England vs New Zealand: New Zealand take control on day two, 2nd Test

0:01Yeah, gone! Gone, he gets his fairytale ending! An epic way to go to a Test Match 100.

0:09Simon Doull:The London Spirit of First Time winners! The most remarkable thing you'll probably ever see in cricket. 604 and final Test Wicket for Stuart Ford. It's ended when the T20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope. Hello and welcome to the Daily Review on day two of the Test match between England and New Zealand from the Oval. I'm joined by Mark Wood and Simon Dalt, two fellows whose knees are worse than mine. It's been quite an extraordinary day's Test match cricket, gents. It started off with England had New Zealand 291 for seven. England in a really good position on what looked like a pretty decent pitch.

0:57Simon Doull:and things did not start well, Mark, would you say? No. New Zealand to get 100 runs in 19 overs is definitely not what England would have planned. I think England allowed Jameson to get into a sort of hitting rhythm where all of a sudden Phillips could just naturally play. He looked in good touch. He took on the short ball unlike the night before and the runs just sort of accumulated quickly and England then lost scope of the game and things ran away from them. That's not to take away from Glenn Phillips, who I thought was excellent. But, yeah, I think the plans and the chaos of the morning allowed the game to slip away from England a lot quicker.

1:38Tactically, Dooley? Tactically quite poor, I thought. There was one method of trying to get the batters out, which didn't seem the best plan with a brand new ball available as well. I mean, tactically, not seeing Joffre Archer early on. I thought, you know, the conversation prior to today's play should have been, Joffre we need you to bowl that one over before the new ball and then we need you to bowl three overs and if you get one you'll get two with that brand new ball we'd rather that than having you sort of out in the field for an hour before we we see you and that probably should have been the conversation that was had what transpired in the dressing room we don't know and whether he was still a bit stiff and sore from yesterday which is probably you can understand having had a diet battered four overs only in a day for the last month and a half.

2:25But he wasn't going to get any less sore after building for an hour and a half. From a bowling point of view, you kind of want to get out there, do your warm-ups and get in and bowl straight away rather than do your warm-ups, bowl a few balls and then miss out for an hour before you have to come back. So I thought technically a little bit, yeah, they misread the situation a touch, I think, England first up this morning. Having said that, New Zealand misread it with the new ball as well. They weren't great with the new ball when they started to bowl, but I know we will get on to that. So, technically, a little bit poor from England and allowed New Zealand to put themselves in a position where they probably thought was hopeful at the start of the day, rather than a position they thought they could get to.

3:01I'll also say that it wasn't the young bowler's fault. I think England have a young attack. And when you're a young bowler, there's no way you're going. This is not the right plan. I think we should change it up. I think they maybe could have executed the bouncer slightly differently. You know, Jameson got a few over the keeper and there were more this line. Whenever I was with him, he got hit in the head a few times and was gutsy, but England looked like they could have gotten him out there. I think it would be very harsh for us to sit here on young kids making their debut and say, yes, we can say they weren't quite at it or wasn't quite executed, but I think the plans overall, that would have been a more team thing and a captain thing, and that's where it probably lies.

3:39Simon Doull:I mean, from my point of view, I'd say that the plan was wrong. You've got two guys basically starting on nought in the morning, and if you're not good enough to try and knock them over in an orthodox way before you start, then you're not thinking a great deal of the bowlers you've got in your line-up. You've been involved with Stokes and McCullum and you've been used as a battering ram at times with that short ball ploy. Talk us through the thinking behind it and the methodology that means that it's something that they go to quite often. Well, I don't think that they thought that Phillips might take it on again this morning.

4:11I think if they could have controlled that element of the game, even we were talking all of us off air I think if he got Phillips off strike even when he was going and giving one and then just bowled properly at Jameson but it was almost like we were just solely on that tactic and that can happen at times then I'll throw in the argument of if Duckey takes that catch then does that does that look differently the ball is newer then you've got the next batter in and you can start like Henry then you can maybe change the tactic altogether but it was like we've created a chance he's edged one over the way to keep eyes just one just shy here then we've dropped a catch so from that point of view are they saying well we've created chances yeah so we've got to stick with this but then all of a sudden it's cost you 40 runs and you're like well should we have done x y and z and then it was too late by then really so it certainly was too

5:00Simon Doull:late by then um glenn phillips maiden test match 100 i mean it came as a bit of a surprise to all of us i think to hear that he hadn't made one before because he played quite beautifully didn't He had to be very brave last night and then was stunning in terms of his shot selection today. Rewarded for bravery. And that's what Test cricket's all about, isn't it? From a batting point of view, he weathered it yesterday. I mean, that was some great cricket to watch for 40, 45 minutes, wasn't it? The battle with Joffre Archer. It was terrific to watch. And he got out of the way of it. He was sat on his backside, what, four, five, six occasions.

