There’s a glitch in the pitchside hoardings at the Oval. Two of the letters in the message “BUY YOUR TEST SHIRT NOW” have been compressed so that, for a large part of the third day’s play the word “SHIT” appeared to be written in 24-inch letters on the LCD screen that runs right beneath the England team’s balcony. It has been one of those weeks in English cricket. The optimism some people seemed to feel on the first day faltered on the second, and foundered altogether on the third when they conceded a lead of 100 runs in the first innings.
It is already beginning to feel like one of those games that not everyone gets back from. At times like this the debutants in the England dressing room feel like rookie pilots reporting for a first tour of duty in a war movie: “I’ve got 150 hours of flying time, sir.” Of the last 10 men to make their Test debuts for the team here at the Oval, only three – Chris Woakes, Harry Brook and Dawid Malan – went on to play for any length of time. The others, Tom Westley, Toby Roland-Jones, Josh Hull, Simon Kerrigan, were last spotted somewhere over the English channel.
For all the reports that suggest Ben Stokes and the England management have brokered something resembling peace over the past 48 hours, the team being led by Joe Root in the all-rounder’s absence still finds itself in strife.
A sappingly-hot third day at the Oval saw New Zealand steadily move into a position of dominance, reaching 252 for three in their second innings and leading by 352 runs. Based on the current trajectory of this second Test, Stokes will be returning for a high-stakes series decider at Trent Bridge next week.
Stumps: New Zealand lead by 352 runs
56th over: New Zealand 252-3 (Nicholls 119, Mitchell 32) Nicholls snicks Bethell wide of slip for four to end a trying day for England, one that was summed up by the unusual sight of Joe Root losing his rag with Emiio Gay.
New Zealand have batted them up out of the game and will resume tomorrow morning with a lead o f 352. Henry Nicholls, who came into the side after the retirement of Kane Williamson, made a terrific 11th Test century.
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55th over: New Zealand 247-3 (Nicholls 115, Mitchell 31) Nicholls times Tongue square on the off side for four, another classy stroke in an innings full of them.
On Sky Sports, Nasser Hussain says England’s bowling today has been fine, but that they’re playing catch-up from that dreadful performance in the field yesterday morning.
54th over: New Zealand 243-3 (Nicholls 111, Mitchell 31) “Go on Golden Arm!” chirps somebody in the England team as Jacob Bethell returns in place of Harry Brook. Mitchell sweeps firmly past short fine leg for four, and a andful of singles extend New Zealand’s lead to 343.
Time for one or two more overs before we can all go for an ice bath.
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53rd over: New Zealand 235-3 (Nicholls 109, Mitchell 25) Josh Tongue returns at the end of a sweltering day and has his first ball clipped for three by Mitchell. England haven’t wilted physically, they’ve just been outplayed.
52nd over: New Zealand 230-3 (Nicholls 108, Mitchell 21) Mitchell flicks Brook just wide of Gay. Four more.
New Zealand lead by 330.
51st over: New Zealand 221-3 (Nicholls 105, Mitchell 15) Mitchell launches Fisher over long-on for a spectacular six, New Zealand’s first of the match.
50th over: New Zealand 209-3 (Nicholls 104, Mitchell 5) It’s time for Harry Brook wrong-foot swingers (great band, etc). Mitchell must be desperate to launch him towards Tooting Broadway – “eeeee’s crap!” – but for now he defends watchfully. A maiden.
49th over: New Zealand 209-3 (Nicholls 104, Mitchell 5) A maiden from Fisher to Nicholls. Just under half an hour still to play. England’s bowlers would love to be hitting an ice bath right now.
“Obviously Bairstow could never continue smashing a ton every innings but it can’t be a coincidence that he wasn’t keeping in 2022,” writes Max Williams. “I kinda view Foakes as a holding midfielder in a great attacking side – he rarely makes the headlines but he allows other players to excel, batters and bowlers. Take him out and the team is unbalanced – see the Galácticos era of Real Madrid.
“The Brook thing is such a paradox. During the 2022-23 New Zealand tour, England discovered a player with the potential to become one of their greatest ever batsmen—yet, in the short term, it probably weakened the team. 2022-23 England didn’t need Harry Brook. Indeed if he had made way for the returning Bairstow – never gonna happen – England would’ve been a more rounded team, if a marginally less exciting one.
“(But you know what’s exciting? Winning the Ashes because your keeper hasn’t dropped Usman Khawaja yet again.)”
My biggest frustration is the ludicrous declaration on day one of the Ashes. That was the only time Stokes got high on his own supply, and it probably cost them the first Test. That said, even though they didn’t win that series, I remember it with so much affection both as an England fan and a cricket fan. In my IMO, it’s easily the best England Test series since 2005.
48th over: New Zealand 209-3 (Nicholls 104, Mitchell 5) At some stage New Zealand will have to think about a declaration, especially as modern over-rates are so pathetic. Ideally they would want around 140 overs to bowl England out, and yes I did type that with a straight face.
England have been terrible at batting for a draw, as we know, but on paper this line-up is more suited to batting time. At some stage in his Test career Jacob Bethell is going to make a match-saving 24 not out from 240 balls. I doubt it’ll be this weekend, but who knows.
