A Jaunt into the South. England v NZ Part 1 - Christchurch
By Grockle
November 29 2024
Although I have covered England Test series before, it hasn't been fully and not in their native situ. This is different as I travel to New Zealand to watch Engalnd play a full series in Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton
Getting There
The journey to the series started in Taunton at 2:20 in the morning on Friday 22 November. A coach trip up to Heathrow (very efficient it was too), A flight to Singapore at 11am and the first of a number of time zone changes (this one moving us forward 8 hours from UK time).
With a break to get over the first part of the journey of a couple of days, the second part found us in Auckland with a short internal hop to Christchurch for the First Test and in this strangely new but still quite colonial city we found ourselves at the Hagley Oval.
First Test England v New Zealand Thursday 28 November 2024
The side to face the Kiwis is probably not the one England hoped to put out because of the loss of Jamie Smith because of parenting duties and the injury to Jordan Cox called in for coverage which has left England without a proper wicket keeper (how did they allow that to happen). This means they have had to move Ollie Pope to glove duties and that leaves debutant Jacob Bethel with the unenviable job of taking the number 3 spot in his first Test against the bowling of Tim Southee (in his last international series) and Matt Henry to name but 2. The full side is;
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Jacob Bethel, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir
Stokes won the toss and took the bowling first option on a day when a 'dry Northwester' is expected creating dry conditions with temperatures of up to 30C. First the "Crowe/Thorpe Trophy" is introduced with a Maori ceremony before umpires Tucker and Raza get the game underway in front of a full Oval in Christchurch's Hagely Park.
Kiwi captain Latham and Somerset old boy Devon Conway face Chris Woakes from the Botanic Gardens End, who produces the first maiden of the competition and is followed by Gus Atkinson from the pavillion based Porthills End and it is him who takes first blood as he gets one to spit at Conway who has to react by popping the ball back to the bowler who takes a very difficult return catch. New Zealand enter the third over at 4 for 1 with Kane Williamson at the crease very early in the number 3 spot.
From there, the home side takes it very slowly, getting the feel of this pitch in the early stages. Brydon Carse is first change at Porthills for the 10th while Williamson brings up the 50 with a run 3 in the 12th. Not soon after that we have the first 50 partnership at 53 for 1 which has mostly come from Latham with 43 against his partner's 7. Williamson has started very slowly as he passes 1000 Test runs against this opposition in his 17th Test against England.
Latham is not long for this innings though as Carse has him caught behind (a confidence booster for Pope) on 47 at the total of 62 for 2. In comes Ravindra at number 4 and he is certainly not waiting around. Atkinson changes ends and we see Ben Stokes for the first time. However, the skipper's first spell with the ball does not go well as he is taken for 9 from his first, moving the Kiwis into the 90s, 10 minutes before lunch and they go in at 104 for 2 with the second Stokes over going for another 10.
Lunch at Hagley means opening the pitch up to the spectating public, who are allowed to play and wander on the pitch as it used to be in many more places. The whole feel of this place is 'pro-cricket' to be enjoyed by all the people in attendance.
After the break Woakes returns but the area of forward movement is coming from the batting partnership as they motor on bringing up another 50 partnership at 112 for 2. Carse is reintroduced to keep the bowling attack rolling but there is little forward motion so the English turn to their spin option and Shoaib is introduced in the 28th. Almost immediately, the 'holding spin' of Bash has results as Ravindra dismissively comes up the wicket to the young bowler and confidently slaps the ball straight into the grateful hands of Crawley. He leaves for 34 from 49 balls just when he was looking dangerous and Mitchell replaces him with his side at 130 for 3. Meanwhile Bash starts with figures of 3 for 1!!
Williamson finally gets into gear and dangerously moves to 50 with consecutive fours off the spinner as the second session moves on. It's 145 for 3 and it has taken the Kiwi bat 90 balls but he is starting to look like he might be up for moving a little faster. Stokes moved his bowers about but it does feel like they are one short with his own contribution being less than stellar and Woakes failing to find movement which severely hampers his effectiveness. Atkinson is active and Carse looks far more dangerous than when I last saw him but there is only so much they can do if there is another option the NZ batting line-up can wait for.
Tea arrives at 193 for 3 and little is happening from the England side to be honest. A couple of very sharp chances haven't been held but it is meandering along without too much danger to the home side.
Williamson has moved to 77 and Mitchell is supporting with 16 when Woakes resumes at the Pontshill end for the final session of the day but it is Carse who pounces as Mitchell tries to take him on and is caught by Brook in the deep for 19, one run short of the Kiwi 200. Blundell replaces him and brings up that 200 immediately in the 54th over. But it is when the important wicket of Williamson arrives caught Crawley off Atkinson that things take a turn in England's favour. In comes Glen Phillips, just before Blundell falls to Shoaib courtesy of the hands of Atkinson bringing debutant Smith to the crease and the 250 for the hosts in the 68th.
Stokes brings himself on at the Botanic Gardens end and he seems a little more himself in this second spell. Meanwhile Bash sets Smith up really well and has him caught close in by Root for 3 reducing New Zealand to 7 down and bringing Matt Henry out to face his ex-teammate spinner. He tries to hit him out of the attack and suceeds in getting bat to ball in a massive way into the pavilion. I'd forgotten that Matt is no slouch with the bat. Most of the interest is in a number of reviews of possible dismissals of Glen Phillips at the other end. Carse replaces Bashir who simply changes ends and at 297 tempts Henry who is caught by Duckett giving the Somerset man his fourth. Southee comes out and does not look at all comfortable though he does push his side past 300 with a four.
