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England
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22-26 July 1999 (John Ward)
Day 1: Cairns and Nash put England on the ropes
The weather was overcast, but with no sign of rain as England and New
Zealand prepared to meet in the Second Test at Lord's. England won the
toss and decided to bat, despite the cloud cover, on what appeared to be a
sound batting pitch.
With Darren Gough still unfit with his calf injury, England selected the
same team that won the First Test at Edgbaston just over two weeks ago.
Unfortunately the batting hero on that occasion, pace bowler Alex Tudor,
was forced to withdraw at the last minute with an injury to his left knee,
to be replaced by Dean Headley. New Zealand made only one change,
strengthening their batting by bringing in Matthew Bell to open, while seam
bowler Simon Doull, with an injured knee, dropped out. Bell was expected
to open the batting in place of Roger Twose, who dropped to number six
after his double failure at Edgbaston.
For England, much of the interest concerned the batting form of Alec
Stewart, whose recent run of low scores put him under intense pressure from
the media. The team as a whole wanted to improve on England's poor record
at headquarters in recent years, while New Zealand were hoping they could
rise to the big occasion as so many touring teams do. Otherwise England
appeared to have the stronger team on paper.
Perhaps due to New Zealand's low profile, there was not quite the usual
buzz of excitement expected at the start of a Test match, and particularly
one at Lord's. Ten minutes before play was due to start, the ground was
still half-empty and lacking the usual degree of frenetic activity present
on such occasions.
After scoring a single off the first ball of the match, Butcher became
bogged down, with Stewart looking much the more confident of the two
openers, despite his recent run of low scores. He had his share of luck,
no doubt overdue, as he could have been run out early on had a throw from
the covers hit the stumps directly, and once or twice came close to playing
on. But he went for his strokes, and played some fine cuts and pulls
against bowling that tended to drop short early on.
The New Zealand bowling was by no means dangerous, but at times even
Stewart failed to take toll of the bad balls they did bowl, and they grew
in confidence as the day progressed. The first genuine appeal of the day
took over 40 minutes in coming, as Cairns bellowed forth in vain after
hitting Butcher, playing well forward, on the front pad.
The opening partnership lasted precisely one hour. Butcher, never able to
score freely, eventually flashed at Cairns with perhaps a touch of
desperation, and certainly a touch of the inside edge, which was picked up
easily by Adam Parore behind the stumps. His 8 runs took him 51 balls, but
at least had shared in an opening stand of 35; not great, certainly, but
perhaps something England would be prepared to settle for after their run
of recent poor starts.
Stewart hit three boundaries in an over from Nash, which took him to 6000
Test runs, and became particularly adept in dabbing Nash to the third-man
boundary. This eventually proved to be his undoing as, immediately after
reaching his fifty off only 58 balls, he tried it again and snicked a low
catch that was held by Fleming at first slip. Nevertheless it had been a
fine innings of 50, and England were 79 for two.
New Zealand almost earned another wicket, and Nash was bitterly
disappointed to have a good lbw appeal against Thorpe, before he had
scored, rejected. Hussain began the afternoon session with aggression,
cutting the hitherto economical Cairns high to the point boundary and then
gliding him for another four to third man in the same over. Thorpe looked
less certain and had to feel his way through the first few overs, but he
finally brought up the team's hundred by hooking Cairns smartly for four.
It was flattery only to deceive, though, as shortly afterwards he was
straightened up by a good straight delivery from Cairns that took the edge
of his bat and was well caught low down by Astle at second slip. England
were now looking rather fragile at 102 for three, Thorpe having scored 7.
Ramprakash got off the mark with an edge that just failed to carry to the
slips and squeezed between the fielders to reach the third-man boundary.
His good fortune did not last long, however, as he played inside a low full
toss from Nash and was adjudged lbw by umpire Koertzen. The only question
was whether the ball, swinging in from the off, might have swung so far as
to miss leg stump; the television replay suggested it was a sound decision,
with the batsman across the crease rather than down the pitch.
