Ok, that’s it, I thought we were going to have some quotes but Sky have flicked over to Derby and the Blast where Nick Knight and Dominic Cork are waiting. A fascinating day at Lord’s, leaving the Kiwis in the stronger position. England’s big hope is tomorrow’s new ball. We’ll be back on Saturday morning - have a good evening!
Tom Blundell: “I think I’m going to sleep well tonight, those milestones will keep care of themselves, me and Daryl have got a job to do. There is still enough in the wicket, I think it is a new ball wicket, when the new ball comes we’ll still have to dig in and be there till lunch.”
An excellent day for New Zealand, as England couldn’t last this morning, and milked just a lead of nine from their earlier dancing position of 59-0. England quickly knocked out the New Zealand top four for 56 ( a couple for Potts, one each for Broad and Anderson) but then got stuck as Mitchell (fresh from the IPL) and Blundell (with wristy aplomb) held their nerve and pushed on. Parky made his long awaited debut - a handful of nervy full-tosses apart I thought he was decent. These were Mark Taylor’s thoughts: “I thoughts his control was quite good, he’s a slow leg-spinner, not a lot of turn. If he can find a little bit of extra zip from his action and maybe a lower arm, he’ll be a better bowler.”
Stumps: New Zealand 236-4 lead England by 227
79th over: New Zealand 236-4 (Mitchell 97, Blundell 90) Potts gets the last over of the day. He’s still full of energy, fields off his own bowling and feigns to throw the ball at the stumps. Before the last ball Pope pulls on the helmet and takes up his place at short leg, but Mitchelll off-drives with a flourish for four. Superbly done by Mitchell and Blundell, who came together with the score 47-4 and the lead a handful of beans, and won the last two sessions for New Zealand.
78th over: New Zealand 232-4 (Mitchell 93, Blundell 90) Blundell shows Parkinson the immaculateness of his forward defensive before shovelling a wide ball up the hill for four.
77th over: New Zealand 227-4 (Mitchell 92, Blundell 86) Just one off Potts as the day drifts towards a close, picnics retrieved and coats pulled on in the stands.
And here are those quotes from ICC chair Greg Barclay - a thumbs down for women’s Test cricket, despite the excitement of last year, and breathing space for Afghanistan.
76th over: New Zealand 226-4 (Mitchell 91, Blundell 86) Parky hitches up his grass-stained trousers and weebles in. New Zealand bat him easily away for three runs.
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75th over: New Zealand 223-4 (Mitchell 88, Blundell 86) Potts bustles, but New Zealand are content to just bat him away now. Five overs till the close.
74th over: New Zealand 221-4 (Mitchell 88, Blundell 84) Who is going to win this race to a hundred? Blundell leans onto the back foot and pushes Parky for a single. On the radio, Jeremy Coney is casting his eye over Parkinson - he is generally positive but perhaps, he muses, Parky’s arm is a bit low on the release point? I guess this is the debutant’s lot - to be examined in detail for our pleasure.
73rd over: New Zealand 220-4 (Mitchell 88, Blundell 83) A lovely little push down the ground from Mitchell off Potts brings a couple, and Potts gets away with a low full toss last ball.
72nd over: New Zealand 218-4 (Mitchell 86, Blundell 83) Parky again from the Nursery end - this might, Alastair Cook says, help his spin but stop his drift. His first ball is brushed behind for a couple, but after that it is dot balls all the way. The sun is slowly dropping but the crowd are still, mostly, in Tshirts.
71st over: New Zealand 216-4 (Mitchell 86, Blundell 81) Potts for Parky (10-0-32-0), with half an hour left. And that’s a maiden. This match, which I’d thought would be over by lunchtime tomorrow, now may stretch into day four.
70th over: New Zealand 216-4 (Mitchell 86, Blundell 81) Time for Rooty. A hearty lbw appeal, pitching outside leg, and Root shakes his head at Stokes who offered a review, as a polite current captain to his predecessor.
69th over: New Zealand 214-4 (Mitchell 83, Blundell 80) Parky throws in a couple of slow-turning googlies. And an email slides in from Colum Farrelly.
“To attract the fans, we have to build on that style of cricket and have a style that people want to watch,” said one S Broad the other day.
“That would the S Broad famous for delaying play when he wants to by complaining about the ball as in over 64, tying his shoelaces repeatedly and so on, would it?
“By the way, as Mitchell progresses towards his ton, I’m getting worried about Robert Wilson’s most sensitive parts.”
68th over: New Zealand 211-4 (Mitchell 83, Blundell 79) Mitchell clips three off Broad, and this now has an element of waiting for the new ball - which is available in 12 overs.
67th over: New Zealand 207-4 (Mitchell 80, Blundell 78) The 150 partnership comes up as Blundell picks up a single off Parky with a trademark whip, the lead now a merry 198.
“So” asks Peter Gartner, “how come the pitch is suddenly playable?” I think it was always the excellence of the bowlers/out of nickness of the batters, rather than the Lord’s pitch. And these two have played beautifully.