47th over: New Zealand 208-3 (Nicholls 103, Mitchell 5) A mouthwatering series decider begins at Trent Bridge next Thursday. Right now, there’s more chance of guessing tomorrow’s lottery numbers than predicting the England XI. But since you asked so obsequiously, I’ll guess Duckett, Gay, Bethell, Root, Brook, Smith, Stokes (c), Atkinson, Robinson, Tongue, Bashir. In other words, the same team that played at Lord’s before it all went eff-up.
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Henry Nicholls' 11th Test century!
46th over: New Zealand 208-3 (Nicholls 103, Mitchell 5) That’ll do! Nicholls jumps on a long hop for Bethell, smashing it through midwicket for four to bring up a superb century from only 136 balls. One or two have flown off the glove but for the rest of the innings he has played with such control.
Oh, and the first person to say ‘Kane Who? gets a slap.
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45th over: New Zealand 199-3 (Nicholls 98, Mitchell 1) The umpire Nitin Menon is having a word with Joe Root; I’m not sure what it’s about but Root’s face is a picture of weary disagreement. After three days, he looks like he’s had his fill of this nonsense.
Fisher replaces Baker and makes Nicholls wait for his century with an accurate maiden. No need for Nicholls to force it, he can just wait for a bad ball.
44th over: New Zealand 199-3 (Nicholls 98, Mitchell 1) Bethell is worked for a couple of singles. On a day when there is plenty of talk about England’s spin options, Nottinghamshire’s Liam Patterson-White has taken a cheap six-for to dismiss Essex for 184.
43rd over: New Zealand 197-3 (Nicholls 97, Mitchell 0) Nicholls tries to pull a skiddy bumper from Baker and gloves it down the leg side for four. He flat-bats the next ball whence it came for another boundary, though on that occasion Baker probably should have stopped it in his follow-through. Nicholls is three away from his 11th Test century.
42nd over: New Zealand 189-3 (Nicholls 89, Mitchell 0) “I really hope NZ play enough Tests for Rachin to have the chance to score 7000-8000 Test runs,” writes Abhishek Chopra. “He is such a charmer with the bat. And also, such a breath of fresh air because he neatly avoids the lazy elegance box as well as the stodgy accumulation box.”
Ravindra missed a sweep at a good delivery from Bethell that turned to hit the pad somewhere around off stump. There’s no doubt it would have hit gone on to hit the stumps, tut there was a chance Ravindra got outside the line and that’s why he reviewed.
It was close, closer than closer closer than ever can imag umpire’s call on impact, so the on-field decision was decisive. Ravindra’s innings was a gem: 76 from 99 balls with 15 pristine boundaries.
WICKET! New Zealand 189-3 (Ravindra LBW b Bethell 76)
Jacob Bethell takes his fourth wicket of the match.
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41st over: New Zealand 186-2 (Nicholls 87, Ravindra 75) Nicholls knows that Baker is going to dig it in short, so he backs away to swat another boundary over the off side. Lovely stuff.
“I’m also with you on rather discussing Max Williams/your views than watching this Test run away from us,” writes Guy Hornsby. “I’m fast coming to the position where those first two years were an exhilarating ride which I will always remember with pure happiness before the shortcomings of the McCullum regime began to fray with newer picks. It feels like we’re at the embers of this regime. And while the fallout may be brutal, I will always love what it gave us in those magical months.”
England, boring old England, had the most exciting batting line-up in the entire bloody history of Test cricket. That’s cold, hard, statistical fact. I suspect history will be a lot kinder to them than the present.
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40th over: New Zealand 180-2 (Nicholls 82, Ravindra 74) A delivery from Bethell bounces grotesquely at Nicholls, who fends it to safety on the leg side. Yikes.
“Easy to be wise after the event (although in fairness, I was saying this before the game!) but I’d have played Rehan ahead of Cox here,” writes Phil Harrison. “I guess his time will come but I think they’re underusing him slightly. I know everyone says he needs to establish himself as a batting allrounder. But he has 22 Test wickets at 31 which ain’t bad. They’d love a bit of him right now...”
Rehan at No7, with this particular bowling line-up, would have been way too long a tail I think. And those 22 wickets at 31 were all taken overseas. I do really like Rehan, I’m just not sure of his role (yet) and I think batting him at No7 in this particular team would be too risky. Then again, they’re going to lose anyway so what’s the worst that could have happened.
I guess the broader point is that, in the absence of Stokes, there’s no way of picking a balanced XI.
39th over: New Zealand 175-2 (Nicholls 79, Ravindra 72) Baker replaces Tongue and charges into Ravindra, who nails a pull round the corner. That’s Ravindra’s 15th four in a score of just 71.
New Zealand lead by 275 and it’s increasingly to see how England can win this game. On the plus side, after all the criticism of England’s fly-by-night batting, it’d be a helluva PR gesture if they bat 150 overs to a Test.
38th over: New Zealand 169-2 (Nicholls 78, Ravindra 67) Jacob Bethell is coming into the attack, although maybe ‘into the defence’ would be a better description given the balance of play.