England take the new ball at 312 for 8 in the 80th over. The day winds down with lots of near misses but the heat has got to many and we stumble to a late finish without more incident. Day 1 concludes with New Zealand on 319 for 8
Day 2 - England Fightback?
A gloomier start to the second day with overcast skies and a lack of the heat experienced on the first. England are hoping for a quick end to the New Zealand innings and the chance to start on the road back to parity.
Woakes once again opens from the Punthills End (where the pavilion is) and Southee who was very much not in his comfort zone last might suprises everyone by coming up the wicket to the England bowler aiming the first boundary of the day straight back past him. Carse partners Woakes at the Botanic Gardens End and begins by ending Southee's defiance having him caught by Gus Atkinson with the first ball of the second over. O'Rourke takes his place at the crease and survives a wicket maiden followed by another non scoring over from his partner as England start the way they hoped to.
However, the settled man, Phillips, at the other end does manage the morning and moves the score on to 335 where he passes the individual score of 50. The defence continues until a score of 348 when Carse removes O'Rourke's stumps to finish the innings and take his fourth wicket for 64 runs. This compares with Bashir's figures of 4 for 69 while Atkinson claims the other two wickets for 61
English Reply
Zak Crawley versus Southee results in a maiden while Henry v Duckett results in 9 runs but also sees the early departure of Crawley who is adjudged LBW at the end of the second over without bothering the scorers. Jacob Bethel starts his apprenticeship as a number 3 bat 2 overs into the innings. Not what he or the management hoped for I am sure. However, it is what it is and he has to get on with it.
Early good close fielding from the home side makes things very difficult and Matt Henry has not got worse since he was at Taunton in 2023. It is a difficult start to the reply. Duckett is looking confident while Bethel works hard and finally gets off the mark to his 13th ball faced. The England pair work through the first change with Smith coming on for Southeee at the Punthills End for over number 12 and as we move towards lunch the confidence of the visiting pair seems to grow. Unfortunately, just before the break, Bethel is bowled by Smith for 10 and Joe Root is forced to enter the fray and start twice because of the imminent break. Unfortunately it doesn't become a problem because halfway through the ultimate over before the break, Smith bowls Root for zero to end the session a little early at 45 for 3.
Harry Brook is in directly after the break with 3 balls of the Smith over to face. He manages that and works with Duckett (on 32 from 40) to re-establish the stability of the innings. The 50 arrives from a Brook four but Duckett, who has been working at being direct but careful is then caught hooking O'Rourke just short of his own 50 by Devon Conway on the boundary. He leaves for 46 at 71 for 4 with an England situation that could not be described as particularly strong.
In comes Ollie Pope at a lower position than usual because of his glove responsibility and in the hunt for runs. He faces Southee from the Punthills End. The pair look to establish themselves seeing off each Kiwi bowler as the score moves forward reaching 100 in the 28th and resulting in a 50 partnership at 122. This is also courtesy of a lot of 'fun' in the slips as the fielders have trouble with Brook who tends to play most things into the ground and partly due to their own inability to hold on to anything. There are a number of fielding errors as Brook continues. Philips especially is having one of those games where the ball follows him as do the errors.
Pope is also getting valuable time at the crease and the 150 arrives courtesy of a Pope scoop which suggests increasing confidence while Brook reaches his 50 with a hook for 6 followed by Pope reaching the same score at 163 for 4 (off 59 balls). Just before Tea, the spin of Phillips is introduced for the first time and the 100 partnership arrives at 171 with Tea coming at 174. A good second session for the English.
O'Rourke resumes at the Punthills End with Phillips partnering him from the Botanic Gardens but they can't stop Pope reaching the target of 3000 Test runs as the score moves into the 190s with the 200 coming in the 48th over as the English bat on.
New Zealand return to Smith at 205 only for Brook to be dropped once agin on the boundary in the 70s where Phillips did all the hard work to get to the ball but then fumbles it. This allows Harry to reach his own personal achievement of 2000 Test runs.
The 150 partnership arrives at 221 but straight after this a brilliant diving catch by Phillips undoes some of the damage as Pope is dismissed for 77 (from 98 balls). This brings the skipper Stokes to the crease. He recognises that Brook is looking good in the 80's and looks to offer suport rather than try to push the score along and leave it up to his partner to do that initially. This seems to work as the 250 arrives followed by Brook's century at 259 with a four from the bat to the Botanic Gardens boundary.
Stokes is still in the sub-ordinate role as the pair rack up another 50 partnership at 274 followed by passing 300 off the first ball of the 70th over bowled by Smith only for Brook to be dropped again, this time by the captain Latham some 5 runs later.
The day ends at 317 for 5 with a score of four dropped chances during the Brook innings with other fielding errors not helping the home side's attempt to hold a first innings advantage. It does not look like England will fail to overtake the New Zealand score on Day 3 after a very good and professional performance on this day with more than a little help from the opponents.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:12:06:22:29:27 by Grockle.
Not the best option but people used to do it this way all the time 🤣
Jet lag hasn't helped but it's getting better so hopefully stuff will move better after this part. I'll add Day 2 this evening and then post the rest in a seperate thread on Sunday evening (my time) when I should be reporting English success.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:03:14:11:55:09 by Grockle.
And from the pics in the Guardian today the ground looks fantastic, so I'm not at all jealous. I love New Zealand and, years ago when I was young and fit, cycled from Picton to Dunedin. Happy days...
My sole experience of an overseas Test was Australia vs West Indies at the Gabba in 1988. The Windies were victorious and it wasn't close.