What a shame weather intervened in this match. The final day could have been an absolute beauty, but for losing so much play. Even still, there were plenty of talking points.
There was the differing stories of two debutants. Devon Conway is the real deal. That was a seriously impressive debut. England chose just about their best attack and the bowlers still couldn’t get him out in the first innings.
I had doubts about whether he could transition to Test cricket, but anyone who can bat through 122 overs, offer no chances and still strike at more than 57 runs per hundred balls is clearly Test quality – and all this as an opener.
On the other hand, James Bracey will have precious few happy memories. A six-ball duck in England’s first innings and a really tough time with the gloves suggests he might have to wait quite a while for Test cap number two.
Spare a thought for Tim Southee. All the accolades have been heaped on Conway, yet Southee bowled 25 overs in England’s first innings and returned 6-43, then bowled another 17 overs in the second innings. He’s an outstanding bowler if the ball’s doing a bit and never stops trying.
New Zealand showed Australia how to bat, keeping the England attack in the field for 122 overs in the first innings. That is exactly what Australia needs to do for each and every Test of the Ashes series. The Black Caps also batted with purpose, not getting bogged down.
Even with a bowling rotation policy in place, the England quicks will tire if they have to bowl so many overs across a five-Test series, where there’s little recovery time between games.
Henry Nicholls’ innings cannot be underestimated. At 3-114 when Nicholls came into bat, another quick wicket and England could have easily fired out the Black Caps for under 200. Nicholls provided excellent support to Conway and their partnership effectively took the game away from Joe Root’s men.
A lack of a quality spinner hurt New Zealand. The Black Caps need to find a quality fourth bowling option. Obviously if Trent Boult is fit, he’s the answer, but sooner rather than later they need to develop a quality spinner.
(Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
At 6-140 in England’s first innings and a ball that was 56 overs old, Kane Williamson would have loved to have had Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja or Nathan Lyon in his team. That he had to rely on Mitchell Santner and his quicks to run through the lower order was asking too much on that pitch.
England’s ground fielding is still ordinary. I’ve been hearing all these great reports about the improvement in the England side and it’s fair to say, those stories are pretty right, in all areas except ground fielding.
The England fieldsmen looked really tired in the last session on Day 1 and the fielding was scrappy. They still seem to enjoy the dive over – the ball runs along the ground and the fielder does a spectacular dive over it.
They can expect more long days in the field over the coming months with their Test schedule and this is one area where they really need to lift.
Ollie Robinson in Australia? Robinson had an excellent game, with match figures of 7-101. He backed that up with a very good 42, which came at a critical time in the game. England were 6-140 when he came in to bat. While watching him, I was trying to work out whether his style of bowling would translate to Australian conditions?
He’s far from quick, only bowling around the 128-133 kilometre per hour mark and he seems to rely on accuracy and a little bit of movement for his wickets.
Robinson is a very good county bowler and his efforts in this Test make him a strong Test bowler in English conditions. Could he go well in Australia? Plenty of bowlers of his type have come to Australia and failed. Maybe he’s the exception.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Australia, take note of the sportsmanship. Apart from the obvious respect between the teams, there were two incidents in this game that made me smile.
The first was when Joe Root edged a delivery to Ross Taylor at first slip, who took the catch very close to the ground but immediately signalled it should be checked.
The second piece of play involved Henry Nicholls, who attempted a reverse sweep, was hit on the gloves and caught by Rory Burns. Nicholls didn’t bother waiting for the umpire and simply walked off.
Finally, I’d hate to be a driver in England. I was watching Jimmy Anderson bowl in the first innings and was noting the speeds of his deliveries.
According to the speed camera, he bowled one ball at 88.3 miles per hour or 142.10 kilometres per hour. I’m not sure I remember when Anderson last bowled that quickly. It’s certainly a lot of years ago.
If I was a driver in the UK, I’d be asking if the police are using the same equipment to measure speeds as they have at Lord’s. If so, I’d be asking for it to be checked before paying any speeding fines.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
The Patels are everywhere.
Tigerbill44
Roar Guru
NZ fielding was below par. Burns played brilliantly, but the keeper missed a simple stumping and then a slip catch went down. Santner and Wagner were the unlucky ones.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
What-ho Riccardo. Yeah, agree, think they would, but not the batting line up to have a chase on that pitch. Add Bairstow to a Stokes and Buttler combo and you'd reckon England would have a crack on any pitch with a target like that. Root's the guy who keeps the other end ticking while others have a thrash around him. He had no one to play with. Clever declaration by Williamson, but it was an invitation to lose in the circumstances. Let's hope we get 5 days or at least a result out of Edgbaston.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
Gidday Neil, Reckon they would have gone for it if Stokes and Buttler played mate. To be fair it was a sporting declaration but once Root was out they shut up shop. Reality is that making inroads against a set team was tough on that pitch anyhow...