5:35Back of his pants and his shirt were filthy, dirty. But he weathered it. He got through it and then came out this morning and benefited from actually getting through that really tough period yesterday. So he's got one in each now, a T20, an ODI and a Test Match 100. He joins the coach of the England side, Brendan McCullum, and Martin Guptill as the only three Kiwis to have a century in all three formats. Not bad company at all. So, yeah, it's been a long time coming for Glenn Phillips. He's been a stalwart in that middle order, but that's been in innings that he's been waiting for for a long time, gutsing it out.

6:12He was aggressive when he started yesterday. He was aggressive when he started this morning, but in between he had to really fight for it, and he's as tough as they come and well-deserved.

6:22Simon Doull:Absolutely. England batting came out like they had a train to catch. Ben Duckey looked in fabulous form. Melio Gage has continued where he left off from Lords. great judgement outside off stump some wonderful crisp driving and then you're sort of thinking oh well maybe 391's not so bad because it seemed to be flat as anything and then unfortunately Duckett and Gay involved in a run out and Ben will be absolutely spewing because he looked in as good a touch as we've seen him since before the Ashes I thought he looked much more confident in his movement his body language there was a couple of hours off Jameson he clipped a couple then he got a few the other way I don't know I'll speak to Dooley about this maybe but like as critical as we were about England I don't think New Zealand started that well and that allowed Duckett again to get some rhythm into his bat and gain confidence and then it just so happened at the exact wrong time when you didn't want something to happen you know good players all get good balls you know what I'd say but it was England's doing and I think that was probably the disappointing bit The only two opportunities created in that first sort of 40-45 minutes were two run out opportunities both to Nathan Smith.

7:33Duckett almost barbecued Gay, didn't he, basically? I mean, he was miles out if Nathan Smith had hit. And then he returned the favour. Gay returned the favour and Nathan Smith managed to hit the pegs. But England had it under control in the first 45 to an hour. New Zealand were off the pace. I thought their bowling was a little bit all over the shop. Kyle Jamison couldn't find a line or a length that was consistent by any stretch. and England looked like they were going to get away to a really good start and Duckett looked fantastic. He would have been fuming walking off.

8:06Simon Doull:Yeah, 36 from just 25 balls and he wasn't going after everything. Every time he got a ball that was slightly offline or off length, he put it to the boundary. He looked in great touch. He won't be enjoying his dinner quite so much this evening. After that, New Zealand, after probably about 8 to 10 overs or so, the lacquer comes off the Duke ball. They got it swinging a little bit and then suddenly they started to control things. O 'Rourke from the pavilion end, Smith from the Vauxhall end. And it looked like a different game and a different pitch all of a sudden. Yeah, and Nathan Smith was a big part of that.

8:39He came on and started to bowl tight and bowled some maidens and overs that were going for one, maybe two. And that allowed O 'Rourke to be aggressive from the other end. And it kind of, it just got New Zealand back on track. They bowled some really tight overs. You just felt things were going to happen. There was some opportunities going to come along, and they needed to. Because this sort of surface, the outfield, they can get away on you quite quickly. Runs can be scored very quickly here at the Oval, and they needed to pull it back. And it was down to Nathan Smith, who I thought was very good at Lourdes as well.

9:12And Matt Henry back to full fitness after the seven, eight days off between test matches, having that little niggle, which he didn't. He wasn't 100 % at Lourdes, we know that. But he's back to full fitness. And, you know, once you get a little bit of a sniff, the ball is still doing enough. And New Zealand kind of started to control things a little bit later in that inning.

9:32Simon Doull:Yeah, Jacob Bethel was a victim of Smith, caught by the excellent Blundell behind the stumps for just nine. His first inning stats are extraordinary. I think he averages second for England in test matches, 70 for England in the second innings in test matches, and about seven in the first inning. So I'm not entirely sure why that would be. it's a small sample size, but he struggled to get going in the first innings. And then Emilio Gay made another 50. And Woody, you'd have bowled a few England left-handers over a period of time. He looks technically and temperamentally very sound. He looks the business, I think.

10:07For someone that have only just a couple of games, it's more his attitude. I've been impressed with it. A lot of the lads that come in, you play for England, they're top players, aren't they? Usually, if you get to the top end of your sport, you're a good player. but it's more his temperament. I feel that when he comes in, he doesn't look phased. He doesn't look out of place. He's moving into the ball. You mentioned that the way he strides into the ball. If you're a confident player, then you do that. So I've just been more impressed with the fact he's had to face fast bowling. He's had to face lads that nibble around and he's looked confident in all aspects.