Root spots Emilio Gay running towards the wrong fielding position and shouts angrily at him. That’s seriously out of character, and the chances of Root captaining England through to the Ashes – which was mooted before this game – are dwindling by the minute. He doesn’t need this flip.
Oh dear, that won’t improve Root’s humour. Ravindra inside-edged a defensive stroke off Bethell, with the looping up on the leg side. Gay, at short leg, tried to take a diving catch with one hand rather than two and failed to get anything on it. Tough chance, but a chance nonetheless.
37th over: New Zealand 168-2 (Nicholls 77, Ravindra 67) Tongue’s first ball is too short and waved for four by Ravindra. He ends the over with another boundary, pulling round the corner with superb placement.
Ravindra’s innings has felt routine, partly because he makes batting look so easy, but this has been a demonstration of character as well as style. Ravindra had a hideous game at Lord’s, then gave his wicket away in the first innings, so there was plenty of pressure when he came to the crease.
36th over: New Zealand 157-2 (Nicholls 75, Ravindra 58) Nicholas charges Root and lifts four more down the ground. England look flat and are missing Ben Stokes both as captain and bowler. This situation is perfect for one of Stokes’ mammoth spells.
35th over: New Zealand 151-2 (Nicholls 70, Ravindra 57) A lifter from Tongue hits Nicholls on the glove, prompting a break in play while he receives treatment. He’s fine.
“That 2022 summer really was an astonishing time, wasn’t it?” writes Max Williams. “Ever-escalating run-chases reeled off with ever-increasing ease. I’ll go to my grave insisting England win the 2023 Ashes – comfortably – if they pick Ben Foakes but I understand their determination to get in Jonny Bairstow after his miracles the year before.
“It’s funny that Stuart Broad is the only player from those 2022 Bazball series to have retired – yet Root and Stokes are the only survivors. Individually the batting lineup looks stronger (at least when everyone’s available), but as a collective it feels more fragile somehow. Maybe it’s a case of higher ceiling, lower floor.
“I know it’s important to evolve but England had something very special that 2022 summer, and they’ve lost it somewhere along the way these last couple of years. On a prosaic level, you point to the bowling attack, the absence of Broad, Anderson, Woakes and Wood. But it’s deeper than that. Spiritually, it just doesn’t seem fun anymore.
“I guess transforming the mindset of a beleaguered Test team reeling from record defeats and Covid restrictions is a bit like being 21. It’s fragile, it’s brief, it’s brilliant, and you only get to do it once.”
So many good points in there, and I wish we could just talk about them for the next two hours rather than watch New Zealand apply their foot to England’s throat.
I’m also fascinated by a parallel universe in which Jonny Bairstow doesn’t suffer that horrific leg-break. His batting in 2022 is the best I’ve ever seen from an England player in a single season. He was never quite the same, though he did panel 99 against Australia in 2023 and there’s a decent argument that England drew a line through his name prematurely. The injury also affected his keeping in the Ashes, as you referenced with the mention of Ben Foakes. Against that, Bairstow’s injury led to the introduciton of Harry Brook. Clearly Brook would have made it; I’m just not sure when a vacancy would have opened up.
34th over: New Zealand 147-2 (Nicholls 70, Ravindra 57) Root bowls a wider delivery to Ravindra that turns straight to first slip. There was always a chance this would happen, that we’d be lamenting the absence of Shoaib Bashir, but in the absence of Ben Stokes it was impossible for England to pick a balanced XI.
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33rd over: New Zealand 146-2 (Nicholls 69, Ravindra 57) Ravindra greets the new bowler Josh Tongue with a delicious extra-cover drive for four. I bet Phil Walker’s knees are chattering like comedy dentures after that stroke; he’s Ravindra’s No1 fan.
It’s the first of three boundaries in the over. A square drive takes Ravindra to a charming fifty from 79 balls; he celebrates by stiffening the wrists to work Tongue through midwicket for four more.
New Zealand are taking this game away from England in a hurry. Since tea they’ve scored 52 in eight overs.
32nd over: New Zealand 134-2 (Nicholls 69, Ravindra 45) Joe Root comes on for a quick over, and why not.
31st over: New Zealand 130-2 (Nicholls 66, Ravindra 44) Archer is steaming in, trying to force the wicket England desperately need. Nicholls turns him this far short of Emilio Gay at leg slip; it was so close that the crowd cheered a wicket before Gay’s body language harshed their buzz.
“Ah, Fourth-Innings Miracles (3.47pm),” chirps Matt Dony. “The cult jangle-pop 1980’s band from Derby. Never achieved commercial success, but their second album (Sharp But Wicketless) still appears on greatest album lists.”
Have you been listening to Lowgold again, Matthew? If not, you should – in an admittedly niche field, their debut is the finest album with a cricket-themed title ever released.
30th over: New Zealand 128-2 (Nicholls 65, Ravindra 43) Nicholls threads a beautiful drive for four off Fisher, perfectly placed between mid-off and extra cover. It was such a high-class shot that I assumed it was played by Ravindra.
That boundary brings up a quietly dominant hundred partnership, which has come in less than 22 overs. England need a wicket urgently or they can probably forget it.
