England v New Zealand: The 2nd Test, Day 1. Can somebody bring some floodlights?

May 23, 2008 by Rob Scanlon

England Cricket At the end of day 1 of the 2nd test at Old Trafford, there was the inevitable chorus of boos that greeted the announcement that no further play would be possible. After just 54 overs on a mucky and grey Friday in Manchester, Simon Taufel and the recently reinstalled Darrell Hair called it a day. You would struggle to argue for the merits of cricket to say, an American friend who doesn’t know much about the sport-

‘you guys go off if the light is a bit bad?’
‘well yeah but…’
‘what, you guys play for 5 whole days and can still draw?!’
‘er…yeah I see your point’

It is very frustrating. I went to the infamous Test Match at the Oval against Pakistan that was forfeited, and the previous day the play was stopped numerous times for bad light, eventually curtailing the days action completely. My girfriend and I had spent a fair whack to see just over 20 overs of play. With cricket of course, you know this going in, so I wasn’t going to be so ignorant as to ask for a refund, but it’s still dissapointing not to be able to see the best of Pieterson, Panesar et al- you just get to watch them walk back and forth from the pavillion with hands in their pockets and a glum expression on their faces.

Back to today’s game anyway…

New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, no doubt considering Daniel Vettori’s potential threat on a crumbling 5th day pitch. New Zealand haven’t had an opening stand of over 100 for over 4 years- experimenting with 12 different opening combinations along the way. It was Mark Richardson and Stephen Fleming who got the last century partnership, fittingly against England and today Jamie How and Aaron Redmond got close. They were 20 shy of the coveted century before Redmond decided to leave a vicious inswinger from the impeccable Ryan Sidebottom, who had altered his line by bowling around the wicket. The ball kissed the off stump bail and just managed to dislodge it, sending Jamie How’s 5th different opening partner in 11 matches, packing.

That was 20 mins before lunch and the shaggy haired Sidebottom struck again six balls later, this time trapping Jamie Marshall LBW. In the last 12 months, Sidebottom’s statistics make him the 6th best bowler in the world and his figures at lunch- 10 overs, 5 maidens, 2 wickets for 17 runs- illustrate this point clearly. The man would not look out of place in Australia’s side- probably the highest praise you can bestow any International Cricketer.

The other bowlers toiled in the opening stages, with Monty Panesar brought on very early, extracting some turn but proving very expensive. He did notch up the key wicket of Brendon McCullum however, finding the edge after being struck for 10 earlier in the over. James Anderson joined the party on his home ground by producing, as West Indian legend Michael Holding called it, ‘the perfect delivery’ to snuff out the impressive Jamie How caught behind.

After that, Daniel Flynn took one of the hardest blows to the face I’ve ever seen (the slow motion replay is like watching one of those adverts telling you not to speed when driving by showing a car crash- it’s pretty grizzly). Ross Taylor batted very well- aggressively but with control, to reach 67 overnight. Jacob Oram is still there too, though looked shaky at times, and will no doubt look to bowl at both Stuart Broad and Anderson when England bat for nearly taking his head off.

It’s quite evenly poised but New Zealand have plenty of good players left to bat- notably Daniel Vettori who seems to excel against England. The wicket will crumble and there should be a positive result. Maybe that conversation with your American friend won’t be so deflating after all….

Share and Enjoy: