra 76, Mitchell 68 at The Oval. Captain’s call: Tom Latham wants team to “keep raising the bar” for a 2-1 series win. Rare chance: Opportunity to win a Test series in England. But Stokes also refused, at least twice, to confirm that he was back as captain for the long haul, and refused to deny that he had considered retirement when the crisis was at its height. It's not inconceivable that the long break until the Pakistan Test series in August will be cause for further soul-searching. Particularly if, in the course of the coming week, he is unable to be part of the team's solution to their ongoing woes. What a scenario for New Zealand to encounter, as they keep their counsel and simply get on with doing what New Zealand teams do best. They can operate in their opponents' chaotic slip-stream, while ducking every photon of the limelight and embracing their hard-earned reputation as dark horses for any contest that they enter. England: Stokes returns as captain at No.7. Four changes: Stokes, Atkinson, Jamie Smith, Shoaib Bashir in. XI: Duckett, Gay, Bethell, Root, Brook, Smith, Stokes, Atkinson, Archer, Tongue, Bashir. NZ: Likely Mitch Santner for Kyle Jamieson due to 38°C heat. Pitch: “Expectation is that the Trent Bridge pitch will play more like the Oval than Lord’s” – better for batting, longer game likely. Stiflingly hot conditions are forecast, especially for the first day of the match, with the Met Office issuing a rare Red Weather warning for up until 9pm on Thursday. It enhances the prospect of spin playing a significant part for the first time in the series - as a means to give the quicks a breather as much as the prospect of the surface drying out and cracking up. To that end, Bashir has taken 16 wickets at 18.25 in his two previous Tests at Trent Bridge, including consecutive second-innings five-fors.