Watling Wall stalls England
ENGLAND First innings 353 NEW ZEALAND First innings
Just behind the Bay Oval scoreboard looms a new fivestorey speed climbing wall.
Out in the centre in the blazing Saturday sun, another structure grabbed the 5834-strong crowd’s attention and proved extremely difficult to conquer: the Watling Wall.
New Zealand’s wicketkeeping marvel BJ Watling stood firm throughout day three of the first test, defying England’s bowlers and accepting one vital let-off from Ben Stokes to notch his eighth test century.
In another supreme display of skill and concentration, Watling’s unbeaten 119 lifted the Black Caps from a hopeful to potentially winning position, 394-6 at stumps and a lead of 41 with two days to play.
After 418 minutes and 298 deliveries he was ready for more today alongside Mitchell Santner, after etching his name in the books as Mt Maunganui’s first test centurymaker.
Allrounder Colin de Grandhomme’s measured knock of 65 was crucial, too, as the pair added 119 for the sixth wicket from a tenuous 197-5 in reply to England’s 353, with the tourists were ragged and weary after a long, hot day in the dirt, and their chances of a first test win in New Zealand since 2008 slipping away.
The pitch remains sluggish and docile but as it dries further, variable bounce may come into play. New Zealand’s pace attack will cross their fingers for the swing they were able to generate on day one, when they grip the new ball.
A draw or a Black Caps win are now the most likely results, with the unknown of the pitch at New Zealand’s ninth test venue never having gone to a fifth day.
Watling pushed a Sam Curran delivery and scampered a single an hour before stumps. There was a little punch of the air and a short embrace with Santner as the crowd rose and England’s players all clapped him, too.
It was successive test centuries for Watling after his 105 not out in sapping Colombo heat in August, which led to a serieslevelling New Zealand win.
‘‘It felt great, obviously. I love scoring hundreds for New Zealand and I really enjoyed that one,’’ Watling said.
‘‘It was hard work and we had some tough periods but we got through. It was special to get over the line and to still be there tonight, which I targeted.’’
Watling resumed on six alongside Henry Nicholls who returned from a fearsome head knock from Jofra Archer free of concussion symptoms.
Spin nearly undid Watling on 31 when captain Joe Root found the edge and Stokes somehow dropped a reasonably simple chance. Nicholls (41) was trapped in front two balls later but the drop hurt them.
De Grandhomme looked in control then picked up the pace as Watling ground on.
The allrounder hooked Archer for six as the England fast bowler ran hot and cold, his speed ranging from the mid-130s to 152kmh, the ball after Watling survived a DRS review on 53.
Archer bowled 30 wicketless overs for 84, including a wild bouncer that went for five wides and another that looped way down leg.
De Grandhomme continued his superb run in test cricket
J Raval c Denly b Leach ...... 19 T Latham lbw b Curran ........ 8 K Williamson c Stokes b Curran .......................................... 51 R Taylor c Pope b Stokes .. 25 H Nicholls lbw b Root ........... 41 BJ Watling not out ............... 119 C de Grandhomme c Sibley b Stokes .......................................... 65 M Santner not out .................. 31 Extras (22b, 4lb, 2nb, 7w) .. 35 Total (for 6 wkts, 141 overs) . ........................................................ 394 Fall: 18 (Latham), 72 (Raval), 106 (Taylor), 127 (Williamson), 197 (Nicholls), 316 (de Grandhomme).
Bowling: S Broad 25-10-45-0, J Archer 30-8-84-0 (1w, 1nb), S Curran 23-6-74-2, J Leach 37-6-97-1, B Stokes 16-4-37-2 (2w, 1nb), J Root 10-2-31-1.
‘‘It was special to get over the line and to still be there tonight, which I targeted.’’ BJ Watling
after being New Zealand’s best bowler on day one. In the last year he’s scored 368 test runs at 92 and also played a crucial support role for Watling in Colombo.
A stunning Dom Sibley catch removed de Grandhomme, off Stokes who was strangely underused with the ball, but Watling kept batting, and batting.
He was given out on 113 by umpire Bruce Oxenford but challenged after getting an inside edge. The bowler? Archer, again.
‘‘I just think I’m very limited and I try to play how I know works best for me.
‘‘I take a few shots away that some of the big boys do, and I definitely can’t. I try to stick to a gameplan and hopefully it pays off.’’
And it could yet pay off with another test victory. Watling and Santner (31 not out) will resume on an unbroken stand of 78, trying to build the lead to over 100.
‘‘We’re expecting the surface to keep playing a few more tricks over the next couple of days so it is important for us to try and build this lead a bit and put them under some pressure when they bat. The least amount of runs we can chase the better.’’
SOMETIMES the absurdities in the game are hard to fathom. One such is laid bare as England play New Zealand in the first match of a two-test series. The absurdity? These encounters are not part of the World Test Championship (WTC) and over the next two years, before the scheduled final in England in June 2021, these teams will not play each other for WTC points. Go figure.
The ICC could not have introduced a more confusing system if it had tried. It would have been too simple to have everyone play everyone else, with the best teams lining up in a series finale (although the India v Pakistan issue would probably have stymied that). Instead, the WTC finds itself tacked on to the existing Future Tours Programme, with countries able to pick and choose which six series (three home and three away) count towards the test championship.
Over the course of the WTC, England do not play New Zealand or Bangladesh; as well as not playing England, New Zealand do not face South Africa. One Times reader, Steven Kirk, picked up on the lack of WTC status for these tests in New Zealand when he commented under the line two days ago: ‘‘What has happened to the test championship? The Ashes series was a part of it but since it seems to have dropped off the face of the globe. Have the powers that be lost interest already?’’ Quite.
The WTC has been going since the start of the Ashes on August 1 – not that you’d know it – and the table, at present, has a very lopsided look. Having played the most matches, six, and won them all, India are the runaway leaders, with 300 points. Daylight is second.
India’s points tally is more than every other team put together: Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies and Bangladesh have yet to get off the mark, although in Pakistan’s case they have yet to play a match. An observer with little interest in cricket would find the table mightily confusing.
Early days maybe, but the table highlights many of the competition’s flaws. While England and Australia were jousting to a standstill last summer, a ding-donger played to capacity crowds that ended 2-2, India and West Indies played a twotest series in front of scarcely any spectators in the Caribbean, and New Zealand played Sri Lanka in a similarly little-watched series. The Ashes over five matches and these other series of two matches were played for the same number of points.
That is how the Black Caps find themselves in second place, on 60 points – their one victory in Sri Lanka brought that tally – while England are in fifth on 56 points after two victories and a draw in the Ashes. With each series being played for 120 points, there is absolutely no incentive for boards to play lengthy series over four and five Tests, which remain the greatest spectacle, given the way these epics can draw people in and allow for the drama to develop.
In fact, for the duration of this inaugural competition there are only two series of five matches, both involving England: the Ashes just completed and a tour to India next winter. There are two four-test series, seven of three matches and, because of the lack of incentives and because test series lose money for all but those involving England, India and Australia, there are 16 series of just two matches. The WTC incentivises countries to play as little test cricket as possible to fulfil the commitment and that is exactly what has happened.
Integral to most competitions is the requirement that teams play the same number of matches and that these matches carry equal weight. Neither of these principles underpins the WTC where, for example, England