10:38I think Benny said the last player to get a 50 in their first two test matches for England was Ben Foulkes going back eight, nine years ago. I think he started with a 50 in his first two test matches. Bit of an ugly way to get out, though, wasn't it? It was an ugly way to get out, but from an opening batting point of view, and a lot of talk in the last two, three years has been about Zach Crawley and coming in to replace Zach Crawley, it just looks composed. And I think that's, as Woody said, the composure that he's shown. It was brilliant at Lord's because that was a tough, tough ask, batting on that surface.

11:15and on a better pitch today. It was fine innings, but it took a good one. And again, your blind spot, Butch.

11:22Simon Doull:Yeah, yeah. Willow Rourke, he bowled something like 16 consecutive dot balls at Emilio Gais. It gives you an idea of the patience and technique and courage that Gais had to show in order to weather that through. 48 balls, I think, Willow Rourke from the Pavilion end, rushing in around the wicket. and he's changed for the last two of those 48 to over the wicket. First ball, nothing much happened. Second ball, bouncer that pitches outside the line of leg stump and then comes back in towards the left-hander. And I swear to you, and I said it, I did a little third man piece on this, I never admitted that that existed when I played because I thought, well, you know, I must be the only one.

12:03Simon Doull:But Kumar Sangakara, maybe two or three years ago, started talking about his blind spot where a ball pitches or sometimes pitch outside the line of leg stump to a left-hander as a left-hander for a fast bowler over the wicket, and you lose it momentarily. And I'm pretty sure that's what happened to Emilio Gay, because he just took his eye off it completely, didn't he? Ballooned off the glove, nobody appealed, went through to the keeper, they reviewed, and he was gone. Brilliant piece of bowling from a rookie. He is a handful, hasn't had a great deal of luck so far in the series. And then all of a sudden, you're looking at Joe Root, you're looking at Harry Brook, and you're thinking that, you know, decent pitch still.

12:38Simon Doull:England have the firepower here to really build some sort of partnership, but New Zealand were having none of it, do they? Well, they both played, I mean, Root in particular played beautifully, but a really key piece of timing in that whole situation was Tom Blundell coming up to the stumps. It anchored Joe Root back in his crease. It anchored Harry Brook, who wants to get at the bowling. He wants to get down the wicket. He wants to be aggressive, and it anchored them both to the crease. And Matt Henry, Woody and I were talking prior to the play today about how it feels like with Matt Henry that he just skids on a little quicker than you think and both players trapped.

13:15Before they'd really played the shot, Roots was an awkward-looking one and Brook just got hit before the bat came down. He just seems that sort of bowler that does that to you. Yeah. Couldn't agree more with that. I think he's a quality boy. I think what New Zealand did really well at that time as well as they set orthodox fields. A little bit England yesterday were maybe a bit funky. New Zealand went with a ring field, kept the catchers in and said, look we're going to bowl dead straight down the line we're going to bowl down the line time, time, time again and then every now and again one just went and Matt Henry he could see me on glass at times he just sort of like nipped back and it almost like gathers pace off the wicket when it does it and that's what it did for Root and Brook who at that time that was probably my favourite passenger play of the day because you could see the tension and the sort of drama of New Zealand building and building and building and then these two balls out of nowhere and England were stuck.

14:05Yeah, big time trouble with both Brook and Joe Root back in the huts.

14:11Simon Doull:Joe Root, two runs shy of 14 ,000 runs in Test Match cricket. So we've just come to the end of day two. England are still 169 behind. James Root, debutant, came out, played some really pleasing strokes. Nice extra cover drive, beautiful pull shot off Will O 'Rourke, but was again undone when O 'Rourke decided to come over the wicket, bounced him out, caught behind by Blundell. So 169 behind, six wickets down on first innings. New Zealand can be very, very happy with their day's work. England will probably feel that they have let opportunities slip to be much further on in this game. At the moment, they are battling.

14:48Simon Doull:Woody, thank you very much. Just quickly, how are you? How's the recovery? What's happening with the knee? Getting knee surgery next week. Things have moved at a better pace now. My knee's in a better place so I can get it done. and hopefully by the end of the summer I can start getting some cricket in. Thanks, Dooley. How have you enjoyed the commentary box today? I've loved it. You loved it? Loved it. Absolutely loved it. So much so I'm coming back tomorrow. All right. We've loved having you. Glad to have you back. We've loved having you. Okay, well, that's the end of the day two review. We'll catch you again tomorrow.