England-New Zealand 1st Test, Day Two: Boredom at Lord's

The English batmen made the NZ bowlers look far better than they actually were

For those making the case that Test cricket is now in its final throes of life, the first day of the England-New Zealand Lord’s Test could be cited as convincing evidence of the same. When play was mercifully stopped after 80 overs the hosts had laboured to 160/4, spectators at the ground, at least those able to stay awake, must have been thankful that the rains which had been threatening for some time finally came down hard enough to stop the play.

In an age when scoring rates hover close to four runs per over, England limped along at less than two for much of the day. Only three boundaries were struck in the morning session – two by Alastair Cook and one by Jonathan Trott. By the time tea came, the count stood at ten, and 16 at day’s end. It would have been understandable if die-hard Test match fans, viewing the action – or inaction rather – on TV, chose to switch to the frenzied scoring of the IPL.

If the English batsmen were to mount a defence for their poor showing, they would probably offer, in mitigation, that the outfield was lush and therefore slow, and so they didn’t get full value for their strokes. There is some merit to that argument, but it still does not explain such pedestrian scoring.

They might further mention that the New Zealand bowling was disciplined and allowed them very few liberties. But while the visitor’s mostly kept a fairly full length and a demanding line, there was clearly a lack of enterprise on the part of the batsmen. Eleven of left-arm spinner Brian Martin’s 23 overs, to make the point, were maidens, despite the fact that a number of his deliveries were too short, or too full, or badly directed, and yet escaped punishment. His economy rate of 1.52 at the end of day one was exceedingly flattering.

Without a doubt, England’s top three batsmen are the dullest in world cricket. Alastair Cook, Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott are all good players, but if you only follow cricket to see attractive batting, you might want to await the arrival of Ian Bell at number four. Even he, however, was infected by the malady of strokelessness that afflicted his compatriots.

England’s inadequate batting on the first day left them vulnerable going into the second, and the visitors capitalized. Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner all found some swing to dismiss the hosts for what should turn out to be an insufficient 232. And though James Anderson tried his best to swing things England’s way, collecting his 300^th test wicket on the way to 3/32, New Zealand would feel that their 153/4 is a position from which they could go places and run up a substantial lead.

Discarded captain Ross Taylor showed the hosts that run-scoring on the Lord’s surface need not have been as painstaking as they made it seem. His rollicking 66 came off only 72 deliveries and he found the boundary 13 times – only three times fewer than England did on the entire first day as they crawled to 160.

Ross Taylor: The only bright spot of the day

Taylor played his favourite cut stroke well, for the most part, and wasn’t diffident in taking the aerial route. The England bowlers fed him enough short balls outside off for him to employ it regularly; but when they pitched it up, they found that his driving through off was even more sublime. Luckily for the hosts, the admirable Anderson was able to nail him LBW, because Taylor seemed intent on taking the game away in a hurry.

As the Test now stands, New Zealand will feel that they have a great opportunity of leaping considerably ahead on the third day. Kane Williams has been resolute for his unbeaten 44, and captain Brendan McCallum is there on one, though, uncharacteristically for him, he has faced all of 17 deliveries. It might be a sign that he intends to bat far into the third day.

If it turns out that New Zealand are able to surge well ahead then the hosts would only have themselves to blame for their woeful first day performance. Still, these are the uncertainties and permutations that make test match cricket the preferred choice of many.