New Zealand duo put England on back foot
ASSISTANT coach Paul Collingwood admitted England’s attempts to enter a new era remained “a work in progress” after New Zealand seized control on day two of the Lord’s Test.
An unbroken 180-run stand between Black Caps pair Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell was worth more than either team’s first-innings total, leaving the tourists holding all the cards as they progressed from 56 for four to 236 without further loss.
The duo will resume with their side sitting on a handsome 227-run lead and in sight of twin centuries – Mitchell just three short, with Blundell needing 10.
Unless England can find their way out of trouble in a hurry on Saturday, it will be a struggle to avoid defeat in the first match of Ben Stokes’ captaincy reign.
It would be a frustrating way for Stokes and new head coach Brendon McCullum to begin their tenure in charge of a side who have tasted victory just once in the last 17 matches, but Collingwood insisted an early bump in the road would be no reason for alarm.
“We know that things aren’t going to change overnight. It’s going to take some time that we get the team playing the way that we want them to play. Obviously that’s a work in progress,” he said.
“Brendon’s a glass-half-full kind of man. He’ll stay calm, he won’t change his values and beliefs just because of one innings, that’s for sure, and neither will Ben.
“We came out of that first day all evens, both teams got pretty much exactly the same score. This game’s not out of our reach yet.”
Collingwood, a T20 World Cup-winning captain with England in his own playing days, also saw signs of encouragement from Stokes as he tried to conjure a breakthrough that never came.
“From our point of view we tried everything, and you can see in Ben that we’ve got a proactive captain who is willing to try different things,” he added.