29th over: New Zealand 124-2 (Nicholls 61, Ravindra 43) Four more to Nicholls, who has equalled his highest score in a Test away to any of the big three. The financial big three, that is.
28th over: New Zealand 119-2 (Nicholls 56, Ravindra 43) Nicholls square-drives Fisher for four to reach a 72-ball half-century. It’s been a really good innings, a study in how to minimise risk and still have a strike rate of 70-odd.
A deliberate steer past the keeper gives Nicholls another boundary, and Ravindra repeats the stroke later in the over. Thirteen from the over. New Zealand lead by 219 and England are approaching the point of no return.
27th over: New Zealand 106-2 (Nicholls 47, Ravindra 39) Nicholls tries to pull Archer, is beaten for pace and gloves the ball down the leg side for four. Rew leapt to his right but I don’t think he got a touch on it. He may have dived past the ball.
Ravindra shows how it should be done with an emphatic pull stroke between midwicket and mid-on. That’s Ravindra’s eighth four in a score of 39; I’d need to check but I think he’s scored roughly 82.05% of his runs in boundaries.
26th over: New Zealand 97-2 (Nicholls 42, Ravindra 35) Matt Fisher starts after tea with the keeper up to the stumps. Nicholls moves into the forties with a nice square drive for three, then Ravindra chases a very wide delivery and is beaten. Poor shot, that.
Ben Stokes and Gus Atkinson are in action for their counties today. Stokes has bowled 11 sharp but wicketless overs against Northants; Atkinson has figures of 15-7-33-2 against Glamorgan.
England’s performance has been quite good, but they’re still playing catch-up after a miserable day two. They’re not out of this game, not with their record of fourth-innings miracles, but they could be by the close of play.
Tea
25th over: New Zealand 94-2 (Nicholls 39, Ravindra 35) Glorious shot from Ravindra, a back-foot drive through extra cover off Baker that races away for four. He follows that with an immaculate forward defensive off the last ball of the afternoon session. New Zealand lead by 194.
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24th over: New Zealand 90-2 (Nicholls 39, Ravindra 31) Archer returns just before tea. He starts with a couple of bumpers to Nicholls, then explores a more orthodox length. After five dot balls, Nicholls plays a lovely back-foot punch to the pont boundary. He doesn’t have a great record in England – six Tests, average 26 – but he’s playing really nicely here.
23rd over: New Zealand 86-2 (Nicholls 35, Ravindra 31) Ravindra cuts Baker into the ground with such timing that the ball bursts through the hands of Gay in the covers and runs all the way for four. Jordan Cox tries to save the boundary, slips and hurts his knee. He’s wincing but is still on the field.
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England have won Tests from this sort of position under Brendon McCullum, even if most of the current XI weren’t involved. At Edgbaston in 2022, for example, India were effectively 285 for 3 in their second innings yet England won by seven wickets. They don’t get enough credit for what was a pretty astonishing victory. They could have chased 500+, mainly because Jonny Bairstow was enjoying the purplest patch of any England batter in my lifetime.
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22nd over: New Zealand 81-2 (Nicholls 34, Ravindra 27) Nicholls brings up an excelent fifty partnership with back-to-back boundaries off Root, a graceful chip down the ground and a wave past mid-off. Lovely stuff.
21st over: New Zealand 72-2 (Nicholls 25, Ravindra 27) Thanks Jim, hello everyone. Sonny Baker switches ends and tests Ravindra’s patience angles a series of rapid deliveries across him. Ravindra ignores the majority of them. Even his leaves are elegant!
20th over: New Zealand 72-2 (Nicholls 27, Ravindra 25) Ravindra and Nicholls do not want Root to settle into a spell, they are looking to be aggressive, knock him out of the attack so England have to rotate their seamers in the mid-afternoon heat. Nicholls prods forward and a teensy inside edge saves him from being trapped lbw! Root whistles through his over, just a single off it.
Rob Smyth scooches his way into the OBO deckchair for the rest of the day, zinc smeared in a thick tramline across his nose. My time here is done. Thanks for your company.
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19th over: New Zealand 71-2 (Nicholls 26, Ravindra 25) That is a vicious pea-roller from Josh Tongue! Ravindra had no chance if that was straight, Bethell at Lord’s areas. Unplayable. Ravindra drives the next ball down the ground and Archer dives over it. Four runs. Both batters looking set now, ominous for England with the lead up to 171.
18th over: New Zealand 66-2 (Nicholls 25, Ravindra 21) Joe Root brings himself on for a twir and there’s a huge appeal first ball! Nicholls prods forward and the ball hits him on the knee roll. The umpire says no and England choose not to review. It was missing leg. Eventful first over from Root, a quick single sees Archer have a shy at the stumps but miss from mid on and then Ravindra tries to launch him down the ground but almost dollies a catch to Archer, who parries it after one bounce. Good start, Joseph.
17th over: New Zealand 62-2 (Nicholls 23, Ravindra 19) Tongue again, this has been an excellent spell so far. Mark Wood and Stuart Broad on the Sky comms coo and say he looks like he is in lovely rhythm, challenging the stumps, pads and the edge. Funky field from Root, with three fielders in close catching in a ring on the leg side to Nicholls. Funk-eh. A quick single sees Ravindra diving for his ground. He dusts himself off, calls for a new pair of gloves, then pings the final ball away for four through midwicket.
