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Key events
64th over: England 301-6 (Brook 48, Atkinson 2) Atkinson, left to face a whole over from Foulkes, misses with a waft, then with a pull, as the ball hits him amidships. Latham goes for a review, bizarrely, as Atkinson is a tall man and this delivery was clearly going over the stumps. He plays and misses again, and that’s a maiden for Foulkes, whose bowling has been a bonus for NZ.
A couple of balls in that over really flew, disconcerting Atkinson and enabling Tom Blundell to show his skills. “No disrespect to Jamie Smith,” says James Walsh, “but watching Blundell keep is such a joy. Now that standing up for the fast bowlers is such a crucial tactic, do England need to reconsider their biffer-who-catches-a-bit policy?”
64th over: England 301-6 (Brook 48, Atkinson 2) Latham, longing for one more wicket to seal a great morning, brings back his main man, Nathan Smith. He’s on the spot right away and Brook is flirting with danger, edging his first ball just short of slip’s left hand to pick up a streaky two. That’s the only slip… Put another one in there!
Brook takes a single square on the off side. “I just wonder if New Zealand could get brave,” says Stuart Broad. “Bring up point, stop that single… Brook might think ‘I want four for this,’ and then the edge will carry.”
63rd over: England 296-6 (Brook 45, Atkinson 1) Latham has done well to show faith in his reserve seamers when he could easily have turned to the more seasoned Mitch Santner. After getting rid of Stokes, Foulkes beats Brook outside off, with more of that lavish seam movement – quite something in the 63rd over. Brook, undaunted, clips for two (rather a tight one) and flicks for a single. But 45 is the sort of score he often gets out for: the question is, can he convert this fkuency into something formidable?
62nd over: England 293-6 (Brook 42, Atkinson 1) Atkinson, facing Sears, almost perishes as he fends at a lifter and it loops up … into no-man’s-land at short cover, luckily for England. The field, even for Atkinson, is intriguingly defensive, with just one slip and a gully. Does Tom Latham feel he can rely on the batters to get themselves out?
61st over: England 290-6 (Brook 40, Atkinson 0) So England are in the mire again, down to the tail, still 148 behind. Gus Atkinson and Jofra Archer have to stick around, and Harry Brook has to get a hundred.
WICKET! Stokes b Foulkes 15 (England 290-6)
Just when Stokes was looking settled, he’s gone! It’s a good ball from Zak Foulkes, seaming back a long way from outside off, and Stokes can’t get any bat on it.
60th over: England 288-5 (Brook 38, Stokes 14) As Sears continues, he finds a large divot halfway down his run-up. A man in shorts comes trotting out with a wooden brick on a stick to tamp it down. The crowd, amused, start barking each time this implement lands. You can see Brook thinking “I can cash in on this,” and he cuts the next ball for two with a flourish. It turns out to bea no-ball, understandably. That brings up the 50 partnership, off 50 balls: a fine response from England’s two captains – and nightclub miscreants.
59th over: England 280-5 (Brook 34, Stokes 12) As Foulkes continues, Brook takes his now-customary single, and this time Stokes does return the compliment – which allows Brook to whip for four when Foulkes strays down the leg side. And then there’s another single from each of them, so that’s eight off the over with no trouble at all.
“As an Englishman living in Australia,” says Phil Withall, “I suffer a lot”,” Great intro! “Every sporting stutter is seen as a farcical failure, every failure is magnified a thousand times. With the travails of the cricket team and the humbling performance of the football team in their last match, I’m rather scared to go to work tomorrow. You’d think that after 25 years I’d be used to it but no, it never gets easier.” Phil, for what it’s worth, we feel your pain.
58th over: England 273-5 (Brook 28, Stokes 10) To make England’s prospects even worse, the pitch is showing signs of treachery. One ball kept low to Brook earlier, and now there’s one from Sears that jumps up and bites him iin the gloves. But he’s reading the length well as usual and he adds a couple of crisp singles. Stokes makes it into double figures with his first stylish shot, a cover drive that deserves four and would have got it but for a good stop.