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66th over: New Zealand 205-4 (Mitchell 79, Blundell 77) A couple off Broad.
‘Is it roundabout this point in the proceedings that we recall that new broom Ben Stokes was in fact vice captain and/or informal consigliere for numerous occasions of ‘clueless’ Root captaincy in the face of obdurate opposition? Just asking.” Oh Brian, too soon.
65th over: New Zealand 203-4 (Mitchell 77, Blundell 77) Parkinson lets loose a wide full toss, but straight to Stokes. Then Blundell shimmies down the pitch to gorgeously on-drive up the slope for four. “It is,” points out Alastair Cook on comms, “only day two at Lord’s.” There isn’t any spin about.
64th over: New Zealand 199-4 (Mitchell 77, Blundell 73) Broad asks the umpires for a new ball, the umpire threads the ball through the hoop repeatedly with an air of exasperation.
63rs over: New Zealand 198-4 (Mitchell 77, Blundell 72) Just a couple off Parky’s first over back, stepping in from the pavilion end. As they observe on the radio, none of his huge legbreaks yet.
62nd over: New Zealand 196-4 (Mitchell 77, Blundell 72) Parky is warming up down by the boundary as Broad runs in with the first over after drinks. Blundell drives Broad with a flourish to the Tavern stand boundary , and then again, gorgeously, stepping towards a wide one and cutting, holding the pose for all eternity.
61st over: New Zealand 188-4 (Mitchell 75, Blundell 64) Stokes continues, mostly, with the - dare I say largely ineffective - short stuff. His second ball is a wide, Blundell pulls his last for a single - and that’s DRINKS.
Ben Stokes showing how good Neil Wagner is @tjaldred
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 3, 2022
60th over: New Zealand 186-4 (Mitchell 75, Blundell 63) Anderson, whose hair is boot-polish black, is starting to look a little peeved. First Mitchell edges him past the slips for four. Then Mitchell whips him off his toes with just enough pace to keep Broad interested all the way to the rope. Finally Mitchell pings him straight.
“If the ball is dead and a good few overs before a new one is due Tanya, it might be time for the golden arm of ROOOOOOOOT!.” Good point Dean Kinsella, how will the new captain use the old captain?
59th over: New Zealand 174-4 (Mitchell 63, Blundell 63) Stokes it is, running towards the media centre with the two new stands stretching out like kidney bowls high on either side. Stokes still in enforcer role , though he’s switched to around the wicket. Foakes is very active behind the stumps, diving this way and that.
58th over: New Zealand 170-4 (Mitchell 60, Blundell 62) Just a single from Jimmy’s over, a superb bit of fielding by an animated Stokes.
57th over: New Zealand 169-4 (Mitchell 60, Blundell 61) Exhausting short stuff from Stokes, and Mitchell picks up a couple of fours, one pulled through long-on the other a wristy dream which beats a couple of fielders to the rope.
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56th over: New Zealand 159-4 (Mitchell 51, Blundell 60) It’s Jimmy bowling into the bright sunlight. And that’s another Jimmy maiden.A young 12th man is sent running onto the pitch with a message for the bowlers.
“My mother slept in Matt Monroe’s bed for a few months,” Romeo drops casually into conversation.
That’s a story to provoke the OBO.
55th over: New Zealand 159-4 (Mitchell 51, Blundell 60) Stokes, as if inspired by Andrew Benton’s email (below) brings himself on. Time for some chin music .Blundell seems largely unbothered, wristily escaping the strike. But what is this? Mitchell first hits Ollie Pope under the helmet, then whips him high and only just over Broad at mid-on
“It feels as though we’re at the point of the game where some inspired captaincy from Stokes is needed to bring about a rapid NZ downfall, but more of the same will let NZ string out a lead that England will never match (aka a Joe Root captaincy). Let’s hope Stokes is a strategist with a vivid imagination and an ability to inspire where all looked lost.”
54th over: New Zealand 156-4 (Mitchell 50, Blundell 58) Mitchell’s dad used to coach the AllBlacks? This is news to me and immediately makes me ponder their breakfast table chat. It’s a maiden from Anderson.
“Good afternoon Tanya,” hello Kim Thonger.
“I should like to point out that Tim yesterday accused me of gallows humour when I suggested, about the time that NZ were six down for not many, that they would still set a three figure target for England, and we would very likely fail to reach it. Is Tim laughing now I wonder, bless his cotton socks?
“My mood is darkened by being in what is laughingly called a VIP lounge at Pisa Airport. It has no TV on which to stream the Test match, no egg and cress sandwiches, and no ice in the fridge. I can only conclude that all we VIPs in here are actually VUPs (Very Unimportant People”
53rd over: New Zealand 156-4 (Mitchell 50, Blundell 58) And the hundred partnership flicks over, as Blundell lifts his leg and drills Broad for four square. That will do nicely. Over the boundary, the cameras show a wicker picnic basket and a half drunk bottle of wine.
