Bowlers face difficult time in New Zealand – Woakes

ENGLAND seamer Chris Woakes is preparing for a difficult time on flat New Zealand pitches with a ball less helpful to his skillset if he is given the nod in next week’s first Test.

It is thought Woakes and Sam Curran are vying to bowl alongside Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Jack Leach in a five-man frontline attack against the Black Caps in Mount Maunganui.

Neither Woakes nor Curran significantly advanced their cause on the second and final day of their drawn warm-up against a New Zealand XI, who responded to England’s 376 for five declared with a total of 285 for four.

Curran collected the scalp of Jakob Bhula for 61 but was more expensive than the wicketless Woakes while the standout performance came from Finn Allen, who amassed a classy 129-ball century before retiring out.

Woakes revealed there was not much movement on offer in

Whangarei for England’s fast bowlers with a ball that softened quickly – and he is expecting that to be a running theme in the two-Test series against the Kiwis.

He said: “It was a reasonable run out. The most important thing is realising what you’re going to come up against conditions-wise and also getting overs in the legs for the bowlers.

“It was a pretty flat pitch. A couple nipped with the new ball and after that it hasn’t really done much all day.

“You look at it at the start of a game and it was very, very green but if anything it just held it together and made it carry even better.

“I think that’s what we’re expecting: good surfaces, they’ll start green and just get better and better.

“I don’t generally see pitches out here that deteriorate too much. It will be hard work with the Kookaburra ball, but we’ll just have to find a way.”