16th over: New Zealand 57-2 (Nicholls 22, Ravindra 15) Baker is pushing the speed needle but leaking a few runs, he drifts onto Ravindra’s pads and is whipped away for four through a vacant midwicket. Don’t bowl there son(ny).
15th over: New Zealand 52-2 (Nicholls 21, Ravindra 11) James Rew drops a clanger behind the stumps! Tongue draws Ravindra into a drive, the nick is found and Rew spills it tumbling away to his left. It’s a bad miss for the Somerset man, the ball hit the meat of the glove but bounced straight out. Salt, meet Wound. Ravindra clips the next ball for four off his toes. Loud groans here at the Oval as the dropped catch is replayed on the screens.
14th over: New Zealand 48-2 (Nicholls 21, Ravindra 7) Baker resumes from the Vauxhall End. Nicholls collects two with a clip off his hip. He’s looking comfortable out there, New Zealand’s lead up to 148 with an angled guide past point. Baker pushing 90mph here.
13th over: New Zealand 44-2 (Nicholls 17, Ravindra 7) Joe Root saves four with a sharp bit of fielding at midwicket. Tongue is very full once more, pads and stumps very much in play. Nicholls uses the angle to work a single into the leg side. Ravindra goes one better and collects two with a flick through midwicket. Time for a hydration break. Pass the Soleros?
12th over: New Zealand 41-2 (Nicholls 16, Ravindra 5) Baker hurtles in, Ravindra guides a single to the off side, Nicholls picks up a brace through cover and makes it four off the over with a clip behind square.
A New England? writes Billy Bragg Guy Hornsby.
“Afternoon James, afternoon everyone. Despite a familiar feeling of frustration this last few sessions, this is a fascinating glimpse into a bit of England’s future too, and Root 2.0’s captaincy. We lost our way yesterday morning, and last evening, but with Fisher’s batting and this new, exciting attack, it’ll be instructive how we go about this with such a green bowling group. I can forgive a loss if we go about it the right way, both today and when we bat again. There is a lot to like about all the new picks, after all. I doubt Rew will hook again with so much looseness, nor Fisher and Baker be as frenetic.”
11th over: New Zealand 37-2 (Nicholls 13, Ravindra 4) Josh Tongue continues from the Pavilion End. He looks fit and strong, built like the proverbial brick outhouse. Nicholls gets forward and defends, the ball lasering in on his front pad. Another maiden for Tongue. Sonny Baker is replacing Fisher from the Vauxhall End.
10th over: New Zealand 37-2 (Nicholls 13, Ravindra 4) Rew is up to the stumps to Fisher but his somewhat scruffy performance with the gloves continues as he lets four byes through his legs of his finger ends. Shot! Ravindra plays an aesthetically pleasing pull shot that gives off a satisfying crunch, the ball skimming away to the sponge at midwicket.
9th over: New Zealand 28-2 (Nicholls 12, Ravindra 0) Rachin Ravindra joins Nicholls. This is turning into the classic ‘tricky third innings’ for the Kiwis, albeit they are effectively 128-2. Tongue is fast and straight, he hits Ravindra on the front pad and there’s a huge appeal from fielders and the crowd but the umpire is unmoved. England choose not to review, wisely, it was missing leg stump. Excitement building here at the Oval, the match is on the boil. Excellent first over from Tongue, a wicket maiden.
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WICKET! Devon Conway c Brook b Tongue 11 (New Zealand 28-2)
Tongue strikes with his first ball! Conway throws his hands at a length delivery outside off and the edge flies into the safe hands of Harry Brook at second slip. Lovely catch from Brook, it was travelling. Conway looks to the heavens and drags himself from the middle.
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Josh Tongue is replacing Jofra Archer…
8th over: New Zealand 28-1 (Conway 11, Nicholls 12) Fisher gets one to spit like a grouchy camel off a length, Conway does well to glove it straight down into the pitch.
7th over: New Zealand 25-1 (Conway 10, Nicholls 10) Archer into his fourth over, this could be the last of his opening burst. Conway pushes a single to mid on. Nicholls looks compact, he drives a full ball away through cover for four with no fuss whatsoever. Both batters reach double figures.
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6th over: New Zealand 17-1 (Conway 6, Nicholls 4) Fisher strays a smidge too straight and is whipped away for three runs by Conway.
5th over: New Zealand 14-1 (Conway 6, Nicholls 4) Archer again, he’s in the channel outside off. Nicholls is watchful, get through this period with the new ball and things get much easier for New Zealand. Easier said than done. Nicholls guides with Andrex soft hands past point for a couple.
4th over: New Zealand 12-1 (Conway 6, Nicholls 2) My oh My! Fisher gets one to swing back to Conway, the batter leaves it but the dramatic late movement sees the ball pass so close to the off bail. The crowd gasp when they see the replay on the big screen. Conway pretends he hasn’t seen it, and anyway, a good leave is a good leave, what are you all worried about?
