‘We could have bowled them out for 250’

ENGLAND bowling coach Jon

Lewis insisted Ben Stokes had taken the aggressive option after choosing to bowl on a day which ended with New Zealand well placed at 318 for four in the second Test in Nottingham. ‘I thought it was an honest day’s work,’ said Lewis. ‘We were just a bit short of what we would have liked. The most important thing about the toss was it was an aggressive play. We came out to try to bowl New Zealand out. ‘Unfortunately we missed a couple of chances. There was threat all day. The boys went past the edge of the bat.

‘We could have easily bowled them out for 250 and we’d be in a very different position.’ England conceded 43 fours and two sixes in 87 overs yesterday. Lewis admitted: ‘We’re choosing at the moment to take the aggressive option and be courageous with what we do.’ New Zealand’s No 3 Devon Conway said the tactic had played into the tourists’ hands. ‘It provided scoring opportunities and we tried to put pressure back on to the bowlers,’ he said. ‘They resorted to bowling short balls at us and that allowed us to score again.’ Conway said he was ‘shocked’ the umpires didn’t change the ball because of Covid protocols after it landed in a spectator’s pint of cider following a straight six by Daryl Mitchell off Jack Leach. But he added: ‘Certainly it didn’t swing as much, so Daryl played a smart shot.’