52nd over: New Zealand 150-4 (Mitchell 50, Blundell 52) An amusing scene as Stokes seems to direct Anderson’s field. I can’t quite read the expression on Anderson’s face. Anyway, Jimmy is on the money and it is a maiden.
An email from Bernard Owen, “With the Matt love in going on , I’m now watching on laptop in garden , whilst a Matt Monroe album plays in the background.”
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Fifty for Daryl Mitchell
51st over: New Zealand 150-4 (Mitchell 50, Blundell 52) And with a push through the on-side off Broad, Mitchell too reaches his fifty, to happy Blackcap applause.
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Fifty for Tom Blundell
50th over: New Zealand 149-4 (Mitchell 49, Blundell 52)And a gorgeous shot from Blundell - almost reckless through point, to reach the first fifty of the match, and his fifth in Test cricket. It looks cold on the New Zealand balcony, but Williamson and co applaud enthusiastically.
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Key event
49th over: New Zealand 145-4 (Mitchell 49, Blundell 48) Mitchell picks a couple off Broad’s first ball to reach the highest score of the match, before nearly running himself out trying to reach fifty. An excellent throw from Lees but Michell just gets back in time.
48th over: New Zealand 143-4 (Mitchell 47, Blundell 48) Potts nearly has Blundell with his last ball, as Blundell stretches carelessly away from his body.
Some legspinner speed data thanks to TMS: 36 wrist spinners have played Test cricket in the last (five?) years, Parkinson’s average speed of 46mph is the lowest, the fastest being Rashid Khan with an average of 56mph.
Some excellent reading from Simon:
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47th over: New Zealand 140-4 (Mitchell 45, Blundell 48) An excellent over from Broad, in all his long-leggedness. At mid-off, Stokes, in a brilliant white short-sleeved pullover, bites his nails.
“Life is so unutterably depressing. Wars, gun violence, global festivals of gleeful misogyny. I wasn’t sure that even cricket would offer any comfort. And then I see Mitchell getting some for the Kiwis. I could weep real tears. A bloke who looks like he got on the team bus by mistake, a man who makes me feel athletic. I bet he was a baby at whom the Spartans would have looked askance. And here he is stroking it about like it’s nothing on a seamer’s wet dream. This is why cricket is better than anything else. If he gets a fifty, I’ll love him undyingly. If he gets a ton, I’ll have his gob tattooed on the most painful place I can find.”
Just don’t send in a photo Robert Wilson.
46th over: New Zealand 140-4 (Mitchell 45, Blundell 48) Potts sprints in, a well-built chap. People will weep about his engine. He had Blundell playing and missing. England try their luck with the ball, the umpires says no.
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45th over: New Zealand 139-4 (Mitchell 45, Blundell 48) Parky is replaced by Broad, resplendent in his white Karate Kid headband. Just a couple from it.
44th over: New Zealand 137-4 (Mitchell 44, Blundell 47) Here we go again, with Potts continuing where he left off. Blundell charges at a full wide one, down on one knee, and edges it through third slip for four. He attacks the next as well, with more wristiness, a pull through square leg which also zips over the rope.
“Yes, good to see two Matthews bowling for England,” says Matthew Lawrenson. “Matthew was a very popular name to give to baby boys between 1970 and 1980, but I thought we were dying out. Guess the name came back into fashion around 1998 or so.”
An email arrives titled: “Matthews in tandem.” “Did,” writes Nick Way, “Hoggard and Maynard ever bowl together.”
Cricinfo says Maynard never had a bowl internationally, and I don’t think Fleming and Hoggard would have overlapped. Have I missed anyone.
I come back with a cup of tea, and a digestive (what is that salty digestive after taste?) at the fag end of KP saying Matt Parkinson bowls too slowly. It’s always been the criticism thrown at him. I actually think KP is fair here. “He’s earned the right to bowl in Test cricket, let’s see if he can adapt to conditions.”
TEA - New Zealand 128-4, a lead of 119
43rd over: New Zealand 128-4 (Mitchell 43, Blundell 39) Parky wipes his palms on his trousers; Blundell looks to attack. The last ball before tea is short and wide and drilled through extra cover and to the rope. New Zealand stroll off, with almost a jaunt. The lead is 119 and, here, it is time for a cup of tea.
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42nd over: New Zealand 122-4 (Mitchell 43, Blundell 33) I’m not sure about this new England shirt - the collar width seems designed to trick the viewer into thinking the player is wearing a jumper. Anyway, another good over from Potts, with an edge squeezing low off Blundell’s bat.
“Afternoon Tanya,” hello Brian Withington.
“I can shed no light on the great Popping vs Batting line debate prompted by KP aficionado Romeo, but I want to know why it’s called a ‘Crease’? Apposite description of my old Subbuteo Cricket pitch, but surely not appropriate for a modern surface?”
41st over: New Zealand 121-4 (Mitchell 43, Blundell 32) Parky again. Blundell charges into a slow loopy wide full toss and drills it for four. But Parky keeps on looping it up. When is the last time England had Matthews bowling at both ends?
