IT’S SHEER AGONY FOR ENGLAND
Pop star Ed visits tourists but…
AVISIT from Ed Sheeran was about as good as it got for England yesterday since, try as they might in between the rain on a miserable second day, they could not match New Zealand with bat or ball.
It is safe to say there will be more people at the pop singer’s concerts in Auckland than the paltry few who braved the elements at Eden Park until the ridiculously late decision to call off play at 9pm.
By then New Zealand had gone a long way towards grinding England down by moving on to 229 for four in the 23.1 overs that were possible for the loss of captain Kane Williamson.
That gave them a lead of 171 after skittling England for a pathetic 58 and still with plenty of time to force home their advantage, even with a gloomy weather forecast for the weekend in autumnal Auckland.
Jimmy Anderson, a music aficionado, gave the impression he was not exactly overwhelmed by the visit of Sheeran and his cricket-loving dad to the England dressing room where they were given a signed bat by Mark Wood.
‘I didn’t see him but a few of the lads chatted to him and it was nice for them to meet someone of his calibre after a very average couple of days,’ said Anderson. ‘ There are a few Ed Sheeran songs on the team’s playlist but luckily they weren’t playing when he came in. There are a lot of fans of his in the dressing room, so it was very nice of him to come in.’
To be fair, Anderson was still reeling from the first day of a Test that saw him, as the No 11, batting before the first interval and leaving England with a mountain to climb if they are to avoid going to the second Test 1-0 down.
‘Hopefully something like that won’t happen again for a long time because it was bitterly disappointing, especially when we started this tour trying to learn from the Ashes,’ said England’s vice-captain.
‘I can’t remember an hour like that, certainly at the start of a game. The stars aligned, we weren’t on top form and two world- class bowlers in Trent Boult and Tim Southee were. We thought we were getting somewhere and making progress but we weren’t up to the task.’
If Boult showed England’s bowlers the way with the pink ball, then Williamson followed it by providing a demonstration of the talent that now sees him rated New Zealand’s finest batsman.
Williamson added 11 runs to his overnight 91 before Anderson got some swing with the second new ball to trap him lbw, but it was enough for him to reach his 18th Test century and overtaking a New Zealand record held jointly by Martin Crowe and Ross Taylor. And the fact Williamson has played 13 fewer Tests than Crowe with power, at 27, to add plenty more hundreds makes it clear why this classy and stylish batsman is now viewed as the best New Zealander of them all.
‘He’s up there with the best in the world,’ said Anderson. ‘He’s good technically and plays the ball late. He’s good in all conditions and all forms of the game. He can be difficult to bowl to.’
If Williamson — who England believe was run out on 64 on the first evening by Chris Woakes — showed the way to play in these conditions, it certainly helped him that he was not facing his own bowlers. England’s four right- handed fast- medium seamers gained nothing like the swing nor found the same penetrating lengths as Boult and Southee. England will never improve their awful away form unless they can bring variation into an attack that is in danger of being exposed again here even though Anderson, at 35, is bowling as well as ever.
Stuart Broad ended up taking the first and second new balls but there has not been much evidence yet to suggest all the work he has put into his action since his disappointing Ashes has cured his problems against right-handers.
Woakes, who has a dismal away record, has much to do to prove he can be as effective overseas as at home, where he has become one of England’s most important players in all formats.
And Craig Overton, brought in late when it became clear Ben Stokes would not be able to bowl in this first Test, has rarely got above the late 70s miles per hour and has barely moved the ball either off the pitch or through the air.
England were impressed with Overton’s temperament in Australia and preferred him to the much quicker Wood. But if he is going to bowl more slowly than Paul Collingwood, it is hard to see how he will ever be a Test force. So, is the lack of variation a headache for England
‘I think we’re extremely different as bowlers,’ insisted Anderson. ‘We’ve had brilliant bowling attacks who are very similar, but each brings their own little subtleties and it’s about the four seamers gelling as much as possible and creating pressure.’
Sadly for England, the pressure was all on them going into the third day.