England v New Zealand Test Series Ratings

England.
Alastair Cook 8. Cook batted somewhere close to his best. He did score some runs against India last year and scored a ton in ages in the West Indies, but this was the series where he looked to his best with the bat in a long time. A hundred and 2 50s made with assurance, but the captaincy wasn't great, particularly in the 2nd test, some of the bowling plans at the NZ lower order were rather poor.
Adam Lyth 6. Scored his first test ton in the 2nd game after a quiet debut. He looks good to watch and has booked in for the initial tests of the Ashes series.
Garry Ballance 1. Just 36 runs from 4 innings, dropped a few catches and was involved in a match-turning run-out in the 2nd game.
Ian Bell 1. Absolutely awful from one of the senior players. Pathetic with the bat, pathetic on the field.
Joe Root 7. Continued his outstanding run in the first test, had an all too human failure in the 2nd. At times looked better than England's led spinner with the ball.
Ben Stokes 7. Produced an outstanding display with bat and ball at the HQ. Had an average game in the 2nd.
Jos Buttler 6. Produced a couple of measured knocks with the bat to show his increasing maturity with the bat. The keeping was steady, but needs improving.
Moeen Ali 3. Took 4 wickets in the first test, and made some runs as well, but was awful in the 2nd game with ball and bat, and even he took a few wickets, never offered the control that the captain needed from his led spinner.
Mark Wood 6. He bowled pretty well at Lord's and though was down on pace in the 2nd, chipped in with wickets. He can hold a bat as well.
Stuart Broad 7. Broad was as mercurial as ever, producing some good, pacy spells and mixing them up with some pretty poor ones. The pace was generally up though and that's a good sign. He has regained memories of slogging at least, and that came in handy in the first innings of the 2nd game in particular.
James Anderson 6. By his very high standards, Anderson had a quiet series. He wasn't bad at all, but not on top of his game either.
New Zealand
Martin Guptill 6. Couple of enterprising 50s, couple of ducks, some good catches. Guptill on test comeback, has earned to get a bit of a run though doubts about his technique haven't really gone anywhere.
Tom Latham 7. Couple of very handy knocks at the top of the order, continuing to bring a sense of solidity to one half of the opening combination. Stepped up pretty well with the gloves on short notice when BJ Watling got injured during the first test.
Kane Williamson 8. Scored a composed hundred in the first innings of the first test, and then looked good in the 2nd innings before he was undone by Stokes. After England tamed him with the bat in the 2nd game, he refused to go quietly, chipping out 3 crucial wickets in the England 2nd innings to leave his mark on the game. Took some good catches too.
RossTaylor 6. Taylor never looked on top of his game, but contributed in both games though he didn't manage a big score. Took the catches that came his way effortlessly.
Brendon McCullum 7. Batted with intent in both games, even managed to bring in some nuance to his batting when the situation demanded it in the 2nd game. Has molded the side according to his philosophy and has the side playing for him.
BJ Watling 9. He was outstanding with the bat in both games, fully justified his selection in the 2nd game as a specialist bat with a match defining innings. Didn't keep much, but looked solidt enough.
Luke Ronchi 8. Had a splendid test debut, made runs with a lot of enterprise in both innings, kept well too. If he doesn't play another test, he can still be proud of what he has achieved in test cricket.
Mark Craig 6. Had a pretty poor game with ball and bat in the first test, but showed up both in the 2nd. 99 runs, 5 wickets, and proved hard to get away.
Tim Southee 6. Had a horrible game in the first test, didn't start off well in the 2nd either, but led his sides's revival with the 2nd new ball and bowled like the senior bowler that he is. Had some entertainment with the bat in his final innings, but he is mostly wasting his considerable abilities in that department otherwise.
Matt Henry 6. Bowled well in both games of his debut series without taking too many wickets. Can hold a bat as well.
Trent Boult 9. Clearly the best bowler from both sides, bowled with a lot of skill to emerge as the joind highest wickettaker in the series.
Corey Anderson 5. A fighting knock in the 2nd innings of the first test, but he didn't look fit throughout and didn't bowl enough overs for an all-rounder, and then got injured for the next test.

Can't really argue with those ratings and assessments. I think you should be given a job at the BBC, where they would probably give Bell a 5 as that's the lowest rating they will ever go to no matter what!