Hussain drove Cairns through extra cover for four, but the next ball went
right through him without dismissing him. Aftab Habib, after some natural
early uncertainty, recorded his first boundary in Test cricket by placing
Cairns neatly backward of point, and then tucked his next ball confidently
on the leg side for a single. Appearances were deceptive, however, as he
faced up to Nash, and was immediately bowled by a ball that moved in
slightly and bowled him right through the gate, knocking back his off
stump. He scored only 6, and England were now 123 for five.
Wicket-keeper Read did not last long, the victim of a very clever piece of
bowling by Cairns. He delivered a slower ball with a higher trajectory,
and Read completely misjudged it. Thinking it to be a head-high beamer, he
ducked, and suffered the embarrassment of having the ball bounce virtually
on his bootlaces and hit the stumps. Read failed to score, and England
were in deep trouble at 125 for six.
After the loss of four crucial middle-order wickets for 23 runs in 45
balls, Hussain dug in with great determination. The first runs for some
while, a two by Andy Caddick turned towards long leg, won considerable
appreciation from the crowd, which was now filling perhaps 80% of the
seats. The batsmen took no risks, or runs either most of the time, and at
one stage Hussain showed his frustration with an annoyed swing of the bat
after fishing at a ball from Nash..
New Zealand continued to bowl with enthusiasm, and tightly for most of the
time, but their attack is limited and they were somewhat flattered by
England's inability to hold their own, let alone dominate. Apart from
Stewart, none of the batsmen made any determined effort to take control and
knock them off their length, and this doubtless gave them confidence.
Nash, after some erratic bowling before lunch, bowled a spell afterwards of
11-6-10-2; good bowling, surely enough, but also a reflection on the batting.
Caddick outscored Hussain in a dour partnership during which the England
captain remained stuck on 29 for some time and seemed bent on no more than
survival. The dogged stand was broken by a run-out, as Caddick played a
ball out to deep midwicket, where Horne saved the boundary and then threw
in to the bowler's end. Caddick, perhaps slightly too leisurely, was found
by the camera to be short of the crease by the narrowest of margins. He
made 16, and England were now 150 for seven.
After scoring only 26 runs during the afternoon session, Hussain finally
decided the time had come to show more initiative. After turning Cairns
for two to long leg, he cut him over point for four to take his personal
score to 42. A single to third man, though, brought Dean Headley to face;
moving across the stumps and half-forward, he was hit on the pad and
adjudged lbw for 4. England were now 165 for eight, with two genuine
rabbits to come in Mullally and Tufnell.
Mullally came close to offering Cairns a return catch, but nemesis was not
long delayed, as next ball he edged a ball to Astle at second slip. This
was Cairns' sixth five-wicket hall in Test cricket, and his second against
England. Mullally once again failed to score; England were 170 for nine
and questions were raised as to whether Mullally really was a better
batsman even than Tufnell.
Tufnell entered to a great round of applause from the crowd, and Hussain
immediately hooked Nash to the boundary to bring up his fifty, scored off
132 balls. He quickly repeated the stroke, and then hammered a third
boundary through the covers; these were the first fours hit off Nash for 18
overs. He was unable to protect Tufnell from the next over, though.
A short ball from Cairns had Tufnell fending it away with due trepidation
to square leg, but another short ball, which had the batsman dodging
desperately, persuaded the umpires that the light was too bad to continue.
Conditions were hardly dangerous for an accomplished batsman, although the
umpires had discussed the matter before; when the relative skill of the
striker is taken into account, it is dubious whether play would ever start
even in brilliant sunshine with the likes of Tufnell or Mullally at the
crease. The score as the players left the field was 183 for nine, with
Hussain on 59 and Tufnell yet to score.
No further play was possible, and so ended a day in which Stewart and
Tufnell were the only Englishmen to emerge with much credit. The New
Zealanders are by no means a strong team, but they made far better use of
their ability than the home side. The crunch for them will come when they
bat. They are still a long way from winning this match, and their displays
at Edgbaston do not inspire much confidence that they can compile a
match-winning score against England's bowlers. Tomorrow, if dry, will be a
critical day for them.
