IT’S SHEER AGONY FOR ENGLAND
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 simply 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 only 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 actually 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 session 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 one 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 just 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 just 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 overtake a New Zealand record held jointly by Martin Crowe and Ross taylor.
And the fact Williamson has played 13 fewer tests than Crowe with the 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.
‘Kane is up there with the best in the world,’ said Anderson. ‘He’s good technically and he plays the ball late. He’s good in all conditions and all forms of the game. He can be difficult to bowl to.’