3rd over: New Zealand 10-1 (Conway 4, Nicholls 2) Archer is steaming in, the crowd clap each step, new batter Henry Nicholls is cut in half first ball! Archer has his hands on his head, he’s well and truly in the hunt here. His next ball pops up off Nicholls thigh pad as the batter is beaten for pace. Close again! Nicholls pokes with no feet movement off the fifth and then gets two with a similar shot off the last. He is lucky to survive the over, Archer finishes his second to loud applause.
WICKET! Tom Latham c Rew b Archer 4 (New Zealand 8-1)
Jofra Archer does the business early on for England! Lovely ball, jags away off the seam and Latham can’t resist a nibble. Rew takes the catch and England are buoyed.
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2nd over: New Zealand 8-0 (Latham 4, Conway 4) Matt Fisher to start from the Vauxhall End, he’ll be full of confidence on the back of his fifty. Latham tickles a single to leg but Conway is given a much stiffer examination, one ball lifting and wrapping the gloves, could easily have landed on the timbers. Good start from Fisher.
1st over: New Zealand 7-0 (Latham 3, Conway 4) Archer is around the wicket with two slips and a gully in place. His first ball is arrowed into the pads and Latham gladly tucks away for a couple to get New Zealand’s second innings underway. Latham drops a single into the leg side. Shot! Conway drives a full ball past mid off for four. Archer’s final delivery is zippy and angles back in to Conway, who leaves the ball to travel at waist height over the top of the stumps.
The England bowlers go through their motions to a set of plastic stumps on the outfield, they need early wickets in order to get themselves back into this Test match but you couldn’t ask for nice conditions in which to bat. Fisher and Baker showed that there is nothing to fear in the wicket.
Tom Latham and Devon Conway mark their guards. Jofra Archer is announced, here we go.
Lunchtime Quizzing:
England all out for 291 (New Zealand lead by 100 runs)
Sonny Baker has a full over of Kyle Jamieson to negotiate… he nicks his fifth ball and that is that. England are all out and the calculations are simple, New Zealand lead by 100 runs after an innings each. Fisher walks off undefeated with fifty runs to his name, Sonny Baker played his part too, surviving for long enough to chalk up his longest innings in any format of professional cricket.
Time for lunch.
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83rd over: England 291-9 (Fisher 50, Baker 4) Matt Fisher is four away from a Test half century. He attempts two drives to Matt Henry but misses both. There it is! The crowd stand to Matt Fisher as he clips off his toes for four to bring up fifty. He offers a shy wave of the bat. That’s the fifty partnership too, Fisher and Baker have done sterling work to get the lead reduced to 100.
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82nd over: England 287-9 (Fisher 46, Baker 4) Jamieson returns for a burst with the new nut, he fires the first ball down the leg side and Baker gets in line to pat back the rest. It’s a maiden over but the home fans cheer as it’s another over survived and Fisher can continue on his merry way at the other end.
81st over: England 287-9 (Fisher 46, Baker 4) New Zealand take the new ball and summon Matt Henry. England have reduced the deficit to 110 runs and this last wicket partnership is up to 43 runs. Make that 45, Fisher drives uppishly for two into the off side. Make that 49! Fisher steps away and carves Henry over the slips for four.
“Is this the most miraculous total from a Baker and Fisher since the feeding of the 5,000?” asks a Biblical Mark Puttick.
80th over: England 281-9 (Fisher 40, Baker 4) Remarkable field here at the Oval as nearly ever fielder is out on the boundary. Expect short stuff. Smith hares in and Fisher connects with a pull shot, the ball bisecting two fielders and haring away to the boundary! A hearty cheer from the home fans. Shot! Fisher is seeing it well now, he leans back and carves Smith over backward point for four more!
79th over: England 272-9 (Fisher 31, Baker 4) Matt Fisher aims a big mow to Ravindra and misses. Tom Blundell spills a chance. The Keith Astbury jinx! Fisher gets a tickle behind and the chance goes down.
78th over: England 271-9 (Fisher 30, Baker 4) Shot! Fisher rolls his wrists like a sushi master and pulls a short ball from Smith for four. Two more worked into the leg side and the partnership grows to 33 runs.
Greetings from Keith Astbury:
“This is in no way having a go at young Rew on debut. He kept reasonably well in difficult circumstances - there really was some wayward bowling - but the difference between him and Blundell is massive.
Blundell is proof that a high quality keeper makes a difference, not least in the extras total.
To paraphrase the Coen Brothers... Oh Ben Foakes Where Art Thou?”
77th over: England 264-9 (Fisher 23, Baker 4) Fisher clips a single and Baker blocks out the rest of Ravindra. New Zealand are due a new ball in four overs, this partnership just starting to annoy them.
76th over: England 263-9 (Fisher 22, Baker 4) Fisher takes a single and leaves Baker with two ball of O’Rourke to negotiate, which he does. Solid. Rachin Ravindra is coming on to bowl some spin, you can almost hear the sighs of relief from the batters out in the middle. Sweet respite from the peppering.
75th over: England 262-9 (Fisher 21, Baker 4) Loud cheers at the Oval Sonny Baker edges Smith down past the cordon for four runs! There’s his first runs in Test cricket - ‘Look in the book!’