Day 2: New Zealand take control as the sun shines
The sun shone down warmly at the start of the second day's play at Lord's as
England prepared to attempt a fight-back to get on level terms in this Test
match. This is not an unaccustomed position for them in recent years, but
they have not been used to it against New Zealand, at least since the
retirement of Sir Richard Hadlee. They did so successfully at Edgbaston,
thanks mainly to that superb and unexpected innings by Alex Tudor, who
ironically had to miss the current match due to injury.
Both teams played much determined cricket during the day, giving little
away. It appeared that the match was going New Zealand's way until they
lost three wickets during the final hour of play. The England bowlers, if
not inspired, worked very hard and generally bowled well, and it was
unfortunate that the day should be marred by several difficult but dubious
decisions by the umpires.
Rarely does an English cricket crowd have reason to celebrate after the
first ball of the day. But on this day it was indeed an occasion for
celebration, as Tufnell got off the mark by turning a ball from Cairns
comfortably off his hip towards long leg, and the crowd delighted in the
unaccustomed success of their Golden Boy with the bat.
Tufnell in fact was to remain unbeaten on his single, as off the first ball
of Cairns' next over Hussain attempted to glance a ball speeding well down
the leg side; Parore claimed a catch and umpire Mervyn Kitchen decided that
he had hit it. Hussain appeared to be surprised, and the television replay
did not appear to support the appeal, although it was not altogether
conclusive. This enabled Cairns to finish with six wickets for 77 runs,
his best Test figures barring his six for 52 against England in Auckland in
1991/92. This was England's lowest score against New Zealand at Lord's,
following their lowest at Edgbaston, beating the 190 they scored under Ray
Illingworth back in 1969.
Mullally opened the England attack to Horne, immediately swinging the ball
away towards the slips but allowing the batsman to shoulder arms with
regularity. One ball did straighten enough to flick the pad and warrant
quite a good lbw appeal. Runs were hard to come by, though, as the batsmen
chose to let the wayward deliveries pass by and play defensively to the
increasing number of good ones; only three runs came off the first five
overs before Horne turned Caddick for two past midwicket and then a four to
long leg, as the bowler strayed towards leg stump. But this was only a
temporary respite, and after eight overs the score was still only 10.
A straight drive by Bell brought up the first four of the innings off the
bat in the eleventh over (four leg-byes were recorded in the ninth over),
the ball ricocheting off the foot of bowler Mullally to the pavilion rails.
Shortly afterwards, Horne leg-glanced Mullally to the fine-leg boundary,
while Bell cut Headley, who replaced Caddick, for another four. A bad
misfield by Tufnell at mid-off allowed Bell a further two, which the crowd
met with sympathetic silence.
Headley was the man to achieve the critical break-through, as he moved a
ball back in to Bell, beating him through the gate but flicking his pad on
the way through to the keeper. Umpire Kitchen took a Bucknoresque length of
time before deciding that this was lbw.
Fleming arrived at the crease and turned a ball to long leg to get off the
mark. Then he tried to glance a ball from Mullally which moved sharply
towards the left-hander's leg side, and was given out caught at the wicket
by the diving Read. Umpire Koertzen this time raised the finger; the
television replay appeared to suggest it may have hit the pad rather than
the bat. In a matter of minutes New Zealand had slumped to 45 for two,
with Horne still there on 21, but they now had to rebuild their innings.
Astle made a bright start to his innings, racing to double figures in quick
time, although he was a little lucky that an edged boundary to third man
just flew wide of third slip, who appeared to get a hand to it. He clipped
another two fours through the vacant midwicket position as Mullally, now in
his tenth over, again strayed towards leg; Hussain filled the gap but still
maintained an attacking field with three slips and two gullies.
Facing Headley, Horne played perhaps the finest stroke of the morning, a
cracking front-foot off-drive which raced to the ropes. Fired up now,
Headley gave him a hard time for the rest of the over, forcing him to
defend hurriedly and hitting him a painful blow on the knuckles. New
Zealand went in to lunch on 75 for two, with Horne on an invaluable 32 and
Astle 19.
