Nasser Hussain believes Ben Stokes got the calls right as England searched for a wicket on day two
Nasser Hussain, while impressed with the partnership between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell on day two at Lord’s, also believes new England captain Ben Stokes got his calls ‘spot on’ as he searched for a fifth wicket.
Mitchell (97no) and Blundell (90no) put together a 180-run partnership, surviving through the afternoon and evening session in a fifth-wicket stand that England were unable to bring to an end.
For Hussain, the pressure is now on England to show patience with the ball in tomorrow’s morning session as they come up against a side renowned for finding a way to fight back in a Test match.
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Here is how New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell wrestled control of the first Test away from England with a stubborn batting performance on day two.
“The situation of the game, they are up against it here, as they were in the first innings when they were 7-0 and this sort of typifies New Zealand cricket,” said Hussain.
“When their backs are up against the wall, they always find a couple of cricketers that will get them out of a hole.
“They are not household names, they are not who everyone shouts about but they are tough, tough cricketers and they have got a good solid technique – they are organised in the situation.
“Mitchell had a bit of a brain fade maybe for an over against Jimmy Anderson when he tried to hit him over the top, but he went back into the mode that got him runs.
“They were keen to be there at the end of play because tomorrow morning after one over there is a new ball – it is Broad and Anderson and it could do a bit, so they played the short ball well. They played everything well.”
In a change of tack, new captain Stokes put himself in the role of enforcer, bringing in a shorter field to try and force the mistake.
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The best of the action from day two of the first Test between England and New Zealand from Lord’s.
While Hussain has disagreed with Stokes taking on that role in the past, he believes the skipper was the only person suited for the job in an England side that has a mounting list of injuries, including Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
He added: “I thought he got it spot on today, he bowled four overs.
“I didn’t agree with it in the winter because the Ashes pitches were nibbling around and it was an unusual Ashes tour that it did a bit and England still won.
“While Australia were pitching it up, England were going with this short stuff from Ben Stokes.
“Ben had only bowled 12 overs going into that Ashes tour in the six months he had been injured and took a break from the game for other reasons so his body was already under strain and he was putting it under immense strain. In the end he snapped on that tour.
“Here, for four overs, I thought it was understandable and I thought he nearly got a wicket.
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“Mitchell nearly spliced it twice to Stuart Broad at mid-on but it is not ideal – that is a back-breaking job, you then lose your captain, you lose your premier all-rounder and one of your best batters in the side.
“But if you haven’t got Wood and you haven’t got Archer and it is flat and you have got a 35 and a 39-year-old and your spinner (Matt Parkinson) at the moment is just finding his way into Test cricket, who else is going to do it?
“He said to you on interview ‘I don’t ask other people to do things that I don’t do myself’ and that is what he has shown today – ‘I will do that myself’.
“We miss Shane Warne and we will certainly miss him tomorrow morning.
“He would be out there looking at him (Parkinson) and going through everything – lower your arm a little bit and how does he bowl a bit quicker because he is a bit slow at the moment.”
Collingwood: New era won’t happen overnight | It’s a big shock for Parkinson
Assistant coach Paul Collingwood admitted England’s attempts to enter a new era under Brendon McCullum remained “a work in progress” after New Zealand seized control on day two of the Lord’s Test.
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Matthew Potts took the wickets of Kane Williamson and Tom Latham before lunch on day two of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord’s.
“We know that things aren’t going to change overnight. It’s going to take some time that we get the team playing the way we want them to play. Obviously that’s a work in progress,” he said.
“Brendon’s a glass half-full kind of man. He’ll stay calm, he won’t change his values and beliefs just because of one innings, that’s for sure, and neither will Ben.
“We came out of that first day all evens, both teams got pretty much exactly the same score. It’s disappointing that we haven’t gone ahead and created a big lead, but if you dwell on it for the rest of the game that’s no good. This game’s not out of our reach yet.
“From our point of view we tried everything, and you can see in Ben that we’ve got a proactive captain who is willing to try different things.”
One of the weapons at the captain’s disposal was the leg-spin of Lancashire’s Matt Parkinson, who was drafted in from Manchester as a concussion substitute for the stricken Jack Leach.
Matt Parkinson is making his Test debut as a concussion replacement for Jack Leach
Parkinson, who made a long-awaited debut after two years on the fringes of the team, was unable to create any real danger for the resolute Mitchell and Blundell over the course of 14 overs but Collingwood thinks the spinner will only grow into his game.
“I’m sure it’s been a big shock for him, he was in his back garden on Thursday afternoon,” Collingwood added.
“He gets a phone call, rushes down to London, receives his cap off Jeetan Patel and goes straight out there. There wasn’t a hell of a lot of assistance out there, but you can see he is a pretty accurate leg-spin bowler and I’m sure he’s delighted with the experience.”
The first Test continues tomorrow, with coverage live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.15am.