Cricket: England master the “day-night” format
England’s first Test against New Zealand was a match that looked extremely challenging on paper, said Ali Martin in The Guardian. Tours of New Zealand have been historically tough for England – they last won a match there 15 years ago. In addition to which, this was a “day-night Test”, played with a pink ball instead of a red one – a format that England have never taken to. Yet under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, both appointed last summer, England have become a side that pays no heed to past failures or what the doubters say. At the Bay Oval, they were at their aggressive best, and “wrapped up a comprehensive 267-run win” on the morning of the fourth day. It was Stokes’s tenth victory in 11 Tests in charge – easily the best start made by an England captain – and it offered further evidence that “something special is occurring”.
As has often been the case over the past nine months, England’s success was founded on their opportunistic, free-scoring batting, said Mike Atherton in The Times. Over their two innings, they scored at a “remarkable 5.3 runs per over”. Not only did this put pressure on New Zealand’s bowlers, but it enabled England to shape the “peculiar timings of a day-night game to their advantage”. In such matches, there’s a premium on avoiding batting “under lights at dusk” – the time when conditions are most helpful to bowlers. England’s swift scoring meant that twice in the match, New Zealand began their innings at precisely this time – which enabled England to “take critical top-order wickets”. The best of their bowlers were Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who took 12 wickets between them and overtook Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne’s record for the most Test wickets as a bowling partnership, said Paul Newman in the Daily Mail. The two veterans – aged 36 and 40 respectively – now have 1,009 scalps in games they’ve played together.
England’s best batsman was once again Harry Brook, who backed up his recent heroics in Pakistan with 89 and 54, said Geoffrey Boycott in The Daily Telegraph. Scored at well over a run a ball, both innings were full of sumptuous shots: not since Kevin Pietersen have England unearthed such a “natural stroke player”. Yet Brook was far from being the only batsman to contribute, said Nick Hoult in the same paper. Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes also did well, showing that England no longer have a disproportionate reliance on one batsman – Joe Root – for runs. In fact, from a batting perspective, England’s ex-captain is the team’s one current worry: Root has averaged just 22 in his past 11 innings. He has often got out playing extravagant shots, suggesting he’s trying to “fit his batting into the Bazball style”. He should go back to doing what he does best: scoring runs at a more sedate rate. England will be an even better team if they “get the old Joe Root back”.