Caddick continued to trouble Astle after the interval, making a ball leap on
him unexpectedly and forcing a stroke which lobbed the ball out on the off
side, clear of the field. But Astle finally got the better of him,
hitting him for fours to long-on and long leg off successive deliveries, and
bringing up the fifty partnership off only 64 balls.
Cheers greeted the arrival of Tufnell to bowl from the Nursery End., and
Horne tickled him to fine leg to bring up the hundred for New Zealand. Then
the scoring rate trailed off again until Astle leaned back and
hammered Tufnell to the cover boundary. Caddick bowled a good spell to
Horne before giving way to Mullally, who achieved the break-through with
another undeserving ball down the leg side. Astle, trying to glance,
simply gloved the ball uncontroversially to keeper Read and walked
immediately. He hit nine fours in his 43 off 61 balls, and the New Zealand
score was now 112 for three, with Horne still there on 38.
Twose soon looked far more comfortable in the middle order than he had
opening at Edgbaston, hooking Mullally neatly to the boundary but wisely
shouldering arms to balls delivered wide of his off stump. Horne, taking a
blow on the forearm from Caddick, was content to continue playing his anchor
role; his past record suggests that here is a man capable to playing a very
long innings once settled in. He finally ran to his fifty with a rather
uncharacteristic uppercut off Caddick over the slips for four, after 116
balls, and then immediately glanced the same bowler to the leg boundary.
There followed a quiet period until tea, when the score had
reached 163 for three, with Horne on 70 and Twose 14.
New Zealand continued to consolidate after the interval, with almost fifteen
minutes passing before the first boundary, when Horne swept Tufnell in front
of square. Headley surprised Twose with a bouncer that hit him on the
ear-piece to his helmet and caused a hold-up while a replacement helmet was
brought. Then Horne clipped Caddick for four to long leg, and a couple of
singles enabled New Zealand to overtake England's meagre first-innings
total.
There followed another quiet period when runs were hard to acquire.
Eventually Twose, trying to break the chains, mistimed a hook against
Mullally and skyed the ball over midwicket; the unlucky Stewart got his
hands to but failed to hold what would have been a marvellous catch over his
head. Tufnell was recalled as Horne edged closer to his century. He came
close to dismissing him for 98, too, beating him with a good flighted
delivery that straightened, but umpire Kitchen rejected the lbw appeal.
Horne finally glanced Headley for the single that made him the tenth New
Zealand batsman to score a
Test century at Lord's. It was his third Test century. The total at this
stage was 228 for three, and Twose on 48 was approaching his own landmark.
He duly reached it with an edged hook that beat the keeper and ran to the
fine-leg boundary. Immediately afterwards, though, he threw it away with
another mistimed hook that this time took the top edge and Caddick was able
to take the skyer at midwicket. His 52 had come off 153 balls and New
Zealand were 232 for four.
Horne, deeply determined to see out the day, stayed seemingly stuck on 100.
With six overs to go, England took the second new ball, with Headley and
Caddick given the privilege of using it this time. Sadly for Horne, he was
unable to see out the day, and it was also unfortunate that his dismissal
was another controversial incident. He jabbed down on a ball from Headley
which flew off the edge to Hussain in the gully, who clearly believed it to
be a genuine catch. Horne stood his ground until given out by umpire
Koertzen, but television replays seemed to indicate he had played it
straight into the ground, although it was not conclusive. In particular the
way he angled the bat down while playing the stroke made it harder to
believe it had been a genuine catch.
Night-watchman Vettori came in and got off the mark with two, but further
disaster was to strike New Zealand in the final over of the day. McMillan,
who had shown great restraint in scoring just three runs, fished at a ball
moving away outside the off stump and sent a straight-forward catch to the
keeper. New Zealand, now on 242 for six, had in the final two overs lost
much of their advantage and visions of a huge lead tomorrow had faded
greatly.
Day3: England facing defeat after more inept batting
The third day's play at Lord's dawned warm and clear as England and New
Zealand prepared to battle for supremacy; there was nothing to block the
sun apart from the occasional 'eclipse' caused by the NatWest hot-air
television balloon floating about overhead. The weather was generally to
remain fine, although more light clouds appeared as the day wore on.