Drinks: it’s been NZ’s morning so far
57th over: England 268-5 (Brook 26, Stokes 9) It’s a double change as Latham gives Nathan Smith a well-earned rest. On comes Zak Foulkes, the concussion sub. Brook, flowing now, takes an early single. It would be good if Stokes could respond in kind but he’s rather lost that knack, so the rest of the over is a stalemate. And that’s drinks, with NZ winning the first hour very handsomely. England have managed only 44 for three.
“Kia ora Tim,” says Graeme Simpson, “from a chilly, mid-winter evening in Aotearoa/New Zealand. With Brooks and Kiwi Ben at the crease this may be a tad premature: ‘and the collapse has come to pass’.” Graeme, lovely to hear from you, but come on, I’m a journalist and an English cricket lover. Two quick wickets are a worry, three are a collapse, and four would be a crisis.
56th over: England 267-5 (Brook 25, Stokes 9) Tom Latham makes his first bowling change of the day, replacing O’Rourke with Ben Sears. He starts with a no-ball, but soon he too is finding the edge of Stokes’s once-mighty bat. It’s almost another chance to Conway at gully, but this one drops short and Stokes did play it with more conviction. He picks up two for that, then finds the middle of the bat for once with a tuck to midwicket for two more.
This partnership is already 33, off 31 deliveries. Bazball battles on!
55th over: England 261-5 (Brook 24, Stokes 5) Smith continues, Blundell stays up to the stumps, and Stokes is dropped! It was a regulation edge but a difficult chance as Devon Conway, diving to his right at gully, can only deflect it to the boundary.
54th over: England 252-5 (Brook 23, Stokes 1) Stokes, facing O’Rourke, gets off the mark with a nurdle off his ninth ball. All of his most celebrated innings have startted slowly … but so have all the damp squibs of the past year. Brook, in the groove now, sees a lifter and pulls it for four with that ring of authority – but then he wafts at a wide one. Still, this flurry of fours has avoided the follow-on.
53rd over: England 246-5 (Brook 18, Stokes 0) Will the real Harry Brook stand up? He does now, moving back and across to get up on his toes and clip Smith to deep square, then leaning the other way to glide to deep third. Eight off two balls, 11 off the over: this could be the start of a beautiful counter-attack.
52nd over: England 235-5 (Brook 9, Stokes 0) What would make this situation even worse? A run-out! And Brook again threatens to lay one on, calling Stokes for a tight single into the covers and leaving him at the mercy of Henry Nicholls, who takes pity with a half-hearted underarm.
51st over: England 234-5 (Brook 8, Stokes 0) England had just scored their first four of the day as Brook steered his 13th ball with nice soft hands between slip and gully. Then Nathan Smith, using that wobble seam again, found the edge of Jamie Smith’s tentative prod and Daryl Mitchell, at slip, did well to get his fingers under the ball.
So here is Ben Stokes, coming out a lot earlier than he would have liked, but getting a warm hand from a packed house. They’re not too bothered about breaking a curfew when a match is over.
WICKET!! J Smith c Mitchell b N Smith 1 (England 234-5)
Smith is smothered by Smith, and the collapse has come to pass.
50th over: England 229-4 (Brook 3, Smith 1) Brook, facing O’Rourke, plays a better shot, a square push with the right ring to it. But still the runs are coming in a trickle: after racing to 210 off 40 overs, as if bringing back the John Player League, England have crawled to 19-2 off the last ten. That’s Test cricket: out of nowhere, ebb and flow.
49th over: England 228-4 (Brook 2, Smith 1) Nathan Smith started with a wicket maiden, using the crease, swinging the ball and deploying wobble seam. After dismissing Root, he has Brook in his sights, with Blundell still standing up as he did for both these superstars at the Oval. Smith beats Brook outside off with the ball that doesn’t jag back in, and Brook may well be relieved to get down the other end with a dab to third man.
48th over: England 226-4 (Brook 1, Smith 1) In a shock development, we have a scoring shot! Jamie Smith, facing O’Rourke, gets a thick inside edge on his first delivery and takes a single to square leg. Harry Brook wants two, which might have turned a drama into a crisis. O’Rourke then produces a sharp yorker which Brook does well to keep out with a late jab, and a little calm descends as Brook gets off the mark with a push into the covers.
