Cricket:Lords Test

Daniel Vettori is bowled out by Ryan Sidebottom

Mike Atherton writing for The Times began thus:-

This was supposed to be foot on throat time. Arriving at Lord’s yesterday morning, England might have imagined a day of dominance stretching in front of them. Nip out a few tailenders in the morning and, as the pros like to say, bat long. But a combination of stiff Kiwi resistance and five stoppages for bad light in the afternoon meant that England finished another shortened day 209 runs adrift, one more than at the start of play. That lack of progression just about sums things up.

This was a frustrating day for spectators and players alike, a day when the rhythm of the match was disrupted. The law states that there must be an “obvious and foreseeable risk to the safety of players”, yet it was hard to argue that viewpoint, given the armour-like protection afforded the modern batsman and the lack of extreme pace on either side.

Then later in his article:-

In the morning England’s first task was to amputate New Zealand’s tail, pronto. Until you get to Chris Martin, this is often a more difficult task than it may seem, the Kiwis being the type of team who like to maximise their often meagre resources. Since 2005, just about half of New Zealand’s runs in Test cricket have come from numbers 6 to 11, a statistic that says much about the fighting qualities of their tail and just as much about the fragility of the top order.

Chief pain, as far as Michael Vaughan was concerned, was his opposite number, who resisted stoutly for the best part of three hours for his 48. Daniel Vettori is no oil painting of a batsman, but he is as gritty as they come. He was two short of a half-century when he decided to leave a ball from Ryan Sidebottom that diverted from its anticipated route and crashed into his middle and off stumps. A Rumsfeldian misjudgment.

Worth a look for the rest of his analysis. Overall Adam prefers the 5 day game, but laments the impact that poor light has had on this match, as well as the Black Caps upper order shambles.