40th over: New Zealand 115-4 (Mitchell 42, Blundell 27) Anderson does take a break and is replaced by Matt Potts at the Nursery end. Blundell, who is itching for runs, had a leaden footed slash at his first, but misses. A maiden.
39th over: New Zealand 115-4 (Mitchell 42, Blundell 27) A big fat high full toss from Parkinson is mullered by Mitchell, but he must have only hit it with the bottom of the bat as the ball dribbles to a halt just short of the rope.
38th over: New Zealand 111-4 (Mitchell 41, Blundell 24) Ignore me, Anderson has another. Plenty of life in this dog and he nearly snares Blundell with one that whizzes through low. Parky throws himself at the rope but can’t cut off four whisked to the boundary. His fielding has come on a treat in the last couple of years.
“I believe the term popping crease goes back to the early days of cricket, when the wicket consisted of two stumps with a single bail,” writes Andrew Cosgrove. “Between the stumps was a hole. A batter registered a run by popping his (or her) bat in the hole. They could be run out by a fielder putting the ball in the popping hole. I think there was a spate of injuries caused by fielders’ hands colliding with bats in close run out situations, so the laws were changed to put a crease to mark the end of a run. The crease took the name of the popping hole.”
37th over: New Zealand 102-4 (Mitchell 40, Blundell 14) Parky’s third over is largely uneventful, though Blundell sends his last ball wafting off for a single with a wristy shot that involves most of his upper body in a turning movement.
36th over: New Zealand 100-4 (Mitchell 40, Blundell 14) Jimmy for one more over of good length delights, an outside edge brings a couple. There’s another single, and nearly time for the old boy to have a rub down.
The Beeb are watching:
Perfect day watching cricket at Lord's 😎🏏
— Dan Johnson (@DanJohnsonNews) June 3, 2022
BBC News legend @hendopolis keeping score pic.twitter.com/DlScEUNpvY
35th over: New Zealand 97-4 (Mitchell 38, Blundell 13) Blundell fancies Parky I think, is desperate to drive him through the offside but he’s getting in a terrible tangle. The cameras pan to Matt’s twin brother Callum, Leicestershire’s new captain (and slow left arm bowler), sitting in the crowd, incognito in shades.
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34th over: New Zealand 96-4 (Mitchell 38, Blundell 12) Five off Jimmy’s over.
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33rd over: New Zealand 91-4 (Mitchell 38, Blundell 7) And his first over in Test cricket is perfectly respectable. Towel tucked into the back of his trousers, shirt already running free in typical scamp style, his first is a legbreak on the button, the second gets Blundell in a muddle. The over brings a single, a hearty round of applause and a Parky grin.
PARKY IS ON!
32nd over: New Zealand 90-4 (Mitchell 38, Blundell 6) Back to back boundaries from Mitchell off Stokes, the second a glorious off-drive.
And a question from Romeo:
“I’m enjoying this match (minus the Pietersen commentary bit) but KP’s references to Popping Crease rather than Batting Crease, which I suppose many assume it to be called, made me compose a question OBO readers might like. (I learned the answer from The Ladybird Book of Cricket in 1965 and Wikipedia doesn’t have it.)“
As KP keeps talking on commentary about the ‘popping crease’, why is the batting crease more properly/correctly/accurately called the popping crease?”
31st over: New Zealand 78-4 (Mitchell 27, Blundell 5)Mitchell decides to take his life into his hands and include the kitchen sink as he drives wildly at Anderson:a thick edge flies over the slips. He has another go next ball, but misses, before escaping his own impetuosity with a quick single.
30th over: New Zealand 73-4 (Mitchell 22, Blundell 5) Thanks Tim, great stuff as ever. After drinks, Ben Stokes resumes, sweeping his pale carroteen hair back as he walks briskly to his mark. Mitchell launches into a swivelled hook to a short third ball, which beats Stuart Broad to the rope. Then an inswinging yorker nearly creeps through his defences, but he just jabs his bat down in time.
29th over: New Zealand 68-4 (Mitchell 17, Blundell 5) Broad’s long spell comes to an end. Just the time to give Parkinson a go, and see if there’s any turn? Not according to Stokes, who brings back Anderson, perhaps because he wants control. The over goes for just a single and that’s drinks, with NZ 59 ahead, England still narrowly on top, but Mitchell threatening to get a score and de Grandhomme still to come.
Time for me to hand over to Tanya Aldred, who will bring you her trademark sparkle. Thanks for your company and I’ll be back on Monday, in the unlikely event that this Test goes the distance.
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28th over: New Zealand 67-4 (Mitchell 16, Blundell 5) A better over from Stokes, finding some big inswing, possibly reverse.
27th over: New Zealand 67-4 (Mitchell 16, Blundell 5) Broad thinks he’s got Mitchell LBW, but nobody agrees with him – not the umpire Michael Gough, nor the new captain Stokes, who turns his back on him. What a boss. And he’s right, because (a) there was an inside edge and (b) the ball, as KP says, was missing a second set of stumps. As Mitchell plays a leg glance, Matt Parkinson then makes his mark – on the turf, hurling himself to the ground at long leg to save a fourth run, dislodging a divot and drawing a round of applause from Broad.