What a start for New Zealand – like England yesterday, but even better.
WICKET!! Bethell c Latham b O’Rourke 74 (England 224-4)
One brings two! And just like that, both the overnight batters are gone. It was almost the same ball O’Rourke beat Bethell with in the first over, but closer to him, drawing the edge and a crisp low catch from Latham at second slip.
47th over: England 224-3 (Bethell 74, Brook 0) So here is Harry Brook, who has a bit to prove. Can he grab the game by the scruff of the neck, or will he make another flashy 30? He starts soberly, dot dot dot dot.
WICKET!! Root LBW b Smith 21 (England 224-3)
The big one! And it’s the Oval all over again – keeper standing up, Root pinned back, ball jagging in… The only difference is that it’s Nathan Smith rather than Matt Henry. Root calls for a review, but HawkEye says umpire’s call and he has to go.
46th over: England 224-2 (Bethell 74, Root 21) Will O’Rourke bowls the first over and struggles to locate Joe Root’s off stump. The first run of the day is a collector’s item: a bye caused by a fumble by Tom Blundell. It turns out that O’Rourke was just finding the right line to the left-hander. He instantly beats Jacob Bethell outside off with a ball that’s angled across him.
The New Zealanders are making their way out to the middle. “It’s blessedly cooler at Trent Bridge today,” says Mike Atherton. “About 29 degrees rather than 36 as it was yesterday.” Is anyone old enough to remember the days when rain stopped play?
The second email comes from next door to Trent Bridge. “Over in West Bridgford Park, there’s a big local event – Proms in the Park – happening all afternoon on Saturday,” says Richard Coffey-Glover. “I run a big community soul band called the Lady Bay Soul Collective (Lady Bay is the area across the Radcliffe Road), and we’re playing 4:30-5:30pm – you might even hear us. We’re a community band which started just under two years ago when I asked if anyone in the area wanted to meet up and play some jazz, and now we’re playing to thousands of people – playing music together brings out the absolute best in people!” It sure does … even more than sport, in my experience.
“We’re part of a larger Lady Bay Music organisation that exists to get as many people playing music together as we can. Take your pick of the songs we’re playing which suit the state of play in the cricket at that time: James Brown’s I Feel Good, Spooky by Dusty Springfield, or even Pick up The Pieces?”
The first email of the day comes from John Starbuck. “Things may be falling apart, as you say,” he writes, “but the lines ‘The centre cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’ could be reserved for the Lord’s staff, if their next two Tests this summer are played on such a dreadful pitch as the first one.”
Personally, I love a low-scoring Test, when a cool-headed 50, like Emilio Gay’s, can be a matchwinner. So much better than sitting through a partnership of 300. But while we’re reflecting on pitches of the recent past, wasn’t the one at the Oval excellent? It had enough runs in it to be widely described as flat, yet there was always something in it for the bowler, whether that was Jofra Archer (who could have had a five-for on the first morning), Matt Henry or Jacob Bethell.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the third act of a riveting drama. England won the first Test, New Zealand won the second. New Zealand won the first day of this Test, England won the second. Who’s going to win the third? Who knows!
If the game is to have a winner, according to CricViz, it’s now twice as likely to be England (who apparently have a 45pc chance) as New Zealand (20pc). Are they sure about that?
Well as Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell batted yesterday, England are still just a collapse away from a first-innings deficit of 100. And collapses are their special subject. Plus, they have to bat last on a surface that is as dry as Mark Butcher’s sense of humour.
On the other hand, England are close to full strength, with Ben Stokes back to bowling with superhuman tenacity, while New Zealand are nearly as depleted as their hosts were at the Oval. The Kiwis’ change bowlers from the last Test are now taking the new ball, one of their stand-ins has had to stand down with possible concussion (get well soon, Blair Tickner), their best batter from the first two Tests is missing, their only spinner has taken a pummelling, and they didn’t even get to the Rex Rooms to celebrate their victory. In this slow old sport of ours, things fall apart very fast.
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