England vs New Zealand: Hosts start new era strongly, but old problems continue
England vs New Zealand: Hosts start new era strongly, but old problems continue
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When he appointed Brendon McCullum as England’s new men’s Test coach, Rob Key told fans to “buckle up and get ready for the ride” – after a thrilling first day at Lord’s one can only hope they heeded his advice.
This was Test cricket at a McCullum pace, a sun-drenched Lord’s treated to a day in which a remarkable 17 wickets fell, England 116/7 by the close, just 16 runs behind New Zealand’s paltry first innings effort.
Over the course of three sessions, England showed tantalising glimpses of what the future could be like under their new red-ball supremo, before returning to the all too familiar habits that have necessitated his arrival in the first place.
With a McCullum-esque fast start, England’s day began as something of a fantasy, New Zealand’s reigning Test Championship holders reduced to 12/4 inside the first 10 overs – debutant Matthew Potts picking up the scalp of Kane Williamson with just his fifth ball in Test cricket, a plot line plucked straight from the realms of his own wildest dreams.
Among the reassuringly familiar early chaos of James Anderson and Stuart Broad inducing edges from opposition top-order batsmen, there were signs – for those on the lookout for them at least – of England’s future under McCullum.
Catching in the slips has been not so much England’s Achilles heel in recent years but a fair amount of their lower leg too, chances spilled, opportunities spurned. Here they were exemplary, turning half chances into wickets and making sure no simple catches went down. A small sample size it may have been, but anyone who thinks McCullum has not already spent time drilling his players on the importance of standards in the field must not have been paying attention during his time as the New Zealand skipper.
Cruelly this exuberance and dedication to fielding were to prove the undoing of Jack Leach, England’s desperately unlucky spinner managing to pick up a concussion diving headfirst over the boundary in the pursuit of successfully preventing a four.
By lunch England’s ‘new era’ seemed too good to be true, New Zealand were 39/6, even the blow of losing Leach tempered by the prospect of concussion substitute Matt Parkinson making a long-awaited Test debut – just as soon as he could complete a mad dash down the motorway from Manchester.
For McCullum, England fans, and anyone watching, here seemingly was England’s past and future well and truly on display – Potts with dreamlike figures of 3/8 from his first eight overs in Test cricket, Anderson roaring back into the side in style with 2/5 from his first eight. These were two men truly at opposite ends of the experience scale, Potts after all was just four years old when Anderson made his own Test debut.
If the morning session showed the bright future that could lie ahead for this side, by the afternoon some of the old concerns started to seep through the cracks. First England’s inability to finish off a side’s lower order reared its head, from 45/7 New Zealand made 132 all out – by no means a disaster but nevertheless a significant easing of pressure.
Recently though almost all of England’s woes have centred on their inability to perform with the bat, once again here on Day One at Lord’s it was no different. A bright start of 59 for the first wicket had soured horribly to 116/7 by the close, just Ben Foakes and England’s rather run-shy last three to come.
If his first day of action is anything to go by then the extent of the task facing McCullum is certainly clear to see but what also seems obvious is Rob Key was right, England fans are going to need those seatbelts.
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