26th over: New Zealand 65-4 (Mitchell 14, Blundell 5) Here is that change. Stokes brings himself on, for the first time by choice in this match – when he came on yesterday, it was just to finish an over for Potts, who had cramp. It’s not a good start from Stokes, who bowls two no-balls, a couple of freebies on the legs, and a half-volley outside off which Blundell drives for four.
25th over: New Zealand 58-4 (Mitchell 13, Blundell 1) Another maiden from Broad, to Blundell. On commentary, Kevin Pietersen gets steamed up advocating that the batters do something different, like standing outside the crease. I thought Mitchell was already doing that.
“Presumably,” says Justin Horton, “the draw forecast incorporates the tie?” Ha.
24th over: New Zealand 58-4 (Mitchell 13, Blundell 1) Tom Blundell, facing Potts, gets off the mark with a flick off the hip. Mitchell plays a couple of crisp drives but can’t find the gaps.
“Hopefully,” says Tom van der Gucht, “Stokes is keeping Parkinson’s powder dry now in order to save him to mop up the tail after Southee et al nearly smashed them back into the game in the first innings.” That would be great. In a Test when Shane Warne is being widely and warmly remembered, the best tribute to him would be to bring on Parkinson, who, according to Warne, should have been in England’s XI for the start of the Ashes in Brisbane.
23rd over: New Zealand 56-4 (Mitchell 12, Blundell 0) So Broad finally has his second wicket of the match, handed to him on a plate by the same guy he got out in the first. And Conway, who scored 200 here last year, manages only 16 in two innings this time. NZ lead by 47: they’re teetering.
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Wicket! Conway c Foakes b Broad 13 (NZ 56-4)
The breakthrough! And it’s one of the worst balls of the day – short, outside leg, begging to be swatted for four – but Conway gets strangled. Maybe those maidens made a difference.
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22nd over: New Zealand 56-3 (Conway 13, Mitchell 12) Potts almost gets another breakthrough as he draws a thick inside edge from Conway which goes not far from the man at midwicket. Mitchell then plays a pull and gets hold of it, but Broad – still out at deep square, where Potts sent him before lunch – brings off a fine diving stop. That wakes up the crowd, who had gone very quiet, as Lord’s crowds tend to do when it’s half an hour after lunch and there’s still a bit of chocolate mousse to be had in the marquee.
“The draw? 1%?” snorts Dean Kinsella. “Is there a hurricane forecast?”
21st over: New Zealand 52-3 (Conway 10, Mitchell 11) You wait a day and a half for a Broad maiden, and then two come at once.
20th over: New Zealand 52-3 (Conway 10, Mitchell 11) Potts, after that one expensive over, remembers that he is the great Matty Potts, and concedes just a single.
Here’s Guy Hornsby on Twitter, sounding cheery. “Afternoon from sunny Sale,” he says. “So, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: what’s a safe lead for the Black Caps? Jokes aside (they’re almost there etc), what will they think they can bowl at? I expect anything over 120 really. I really hope Parky has a say in that.” So do I.
Yes, 120 could be enough to give England the jitters (it doesn’t take much), but the problem for Kane Williamson would be that if Zak Crawley got going, that total would soon become indefensible, even against England. I’d love to see England send another attacking batter in with Crawley – Root, say, or Bairstow. It would be a bit hard on Alex Lees, but he was so jumpy yesterday, which will be just what they don’t need in a squeaky-bum run chase.
19th over: New Zealand 51-3 (Conway 10, Mitchell 10) A tiny triumph for Broad, bowling to Mitchell: he manages a maiden, his first of the match.
A caption on Sky shows the probabilities, as calculated by CricViz. They give England 59 per cent, NZ 40, and the draw ... 1 per cent.
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18th over: New Zealand 51-3 (Conway 10, Mitchell 10) Potts continues too, and for once a batter threatens to get the measure of him. Mitchell guides him for four past gully, then drives for three to mid-off. Potts’s figures are ruined, I tell you: he has two for 18 today, and six for 31 in his infant Test career.
17th over: New Zealand 44-3 (Conway 10, Mitchell 3) Play resumes after lunch and Stokes keeps Broad on at the pavilion end. Mitchell, coming down the track again, gets a single as there’s a rare misfield from Stokes’s new England – in fact, from Stokes himself. It turns out that that was a no-ball, a big one by Broad, possibly the biggest at Lord’s since the Test in which he made 169. Conway plays a straight drive for four that may well be the shot of the day. Broad has bowled well enough but the force has not been with him: he still has only one wicket in the match, for 64, from 20 overs.
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The sun is now shining at Lord’s. It’s wondering what on earth is happening.
More on the TMS link, the scourge of us OBO writers. “Tim,” says Tobias Peggs, “last year I made a video about how to find the TMS link overseas. If you can post this for your readers, it’s a handy way for them to find it every day. It’s still a faff... but then it wouldn’t be cricket if it didn’t involved some work to understand... Cheers from a cricket lover in New York.”