74th over: England 258-9 (Fisher 21, Baker 0) *Timothy Dalton voice* Things are going to get a little nasty. O’Rourke resumes after lunch with a field set for short pitched bowling. Sure enough the chin music begins, Fisher gets inside the line and glances for two, he’s shown plenty of ticker this morning. Ouch! Fisher is clanged on the helmet and we pause for a concussion test, after a few minutes he’s given the all clear and play resumes. Fisher flaps a little at the final ball but doesn’t connect. Baker will be on strike for the next, a first Test run evading him at the moment.
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73rd over: England 256-9 (Fisher 19, Baker 0) England survive the first hour of play, just.
Oh, Ben Stokes has just started bowling for Durham. What a strange world.
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72nd over: England 255-9 (Fisher 18, Baker 0) O’Rourke replaces Jamieson, Fisher greets a full ball loosener with a flowing blade through cover for four. A leg bye off the final ball sees Fisher pinch the strike. New Zealand lead by 136 runs, every one that this final pair can wipe out might prove crucial.
OBO stalwart Tim de Lisle has been crunching some numbers:
NZ top six:
Highest score 51. Lowest score 9. All the rest between 24 and 44.
Total 188
England top six:
Highest score 53. Lowest score 9. All the rest between 24 and 46.
Total 192
The difference between the sides: Phillips’ and Jamieson’s batting. Or Henry’s bowling and Blundell’s keeping. Or Latham’s captaincy. Take your pick!”
71st over: England 250-9 (Fisher 14, Baker 0) Fisher takes a single off Matt Henry to leave Sonny Baker with five balls to face. The youngster is beaten twice outside off but survives the over, a first Test run still proving elusive.
70th over: England 249-9 (Fisher 13, Baker 0) This is a brave knock from Matt Fisher, Jamieson thunks a short ball into his gloves and it ricochets into his midriff. That will leave a bruise. Fisher then stands tall to glide for two past point and then controls a pull off the final ball for a single to keep strike.
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69th over: England 246-9 (Fisher 10, Baker 0) Fun and games between Fisher and Baker, both could have been run out in the attempt to take a non existent second run but New Zealand throw to the wrong end and Blundell then fumbles. Henry bangs a couple in short, Fisher then plays a lovely back foot punch and collects three through the off side. He’s into double figures.
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68th over: England 241-9 (Fisher 5, Baker 0) Sonny Baker is England’s last man. I haven’t seen too much of him with the bat but I don’t think New Zealand’s 150 odd lead is in too much jeopardy. Fisher clubs a couple off Jamieson and then takes a single to give Baker his first taste of Test match batting. Baker fences at two balls in a row and is beaten.
67th over: England 238-9 (Fisher 2, Baker 0) “Latham is captaining the Kiwis really well” writes Colum Fordham. “Clever field placings (short mid wicket to get Cox out) ably supported by his fielders and bowlers. England fielded poorly and batted recklessly yesterday. At this rate, New Zealand are going to get a more than decent lead. I hope Stokes gains redemption and comes back for what promises to be the decider at Trent Bridge.”
That would be good, wouldn’t it?
WICKET! Josh Tongue c Smith b Henry 1 (England 238-9)
Matt Henry has five! Tongue plinks a drive to mid on where Nathan Smith juggles a catch trotting backwards, it pops out and he snaffles it at the second grab!
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66th over: England 237-8 (Fisher 1, Tongue 1) Jamieson slams down another maiden. You’d hate to face it. You especially.
Tanya Aldred is on Ben Stokes watch at Chester-le-Street:
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65th over: England 237-8 (Fisher 1, Tongue 1) Josh Tongue joins Fisher and gets off the mark first ball with a neat clip off his toes. England still trail by 154 runs, which could well be terminal.
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WICKET! Jofra Archer c Blundell b Henry 8 (England 236-8)
Archer is caught behind from a loose poke outside off and England are nearly all done for here. Matt Henry wheels away in celebration of his fourth wicket, sharp catch by Tom Blundell behind the sticks.
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64th over: England 236-7 (Archer 8, Fisher 1) An unmistakeable waft of Ambre Solaire hits my nostrils. Delightful. Matthew Fisher has something else up and around his nose, a series of short balls from Kyle Jamieson. He does well to duck and sway, one ball thuds into his right flank as he doesn’t get out of the way quick enough but he survives the over, a maiden.
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63rd over: England 236-7 (Archer 8, Fisher 1) Matthew Fisher is the new batter, England still trail by 155 runs. Close! Fisher pokes at his first ball and the edge falls this short of first slip. He’s off the mark next ball with a drop into the off side. Eeeeesht! Archer is very nearly pinned LBW by Henry but an inside edge saves him. Henry has his dander up and looks dangerous every ball.
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WICKET! Jordan Cox c Latham b Henry 27 (England 235-7)
Gah! Cox is livid with himself after he whips a straight ball in the air and gifts his wicket away! Latham takes a sharp but simple catch at short midwicket and Cox has to depart. He spits his gum and middles it with his blade as he stomps from the middle. He middled the shot he got out to too… but straight to the man.