Parore and Vettori took a while to settle down, although Parore gave rise
to hopes of a significant and positive innings when he put Headley away for
three twos in an over. But his innings never really developed, and when on
12 he played a poor back-foot stroke with an angled bat to drag the ball on
to his stumps off the inside edge. The total was at this stage 275 for
seven, with Vettori on 16.
Vettori was severe on Caddick's next over, with a couple of twos being
followed by a cut for four. Like Tudor at Edgbaston, he took his job as
night-watchman as an opportunity, and began to look more like the potential
all-rounder he appeared on his maiden tour for his country, to Zimbabwe
almost two years ago.
England at this time were without their captain, Hussain having been forced
to go to hospital for an X-ray on the middle finger of his right hand,
sustained while trying to field a fierce cut by Parore. The news was bad
for England: he had fractured the top joint, putting him out of the match
unless required to bat by necessity, and possibly out of all cricket for
the next three weeks, including the Old Trafford Test. Thorpe took over
the captaincy in his absence.
England felt certain they had dismissed Cairns without scoring, caught at
the wicket off the inside edge as he swung at Mullally. Cairns and umpire
Koertzen were unmoved, though, and the television replay gave no evidence
of a deflection. Vettori continued to play some good strokes, especially
off Caddick, driving him through the covers for another four, and then did
the same to Headley when he replaced the former New Zealander, bringing up
the 300 at the same time. Cairns struggled to get his innings under way,
finally recording his first boundary with a rare leg-glance off Mullally.
Vettori played a mature innings with some classical strokes at times, while
Cairns slowly gained in confidence, and with sensible batting they added 70
together for the eighth wicket. Caddick, after some inaccurate bowling
which proved expensive at times, finally got his man, hitting Cairns on the
pad with a ball that was going down the leg side, but rebounded via right
boot on to the off stump. Cairns made 31 off 42 balls with five fours, and
New Zealand were now 345 for eight, with Vettori on 49.
Vettori appeared rather nervous as he approached his third Test fifty, but
eventually decided on the bold approach by stepping down the pitch and
cracking him through extra cover to reach his fifty off 94 balls. New
Zealand went to lunch on 350 for nine, a lead of 164 runs, with Vettori on
53 and Nash on 1.
Vettori added only a single to his valuable innings after lunch, departing
when he slashed at Tufnell and the ball rebounded off the keeper's gloves
for Thorpe at slip to run back and complete the catch. He had made 54, and
the total at this stage was 351 for nine, with Nash on 1.
An inadvertent single off the edge to third man got Allott off the mark
The England bowlers did not seem to be causing the last two New Zealand
batsmen undue difficulties, but Nash and Allott were unable quite to double
the England score. Nash, after batting with discretion, finally decided to
slog Tufnell to the midwicket boundary, but the ball took the top edge of
his bat and skyed to backward point, where Mullally took the catch. He had
scored 6, while Allott was unbeaten with 1. 40 extras contributed to the
New Zealand total of 358, a lead of 172 over England.
It was a major test of character for England to go in again facing such a
deficit, especially with Hussain nursing a broken finger. If there are any
heroes among the English batsmen, this was the ideal time for them to stand
up and be counted. But it did not happen, just as long-suffering England
supporters have come to expect.
Allott bowled the opening over of England's second innings mainly outside
the off stump to Butcher. By the time the sixth ball came down, the
left-handed opener was tired of watching the world go by, and reached
across to drive him through the covers for a superb boundary. Stewart got
off the mark to general applause with a push into the covers for a quick
single off Cairns. Allott had a strong lbw appeal against Stewart rejected
in his second over, with a ball that straightened but was probably too high.
Ones and twos came regularly and there was some fine New Zealand fielding,
but the next boundary did not come until the sixth over, when Butcher cut
Cairns to third man. Stewart played some strokes of real class, especially
through the covers, and a cover drive off Allott brought him to 20, and
1000 runs in Tests against New Zealand, the fifth Englishman to reach that
total after Gooch, Cowdrey, Gower and Hammond. Generally, though, progress
was steady rather than spectacular, as could only be expected when facing
such a large deficit.