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Lunch! NZ are 29 ahead
16th over: New Zealand 38-3 (Conway 6, Mitchell 2) Another side-effect of Potts’s success is that Matt Parkinson won’t get the last over before lunch. Stokes keeps Potts on, as any captain would, and almost collects a prize as Conway plays a Harrow drive that dribbles past his leg stump. And that is lunch with this Test continuing on its crazy way. England’s tail added 25 for three, and NZ’s top order have replied with 38 for three. Anything you can do, we can do just as badly.
The man of the morning, for the second day running, is Matthew Potts. Meanwhile my colleague Ali Martin has spotted a tweet from Pat Cummins, Australia’s fast-bowling captain. “Always love watching Test cricket in England,” Cummins says. “Just enough seam and swing on offer here for the quicks.” See you in about half an hour.
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15th over: New Zealand 36-3 (Conway 5, Mitchell 1) Just like yesterday, Potts’s success is inspiring the old stagers to raise their game. Broad beats Mitchell, then draws the nick he’s looking for, but again it drops short of Crawley at second slip. England’s cordon, as so often, are a bit too close together, and possibly six inches too deep.
14th over: New Zealand 36-3 (Conway 5, Mitchell 1) Matty Potts, after that blip when he batted, is living the dream again. He has figures of 3-0-9-2 to add to 9.2-4-13-4 yesterday, so I make that 12.2-4-22-6. Staggering stuff. And it’s partly because he has an unusual amount of self-belief. As Nasser Hussain notes, he makes a field change now without even asking Stokes – seeing Daryl Mitchell charge him first ball, he sends Broad out to deep square.
“Hello from Lord’s Tim!” Hello Harry Coleman. “Maybe already asked, but is it interesting that Stokes doesn’t field himself in the slips?” It is! He seems to have decided it’s more important to be in the bowler’s ear, perhaps to keep Broad and Anderson under his thumb, perhaps also thinking of his injured finger. As he put it before the game, “I’m going to be in my armchair at mid-off.”
Wicket! Latham c Foakes b Potts 14 (NZ 34-3)
The procession continues! The slips go up, the bowler isn’t sure, the keeper doesn’t even appeal, the umpire gives it, the batter reviews ... but there’s a clear jag on Snicko and Latham has to go. Potts does it yet again!
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13th over: New Zealand 34-2 (Latham 14, Conway 4) Anderson finally takes a break (6-3-14-1). Stokes turns not to himself, not to Parkinson, but to ... Broad. To be fair, there are two left-handers out there and he’s good against them. He beats Conway with a beauty, bowled from round the wicket on a. full length, angled in and swinging away.
12th over: New Zealand 33-2 (Latham 14, Conway 3) In comes Devon Conway, who flopped in the first innings but made a double hundred here last year. He gets off the mark with a chunky on-drive for three. NZ lead by 24.
And Matty Potts, after 26 hours as a Test cricketer, has five wickets for 20.
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WICKET!! Williamson c Bairstow b Potts 15 (NZ 30-2)
He’s done it again! For the second time in two days, Potts nabs Williamson, caught by Jonny Bairstow at third slip. He was forcing off the back foot and didn’t get on top of the bounce.
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11th over: New Zealand 30-1 (Latham 14, Williamson 15) Anderson continues and repays Stokes’s faith by finding the edge of Williamson’s bat, but the ball lands just short of Zak Crawley at second slip and dribbles away for four. But again the over ends with a bad ball, short and wide and smacked away by Latham. Can’t Jimmy be allowed, in the light of his long service, to bowl five-ball overs?
10th over: New Zealand 21-1 (Latham 10, Williamson 10) And here he is, Matthew Potts, the hero of the first half of yesterday, when he took four for hardly anything (and then got a duck). He starts poorly today, with a loosener that’s too short and wide and is cut away by Latham, but soon finds some nice inswing and raps him on the pad for a strangled appeal.
9th over: New Zealand 17-1 (Latham 6, Williamson 10) Another maiden from Anderson, but the game is going to sleep. Time for Potts. Or Parkinson!
“Five days,” says Rob Moline, picking up on the preamble. “Is that all you’ve got, as someone said in a dire Hollywood movie once. The recent Giro served up its best and most exciting and decisive competition on day 22 (20 days of effort plus 2 rest days).” Good point, but no, five days is not all we’ve got: a full-scale Test series is 25 days, and even this one is 15, in theory. I wonder how long it will take the ECB to decide that NZ are worth a five-match series.
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8th over: New Zealand 17-1 (Latham 6, Williamson 10) A single to each batter off Broad. Come on Ben, time for a change.
In other news, Boris Johnson has turned up at the jubilee service at St Paul’s and been booed by the crowd, which is quite an achievement. If he’s lost the royalists, he’s lost the nation.
