4 1GS Saturday June 11 2022 | the times
Sport England v New Zealand: Second Test
handle himself rather well in any
confrontation.
But Mitchell was not perturbed.
Yes, that heave was an odd stroke, but
it was Mitchell’s way of attempting to
release some pressure. He was simply
playing the situation in a positive
manner. Much has been made of
England’s new aggressive approach
under their new head coach, Brendon
McCullum, but here was a Kiwi
demonstrating from where exactly
that mindset emanates.
Fast forward now to just after tea.
Leach is bowling his left-arm spin
from the Pavilion End. He is probably
bowling a little more than any captain
would wish on a pitch lined with so
much green and with the opposition
having been inserted. His role is
mainly containment, surely.I
t was an odd shot, and it
seemed to come from nowhere.
Daryl Mitchell was having his
early troubles, despite his
century in the second innings at
Lord’s.
He was dropped on three by Joe
Root at first slip off Ben Stokes — a
sitter, really, with only some possible
late dip as mitigation. Earlier Zak
Crawley had shelled one off Stuart
Broad, diving across Root, at first slip,
when the left-handed Henry Nicholls
edged one.
Root later dropped Tom Blundell, a
very difficult chance at slip off Jack
Leach, and in the 83rd over one went
unhindered between Crawley, at
second slip, and Jonny Bairstow, at
third, off Broad. So much for
England’s improved fielding. There
were some sloppy misfields as well.
Mitchell was on five and James
Anderson was bowling a testing
afternoon spell from the Pavilion End.
The morning session had offered only
a bland, slow pitch that not just
questioned Stokes’s decision to insert
New Zealand but threatened to mock
it, as indeed it had by the close.
Now, though, as Darren Gough,
who knows a thing or two about
swing bowling, observed in the Sky
Mitchell thrives on attacking approach
Sports commentary box before many
had realised, something was
happening. Anderson and Stokes
were not exactly making the ball talk,
but they were certainly ensuring that
it was no mute. There was swing in
the air.
Mitchell had just squirted two runs
through cover in an inside-out arc off
Anderson when the bowler offered up
a wider, swinging delivery. Mitchell
threw the kitchen sink at it with a
shot borrowed from Twenty20 and
the ball flew over cover, bouncing
twice before the boundary.
It does not take much to rile
Anderson. The most famously
grumpy of fast bowlers — and most
of them are pretty grumpy, in my
experience — Anderson was
horrified.
Now, the next ball went off a
thickish outside edge and Ollie Pope
could not stop it in the gully region,
allowing Mitchell two more runs that
he probably did not deserve.
Anderson, unquestionably
England’s best bowler on a frustrating
day for the home side, was starting to
tick and then the next ball brought an
edge that dropped short of Bairstow
at third slip and went away for
another run. Bairstow smiled but you
really hope that Anderson did not see
that.
He was fuming enough as it was. A
verbal exchange was inevitable as
Mitchell jogged the single. Anderson
rarely misses such an opportunity,
even if Mitchell comes from a rugby
background and, you suspect, wouldMitchell understands and
recognises this scenario, especially as
Matthew Potts, who has been
expensive, is operating at the other
end. It would be easy to play oneself
in again gently in this situation, but
that is not Mitchell’s philosophy.
This is a man who loves to
advance down the pitch to the
seamers.
Immediately he is reverse-
sweeping Leach for four. Then he
is hitting him over mid-off for
four. Two balls later he is lofting
one for six over long on with a
ball landing in a spectator’s pint.
If Leach’s role is one of
containment, Stokes is not
particularly interested at this
point. The fielders at mid-off and
mid-on remain up, tempting
Mitchell to go again. He doesn’t,
and for the next over a long on is
posted. That is surely more sensible.
Leach settles in and even spins one
sharply past Mitchell’s edge, but the
tall batsman passes fifty and, though
he plays Leach with more
circumspection, the spinner’s eventual
figures — no wickets for 62 runs from
18 overs — still indicate a tough day.
For England’s next theory Broad
rushes in from the Radcliffe Road
End to bowl a flurry of bouncers
with three men posted out on the
hook, even if Potts’s attempts at
this had already beenspectacularly unsuccessful. At Lord’s
Mitchell was not afraid of taking on
the short ball in these circumstances,
and nothing has changed here. There
was a top-edged six over fine leg and
then the next ball clanged Mitchell on
the helmet.
Cue the necessary concussion
protocols, but again Mitchell was
not disconcerted. England
attempted to rush to the new ball
by employing the spin of Leach
and Root in tandem, but to
Root, Mitchell again employed
the reverse-sweep to good
effect. England thought they
had snapped him up off the
glove from this shot, but
the ball had hit sweatband
instead.
The next ball Root
bowled a bumper that
Mitchell very nearly hit
to mid-on. Clever
invention or clear
desperation? Take your
pick, but Mitchell is
having some series
already.
So is Blundell, who
was there quietly going
about his business again
at the other end. Just as
Mitchell and Blundell’s
partnership was last Friday,
the stand was unbeaten at
the close. England will
hope they can bring
about another collapse
this morning, just as
they did last week.Steve
James
England can’t get them out
Blundell and Mitchell are responsible
for the two biggest partnerships of
the series so far
Tom Blundell & Daryl Mitchell
(NZ, first Test)Blundell & Mitchell (NZ, second Test)*Ben Foakes & Joe Root (Eng, first Test)*Root & Ben Stokes (Eng, first Test)Tom Latham & Will Young
(NZ, second Test)1951209084149*Unbeaten partnershipLeach, who was brought on in
the first session, had a tough day,
conceding 62 runs in his 18 oversBig six makes
a splash... in a
spectator’s pint
In the afternoon, Daryl Mitchell
cleared the ropes off Jack Leach’s
bowling (1), launching the ball into the
crowd (2). After it landed directly in a
supporter’s pint (3), sending cider
flying, Matthew Potts signalled to let
his team-mates know what had
happened (4). The soggy Dukes ball
was cleaned up by the umpire (5) and
the New Zealand team bought a fresh
pint for the unlucky fan, who had a
broken cup to keep as a souvenir (6).1
2
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