England, New Zealand begin Test series with bigger priorities ahead

England are without several leading players for the first Test at Lord’s

Staying in the present might be easier said than done for England and New Zealand in their two-match test series starting Wednesday. For the New Zealanders, priority No. 1 this international summer is the inaugural World Test Championship final, which sees them taking on India in the southern English city of Southampton from June 18-22 — four days after the England series concludes. Indeed, that final is the reason they are over in the U.K., with the test series against England having been added on relatively late for financial reasons amid the pandemic as much as anything else.