7th over: New Zealand 15-1 (Latham 5, Williamson 9) Kevin Pietersen is commentating and he wonders whether Broad and Anderson will be able to summon the same energy today as they did yesterday morning. Anderson answered the question in one way with that early wicket, but now he answers it in another, finishing his fourth over with his first bad ball – a juicy half-volley which Williamson has no trouble off-driving for four. Get Potts on!
6th over: New Zealand 11-1 (Latham 5, Williamson 5) Broad keeps it tight until his fourth ball, which is just what Williamson has been waiting for: a freebie on his legs. He clips it away for two and instantly adds three more with a chop past cover. New Zealand have avoided an innings defeat.
5th over: New Zealand 6-1 (Latham 5, Williamson 0) A maiden from Anderson to Latham, so Broad will have a full over at Williamson.
“I’m hoping,” says Tom van der Gucht, “New Zealand hang on in long enough for Parkinson to be entrusted with the customary over of pre-lunch spin... Might be his only chance of bowling in this Test. Unless they give the over to Root.”
4th over: New Zealand 6-1 (Latham 5, Williamson 0) No dramas in this over from Broad. Test cricket still has its moments of calm, even when it’s batshit crazy.
A good spot on Twitter from someone called The Flying Pasty. “England top 2 scorers 68, Rest 51,” they note. “NZ top 2 scorers 68, Rest 61.” Yes, these teams are peas in a pod in some ways, and more so now that McCullum has changed sides. But there’s one big difference: NZ are the world champions, while England have won one Test in their last 17.
3rd over: New Zealand 5-1 (Latham 4, Williamson 0) So here’s Kane Williamson, on a pair, not that it seems to ruffle his tranquil demeanour. I read somewhere that, when he was playing under the buccaneering Brendon McCullum, he said “I’m the library at the theme park”. A great line.
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Wicket! Young c Foakes b Anderson 1 (NZ 5-1)
Here we go! It’s a classic Anderson delivery, shaping away. Young gets a nick and Foakes takes a fine catch, low to his right. The fielding in the Ben Stokes era has been quite something so far.
2nd over: New Zealand 5-0 (Latham 4, Young 1) From the Nursery end, it is of course Stuart Broad. At the grand old age of 35, he’s suddenly discovered that it’s possible to bowl a full length. An attempted yorker costs three as Latham chips it out to midwicket, so Broad still doesn’t have a maiden in this match. Let’s hope that doesn’t make him revert to bowling too short. NZ trail by four.
“Hi Tim and greetings from Hanoi,” says Phil Keegan. “Regarding David Malcolm’s inquiry about BBC access in South-East Asia, I don’t know what they did to upset the government but here in Vietnam the BBC is completely blocked. You can’t even access the website without a VPN. Best wishes from the tropical heat.”
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1st over: New Zealand 1-0 (Latham 1, Young 0) It’s Jimmy Anderson, fresh from his 50,000th not-out and his highest Test score since he last faced NZ at Lord’s, exactly a year ago. He’s on the spot as ever and Tom Latham is so keen to get up the other end that he almost runs out his partner, Will Young. Stokes, swooping in the covers, hits the stumps but Young is home.
Ben Stokes gathers his men into the huddle, arms around each other’s shoulders. We have still had only 82.5 overs, so technically it’s still yesterday.
“May I be the first,” says Brian Withington, “to complain that the superior quality of county championship pitches is not preparing our players for the rigours of two-day Test match cricket.” The gags are flowing today.
“Cartoonish game?” says James Bland. “That‘s all Foakes!” Nice one.
“The WW1 analogy fails,” says Duncan Wilkes, “in that the first two lions over the top lasted rather longer than the donkeys to the rear.” Ha.
So Southee finishes with four wickets, Boult three, Anderson is seven not out and England lead by nine. Their collapse continued – from a high of 59 for none, all ten wickets fell for 82, with a glorious spell of five for eight in the middle there. They remain the masters of Test-match mayhem, though NZ (45 for seven at one point) have given them a run for their money.
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England all out for 141! Parkinson c Mitchell b Boult 8
Parkinson reverts to type with a waft to slip. When in Rome... that little innings was just like England’s performance in this match.
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42nd over: England 140-9 (Anderson 6, Parkinson 8) Parkinson gets off the mark in Test cricket with a bunt to leg – and takes England into the lead. As the commentators point out, he may not get a go with the ball, as there hasn’t been a single over of spin so far. He plays and misses as Southee swings one away, but then middles a straight push and times it well enough to pick up four. Trying the same thing again, he mistimes it but collects two. He has eight off just seven balls: you don’t get that from Jack Leach. And eight is what England lead by.
41st over: England 132-9 (Anderson 6, Parkinson 0) Another two for Jimmy, shovelling the ball back past Boult. And the scores are level! So if there’s a wicket now, we can have the Super Over. Anyone seen Jofra?
“Any idea why BBC has blocked the Test Match Special link to the Philippines?” asks David Malcolm. “Have been able to receive it here for years. No obvious rights issues because not many locals follow the sport here and it is not televised. But cricket does interest many expats. Has it also been blocked to other countries in South East Asia?” That, David, is a question for the hive mind.
