Tea England 167 (Trott 45, Wagner 4-42, Martin 4-43) v New Zealand
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New Zealand took advantage of one of the most bungling England batting
displays of recent vintage to take a form hold of the first Test in
Dunedin. New Zealand were disciplined and willing, but they will be
realistic enough to know that England made a dreadful mess of it,
dismissed in 55 overs and never summoning the resolve to counter a
sluggish and occasionally two-paced pitch.
If the surface was slow after a first day lost to rain, England's
thought processes were even more slothful. A triumphant start to his
home Test debut by Neil Wagner, who found himself on a hat-trick in his
first over, was the catalyst in an extended morning session which saw
England lose five wickets. Then Bruce Martin, a left-arm spinner given a
Test debut at 32, was showered by celebratory gifts with three wickets
in as many overs.
In a week where two better-known New Zealand spinners, Dan Vettori and
Jeetan Patel, had attracted official opprobrium for a drinking session
in Queenstown, Martin must have imagined his first excursion in Test
cricket would amount to an occasional spell or two, little more than a
mild libation. Instead, he must have felt himself just as intoxicated.
Wagner and Martin finished with four wickets apiece, with England
reliant upon a ninth-wicket stand of 47 in 11 overs between James
Anderson and Steve Finn to reach what appeared to be an entirely
inadequate total. If the pitch settled, New Zealand would prove to be in
a commanding position. If it did not, they could still prosper by
attritional cricket in conditions they would be familiar with.
Wagner, a stocky left-arm pace bowler who won his place ahead of Mark
Gillespie and the injured Doug Bracewell, had enjoyed limited success in
three previous Tests, all overseas, but home soil - dark brown soil -
immediately proved more to his liking as he persuaded Alastair Cook to
slap a back-of-a-length delivery to point and then with his next ball
found a modicum of inswing to have Kevin Pietersen lbw first ball as he
defeated a cagey defensive probe.
Pietersen had been rested from England's T20 and ODI series and,
although such official absences are an inevitable part of England's
unrelenting schedule, he pushed forward as if he was not sure what side
of the equator he was on. It is easy to jump to conclusions, however -
he has always been a bad starter. Wagner produced just the sort of
delivery, first up, which habitually troubles him early in his innings.
That was the two England batsmen who had conquered India before
Christmas removed at a stroke. There was no sense of all-conquering
England in Dunedin, far from it. Only Jonathan Trott organised prolonged
resistance, with 45 in nearly three hours, but even he departed in
what, for England, was maddening fashion as he top-edged a sweep at
Martin and holed out at short fine leg.
There is often something distinctly unsettling for a batting side when a
Test starts on the second morning. The anticipation and energy that is
part of the build-up to a first morning is difficult to recapture. To
call it an anti-climax is perhaps to overstate it, but the sense of
importance does not come easily, for the crowd or players alike. The
natural rhythms of the game have been disturbed and an underlying sense
of dissatisfaction lingers like stale cigarettes in a smoker's room.
But England's habit of beginning a Test series slowly is now ingrained.
The Dunedin pitch was as brown as cigarette tar and England coughed and
spluttered as if on 60 a day. Any fears of excessive swing or seam did
not materialise, but a holding surface was problem enough.
Nick Compton must have been more heartened than anybody by the warnings
from Andy Flower, England's director of cricket, Andy Flower, that Joe
Root's emergence must not be over-hyped. Root stayed down at No. 6 as
Flower ignored calls for him to open the innings in preparation for the
Ashes with Compton, whose England career has to date come with less
drooling, retained at the top of the order.
Both were dismissed by lunch. Compton's start to the series did nothing
to amplify Flower's belief that he remains England's safest choice. He
made a ten-ball duck and fell in the third over, playing on to Tim
Southee as he pushed hesitantly at a fullish ball and saw it spin back
onto his off stump.
It was the sluggish surface that did for Cook. He was dropped on nine,
reaching for a leg-side clip off Trent Boult and fortunate that Martin,
in his first morning of Test cricket, failed to hold a decent
opportunity as he dived to his right in front of square. When he tried
to carve Wagner over the off side, and mistimed the shot again, Hamish
Rutherford, another Test debutant given a catching opportunity, proved
more reliable. Wagner's Test record, which had comprised five wickets at
68.80 when his captain threw him the ball, was beginning to look a
little healthier.
Warwickshire pair of Ian Bell and Trott sorely needed to restore order.
Bell, on 19, survived a New Zealand review when he got a big inside edge
against Southee. The only batsman to show much form ahead of the Test
series, Bell displayed his usual moments of batting purity, only to
descend to batting naivety when Wagner returned shortly before lunch,
switched around the wicket and had him caught at short extra.
Neither was there any joy for the much-vaunted Root, who played
reluctantly at a back-of-a-length delivery from Boult, his bottom hand
removed from the bat, and dabbed to third slip, another poor shot on a
dreadful England morning.
It got no better after lunch. Matt Prior struck five off-side boundaries
in two overs then hunted another square cut against Martin and miscued
to short fine leg; Trott top-edged a sweep in the spinner's next over;
and Broad, who would have fallen lbw to Martin second ball if he had
dared to ask for a review, became the third victim in as many overs when
he yanked a long hop to deep square.
At 119 for 8, took solace in some tail-end resistance from Anderson and
Finn, but Finn also picked out deep square and when Anderson swung
himself off his feet, and sliced Martin to point, it summed up England's
debacle.
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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