Butcher was comparatively subdued, and Nash was anguished when he brought a
ball back in his first over to have a close lbw appeal rejected by umpire
Kitchen, and then saw his next ball snicked through the slips for four. He
will receive little sympathy from many, though, who have been disgusted
with his 'sledging' of the England players during the match. He twice came
close to forcing Butcher to play on during his next over.
England's fifty came up with another cracking cover drive by Stewart off
Vettori, taking the total to 53, Butcher on 20 and Stewart 32. But, after
posting their fifty partnership the batsmen became subdued, no doubt with
the tea interval in their minds, but such a change in policy proved fatal.
In the last over before the break, Butcher's programming seemed to go awry,
as he aimed a fierce sweep at the accurate Vettori, but only succeeded in
getting a top edge. The ball skyed over the slips, from where Astle turned
and ran to take a good catch over his shoulder.
The players went off to tea with England on 55 for one, with Ramprakash due
to come in next in place of the injured Hussain. Stewart was still there
on 32, and his was the key wicket for New Zealand to take, as England were
still 117 runs behind.
Unfortunately for England, the final session was to prove little short of
disastrous, largely through an apparent absence of any practical policy or
direction in their batting. It took them more than ten minutes to score
their first run after tea, while Ramprakash looked most uncomfortable
before he finally dabbed Nash for two backward of point to open his score.
Stewart suddenly looked as if he had amnesia and was unable to remember
what a bat was used for. After 50 minutes, he had added just two runs to
his score at tea. Finally, desperate for a third, he pushed a ball into
the covers and called Ramprakash for a run that would have seen the latter
run out by a yard had there been a direct hit. Finally something snapped,
as it had with Butcher; he tried to sweep a straight ball from Vettori
right across the line and missed completely, to have his off stump knocked
back. He had made 35, the last three taking almost an hour, and England
were now 71 for two, still 101 behind and in need of a near miracle to
avoid defeat.
Thorpe sounded a note of defiance by pulling his second ball from Vettori
to the midwicket boundary; less wisely, he tried to do the same with the
third and missed. His fourth almost presented slip with a catch, and
earned him two runs. It seemed as if he had decided to go down with all
guns blazing - but without aiming them first. Sure enough, on reaching the
other end, he played too early at a ball pitched right up by Cairns and was
clean bowled. As an acting-captain's innings, it was a non-starter, to put
it kindly, playing right into the hands of the many who claim England lack
fighting spirit. England were 78 for three, with Thorpe out for 7 and
Ramprakash hanging on unconvincingly for 12.
Habib once again had to come in to bat with England in trouble, and his
first delivery virtually brought him to his knees, as he jabbed down on a
yorker Cairns pitched on his toes. He quickly responded with a
square-driven boundary. Ramprakash, turned around by a fine delivery from
Cairns, benefited from an edged four through the slips. Habib was nearly
bowled through the gate again as he fished at a ball from Nash without
moving his feet, only for it to come back and miss his off stump by the
narrowest of margins.
Ramprakash had not scored for some little while when Astle came on to bowl
him a wide ball well outside off stump; slashing at it, he snicked a catch
straight to the keeper. He made 24; England were 97 for four, still 75
behind, and this was another nail in their coffin. Headley came in as
night-watchman, with Habib still there on 5.
Habib finally brought up the hundred for England with a well-struck drive
to the extra-cover boundary off Nash. But runs were few and far between;
it seemed England had no policy between self-defeating defence, such as
practised by Stewart after tea and Ramprakash for most of his innings, and
suicidal hitting as displayed by Thorpe.
Habib, on 11, had a fortunate escape as he played forward to Vettori and
umpire Koertzen rejected an appeal for a catch at the wicket; the replay
showed that he had in fact clearly hit the ball. This was the last real
action of the day, as a helplessly defensive England finished the day on
107 for four off 54 overs, still 65 runs behind and with Hussain injured;
Habib was on 11 and Headley 2. English batsmanship has given one of its
most inept displays in this match. New Zealand bowled accurately at times,
even challengingly, but the overwhelming memory is of England's hapless
batting.
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Results - Forthcoming Desktop Scoreboard |
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