40th over: England 130-9 (Anderson 4, Parkinson 0) Before the wicket, Jimmy helped himself to a two and a single. And now here is Matt Parkinson, England’s 705th male Test cricketer and very first concussion sub. He plays his first ball with aplomb, a nice solid block.
In 40 overs, New Zealand made 132 all out; in 40 overs, England have 130 for nine. So close to a Super Over.
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Wicket! Foakes c Mitchell b Southee 7 (England 130-9)
Yet another one! Southee gets some sharp movement away, Foakes follows it and that’s a simple catch at first slip.
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39th over: England 127-8 (Foakes 7, Anderson 1) Kane Williamson decides to spread the field for Foakes, which is nearly always a bad idea. Foakes helps himself to a single second ball, showing some trust in Anderson, who repays it with three dots and even takes a single himself off the last ball. Not sure if that’s chutzpah or hubris.
Here’s an email signed “Adrian Goldman (who should be writing a new curriculum for the university of Helsinki)”.
“I loved the analogy of the batting order to the first world war,” he says. Thanks! “Probably explains the injury to Leach on day 1, ‘out of the trenches and at’em’. Or maybe, to be more topical, this is the 1800s and ‘into the valley of death’... about another Crimean war.” Hmmm. Tiny request to any other emailers: if quoting, please can you use single quotemarks, so we don’t have to change them when we wrap them in our double quotes.
38th over: England 125-8 (Foakes 6, Anderson 0) So one veteran seamer takes out another. And here comes a third, Jimmy Anderson. He starts with his signature stroke: the squirt to second slip, kept nice and low.
“Er,” says James Simpson, “not sure the TMS link is a good one, it gives me day 1, not day 2 ...”
“Apologies,” says Simon Dennis, right on cue. “I can confirm that this link is now working. Humble apologies.” No problem! It’s the OBO, where we all make mistakes.
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Wicket! Broad b Southee 9 (England 125-8)
Castled! After belting Southee for a straight four, Broad tries to do it again and gets high on his own supply.
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37th over: England 121-7 (Foakes 6, Broad 5) Boult to Broad: the first ball is a bouncer, not unexpectedly, but it’s a wild one, flying over the vacant leg slip and giving England four. Broad jabs the second ball to backward point for a single, leaving Foakes to play out some dots. England trail by 11.
The players are out there and the ball has been thrown to Trent Boult.
“I blame the captain for England’s batting collapse,” says Ian Parsons on Twitter. “He’s useless, total failure to motivate the other players. He’s got to go.” Ha. I have a hunch that this may be a dig at the Rootosceptics.
Of course, captains are seldom to blame for collapses. The problem with Root was that he actually got worse at the cerebral side of captaincy – the selection and tactics. Stokes has already lifted England on both of those fronts, though I’m fairly sure he will soon regret this batting order. He’s got all the young hopefuls going in first, followed by all the senior players. That’s not cricket, it’s the First World War.
“Greetings from Singapore!” says Kevin Tong. “I don’t really know why, but your preamble put an absolutely HUGE smile on my face. Here’s hoping the cricket does the same!!
May I also add that Test cricket being five days, though it can be long at times, does prolong the joy. In which other sport can we say we hope the second day will be as good as the first? I for one am hoping this joy extends beyond the second day! And maybe the third too?”
“Morning Tim, morning all,” says Simon Dennis. “The TMS overseas link for today is here.” Thanks!
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the second day of the Stokes-McCullum era. Test cricket, the only form of the game for which these two are in charge, is just about the slowest thing in all of sport. Each match takes five days, and every day is the length of three movies. For the hardcore fan, it’s like sitting through The Beatles’ Get Back 25 to 30 times a summer. Going to the game is a chance to tune out, switch off, travel back in time. But not yesterday, when all that went out of the window.
From start to finish, it was solid gold uneasy action. There were only 76 overs in the day, yet somehow 17 wickets fell. New Zealand batted for exactly 40 of those overs, as if someone had told them that this was a historical re-enactment of the John Player League. England started dreamily with the ball, sturdily enough with the bat, then went back to their default position: the sudden inexplicable collapse. Buckle up and enjoy the ride? Before they’d even got through their first day, Stokes’s new band were deep into the difficult second album.
Today the weather is warm and the crowd have a second successive bank holiday to bask in. If you’re watching on telly, brace yourself for an alarming number of close-ups of bottles of champagne. What will happen in the cricket, God only knows.
New Zealand have the initiative, but England could sneak into a lead. They have Ben Foakes still there after a stint as the boy on the burning deck, and the new-look Stuart Broad, so relaxed that he doesn’t care about the maidens column, may whack a few fours. Matt Parkinson will be making his Test debut, in surreal circumstances, and Jimmy Anderson will potter out to the sort of special cheer that Britain bestows on its old stagers, whether they’re a veteran swing bowler or the Queen of England.
Play starts at 11am BST, and if day two is anything like day one, there may never be a day three.
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