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62nd over: England 235-6 (Cox 27, Archer 8) Jamieson was a bit off the boil yesterday and his fortunes don’t look too much brighter in the early stages of day three. Archer drives solidly and holds the pose as the ball beats the fielder and goes for four and then follows up with a castanet crack of a cut shot for four more. Short and wide from Jamieson, nicht gut.
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61st over: England 227-6 (Cox 27, Archer 0) Shot! Cox flicks his wrists on a half volley from Matt Henry and the ball traces away for four across the baking square. Lovely timing on that.
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60th over: England 223-6 (Cox 23, Archer 0) It will be intriguing to see how Cox plays this morning, I have a feeling we might see some dashing strokeplay if he can hang around for a few overs and get settled. Jamieson is back of a length, Cox lets one pass by and then defends with a straight bat to mid off. The Oval is thrumming with excitement and plenty of folk can be spied applying a thick layer of sun cream, there isn’t a lot of shade here at the moment. A cheer greets Cox and England’s first run of the day, a guide to point for single off the final delivery.
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Righto, here come the players, Kyle Jamieson is going to start with the ball. Jordan Cox on strike. The game on the line. Let’s play.
Just read this beautiful piece from my pal Jon Hotten who watched Rew and Cox make their way for the first time in Test cricket from a lofty perch (lah-di-dah) here at the Oval:
Yesterday at the Oval, James Rew walked out to bat as England’s number six. The score was 170-4, and, disconcertingly, he had to pass Joe Root, who was stomping off having reviewed a marginal leg before decision and not much enjoyed the result. Has there ever, in the history of the game, been such a disparity between outgoing batter and the incoming one? Root had just fallen to the 24,327th delivery he received in Test cricket. Rew, as if he needed reminding, was yet to face a single ball. What would he give, at that moment, for just one of Root’s 13,998 runs?
Tom Blundell remained up to the stumps. Matt Henry switched to around the wicket. It must have been an out-of-body experience for James Rew, that first delivery. No matter how you prepare, how long you have visualised the moment, it can’t have been like this, not 170-4 on a muggy afternoon at the Oval, the captain out, the early serenity of the afternoon’s play broken open, this lifetime’s dream now a visceral reality.”
Today is A Day for Thorpey at the Oval. You can find out all about it here.
What a player. Much missed.
Thorpe’s in” or “Thorpe’s still in” were words that always provided some solace in the back seats. Thorpe was a headbanded and hard-bitten nugget of hope. A zinc-lipped beacon. A “Kookaburra Bubble” stickered mast on which to cling as England found themselves taking on wave after wave of all-time great bowlers. Be it night or day, seam or spin, lost cause, dead rubber or soul stirring victory – Graham Thorpe was batting.
Against a rolling backdrop of Cornhill Insurance, npower girls, spindly gasometers, snow-capped mountains and Tetley Beer hoardings – Graham Thorpe was batting. Against Australia, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park and the aliens of Independence Day – Graham Thorpe was batting. During Labour landslides, Knebworth singalongs, through BSE, foot and mouth and Millennium Bugs. Somehow, Graham Thorpe was batting the entirety of the decade.”
The players are on the outfield warming up here at the Oval, not that they really need to, it is ‘Scorchio!’
A couple of Kiwi squad members do some sprint training about 80 metres away from my seat in the outdoor press box. Good on them, I’m going to find some coffee.
Could the Ben Stokes saga be nearing a sensible conclusion?
Andy Bull wrote about Sonny Baker’s second day as a Test cricketer:
But the next morning was a lesson, if he needed it, that Test cricket turns on you pretty quick. Root had decided Baker should open the bowling. His first ball flew high and wide for four byes down the leg side, his second shot away off the outside edge of Glenn Phillips’s bat for four more.
His second over started with a ball that was thumped through point by Kyle Jamieson, who bats, nowadays, like Paul Bunyan setting about a forest of Redwoods. The next was another boundary, slashed over the top of the wicketkeeper. And then Baker got him to pull one high out towards deep midwicket.
Baker threw his hands up in celebration at the catch, then dropped them again as he watched Ben Duckett fumble it. Just to rub it in, Jamieson took the single while this was happening, and Phillips carted Baker’s next delivery away square. At this point he had conceded five boundaries in 10 deliveries. The game was running away from him as if it was on a flywheel.”
Catch up on the day two action with Ali Martin’s report:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to ‘moving day’ at the Oval. The sky is show off blue in South London and the sun is already beating down, if ever there was a day for batting, batting and batting some more then this is patently it.
England need runs. A flat and at times downright confused morning in the field yesterday saw Glenn Phillips score his maiden Test century and New Zealand post a decent first innings score of 391-6. Joe Root’s men will resume on 222-6 this morning with the whole kit and caboodle back in the sheds… apart from Jordan Cox on Test match debut.
Cox was nervy last night but managed to get through to the close and earn the opportunity to bat in heaven sent conditions this morning. His fellow debutant James Rew will be wishing he had done the same instead of instinctively hooking to an O’Rourke short ball and departing amongst the long shadows.
Cox has 22 to his name and Jofra Archer for company, England trail by 169 and need one of their debutants to dig them out of a hole.
Play begins at 11am, join us.