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Sure. Why not set up a batting line up already short on confidence to fail in a day 5 run chase? And if this was 'the most negative crap you've ever watched', then you must be pretty new to Test cricket. Williamson's declaration set his side the task of getting England out. Just because they didn't, doesn't invalidate the contest. Maybe with Stokes and Butler in the side England could have explored that chase, possibly by elevating them up the order to test the waters, and then shut up shop if they fail to seize the initiative. As it was, they played to their team of the day. Right decision.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
Williamson out and Young in at 3. Word is Southee will be rested too. Boult will play. Reckon we need a spinner for both Birmingham and Southampton so Patel is likely with our selectors to slow to blood Ravindra...
Bobbo7
Guest
Averages 41 against Australia, 47 against SA, 59 against Pakastan... what are you on about?
Lara
Guest
Root is not a gambler. KW n Taylor need to score some runs. A star is born ....maybe two. NZ middle order was terrible, except for Nicholls. England needs a wicketkeeper. NZ needs a spinner.....NZ will need to experiment regardless of the result....England needs some balls .
Carlin
Roar Rookie
From what I have read today sounds like Ajaz Patel might get the nod for the spinner spot. Williamson needs some more time at the crease so will be a big blow if he doesnt play this test (but if he isnt fit no much point risking him).
Jak
Guest
Another mediocre performance in England by Williamson. Has an average well below that of his overall average there. In fact, his average against all the top sides - Oz, Eng, India, SA and Pakistan is mediocre. His overall average is boosted by making hay against the weakest sides - Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
Drop Root? I get your rationale about chasing the win but to drop him would be nothing short of lunacy...
Riccardo
Roar Rookie
I think there is some merit in giving Ravindra a run in 2nd test Couldn't agree more. CDG bowled well but it will be batsmen we need should Kane's elbow be the problem it could be. Apparently it has flared up again. Ravindra would add some depth to the batting and allow the our quartet (Southee, Boult, Jamieson, Wagner) to play. That Ravindra can bowl some useful overs would be a decent bonus. I don't buy into the resting any of them argument. With the decider at Southampton round the corner, the more exposure to those conditions at that level with the Duke, the better...
Englishbob
Guest
Nice read, thanks. Really enjoyed the test match, I always marvel how NZ get so much sporting talent out of a relatively small population. Having said that I still think they're a yard behind India (as is everyone else)at the minute, but the final is a one off and I'd be happy with either NZ India winning. Not sure England can afford Jimmy and Broady hogging the new ball while the younger lads are bowling much better, one or both needs to be wound back. If the full squad was fit and available for the ashes I'd pick Archer Wood Robinson, Stokes as a change bowler with Leach as the spin doctor. However England's batting is 'atrocious' at the minute whereas Australia's is slightly better than that sitting around 'ordinary'
Cari
Roar Rookie
You didn't miss much at least you didn't have to watch
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
I know I'm carrying on a bit over this, but in the abscence of any other cricket globally, this series which also carries the tag of World Test Champions has got almost no coverage here.. Why?.. There's my talking point.
Bobbo7
Guest
Good hit out for NZ. Even with KW having a quiet test with the bat there is every chance NZ would have won without a rained out day.
Cari
Roar Rookie
The first time we allowed a limited crowd into the ground and we got this some were falling to sleep on the last day. No attempt to get under 300 to win but settled for a draw from the first ball, the most negative crap I have ever watched, but if anyone who thought this was England’s first team they are day dreaming. What we got were opening bats that all been tried before and the rest were hopefuls and the one success we had the powers that be dropped him for some comments he made at the age of eighteen, even our PM disagreed with that. Personally I would drop Root, the most negative captain we have for a few years and give the captains job to the vice captain Stoles. He would never settle for a draw from the first ball unless there was no option..
Carlin
Roar Rookie
Conway was superb on test debut. Was a great selection. Lets hope he can continue piling on the runs like he has done in other formats. Trent Boult is likely to play the next test and will be interesting to see who makes way for him. The talk is either Southee or Wagner to rest one of them ahead of the World Test Final. I think there is some merit in giving Ravindra a run in 2nd test. Yes the series hangs in the balance but in the grand scheme of things this series is only a warm up to the Test Final for NZ and India series for England. He has shown potential in first class cricket to be a useful spin bowling allrounder. The one thing that stood out for me from England was how poor their shot selection was in some of their 6. There was a few dismissals where they were playing big drives with no foot movement and finding the edge.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Minimum 2 year ban… Prime Minister weighing in, Public apology and plenty of tears.. A commission of enquiry too methinks.
Paul
Roar Guru
The British PM has now bought into the issue, according to the CA website. They agree the reaction from the ECB has been too much. In fairness, I reckon our Board would have done the same or worse if one of our cricketers was caught doing something similar.