England vs New Zealand: Nicholls shines for NZ with ton as England struggle on day three, 2nd test

0:01Yeah, gone! Gone, he gets his fairytale ending! An ippet way to go to a Test Match 100. 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 Broad. It's ended, we'll win the T20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope. Hello and welcome. It's the post-day review. Day three is almost done. We've got about 10 minutes of play left. New Zealand have a lead of 335 and have second innings wickets. Well, seven of them in hand. I've got Stuart Broad and Dinesh Kartik, DK, with me.

0:47It's not been one of those days where you were on the edge of your seat and couldn't take your eyes off cricket, but New Zealand have kind of worn England down and have got themselves into a position where they are very much likely to win this test. Yeah, for a wee bit, you thought England had something when they picked up a couple of early wickets and there was an LBW call that obviously didn't go in for DRS, Ratchan Ravindra early in his innings. But before and after that, you've got to say that New Zealand have dominated this game. They have. Barring a half an hour stretch, New Zealand have actually gotten ahead to a point where it's going to be hard for England to come back into the game.

1:19And they battled quite nicely. Yes, they were lucky with the opportunities that they presented, but England weren't good enough to take it today and that's made things worse for them. England started with Cox and Archer at the crease, a long way behind, about 169 I think. Cox didn't last very long, was picked up, brilliant catch by Tom Latham. New Zealand's out cricket was fantastic at this point and Matt Henry bowling with the keeper up picked up five and England didn't seem to have any sort of answer to that tactic and it's been one that Australia have used, India used it a little bit the previous season.

1:53What's the answer to that? Yeah, I think they'll get it in the last innings here as well. This pitch has started to go slightly down, so the keeper up brings the LBW and Bold more into play. I think what we're at at the end of day three now, a bit more sunshine tomorrow. I think reverse swing might come into the game a little bit, and that makes the keeper up really dangerous if you can keep them pinned in the crease and the ball moving late. The answer, I mean, England haven't found the answer to that problem yet, particularly Harry Brook. Harry Brook looks like all his foot movement changes when the keeper comes up to the stumps.

2:25He looks like an LBW candidate. And, yeah, it was Geoffrey Archer who sort of nicked one off Matt Henry this morning, and Blundell took a brilliant catch. Let's not underestimate how incredible it is for a wicketkeeper to be up to the stumps to pace bowlers, opening bowlers, and to make it look as calm and as seamless as it does. It's a really good thing to have in your team that you can have a wicketkeeper, not a new thing. You think of Gloucestershire in the late 90s made a very successful charge at domestic trophies, didn't they? Having Jack Russell stand up to the stumps. But it's a trend at the minute because I think through my career of 2006 to 2023, pick a handful of times a wicketkeeper was up to the stumps in Test Match Cricket a handful of times.

3:14And the last year, I feel like we've seen it quite a lot. And the batters is great, really, because the fielding teams are slightly out thinking the batters. And that's quite rare in the modern game. And the batters will find a way to deal with it. But I think about how he broke in particular. He tried to sweep at Lords against India last year and got bowled. In Australia, he dabbled outside the off stump and nicked off a couple of times with the keeper up. and yesterday got on it back at LBW. So, yeah, there's some questions. It will definitely be a talking point in the England camp. Yeah, Matt Fisher made a maiden test match 50 from number nine to get England up to a deficit of only 100.

3:56I say only 100. It's pretty significant when you're that far behind. Good that you mentioned the keeping thing because Blundell gave an absolute masterclass, DK, of standing up to the stumps. balls seeming, bouncing, some keeping low. He made it look very, very simple. On the other hand, England have had a couple of opportunities. He had an opportunity to get rid of Ratchin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls through catches behind the stumps that were both put down by England debutant James Root. Tough day for him, tough baptism in Test Match cricket. I think so. With the gloves, even in the first innings, there were plenty of buys, but some that not many could have even touched.

4:32So that is very understandable. But today, when he goes back and looks at those videos, he's overrun a couple of those catches. Basically, he's gone ahead of what he needs to be in terms of glove position, which tells you that the length and judgment perspective of where he assumes and where the hands are haven't been great. It is a workable flaw. It's nothing like rocket science that he can't work on. But I must admit, I don't think he would have realized that on an oval pitch with the bowlers that England had, He would have had to keep so much in front. He would have assumed that he's had to do a lot of his work standing behind.

5:09But this test match has forced him to come up to the stumps with Matt Fisher. And for a little bit with other paces as well. And it's not been easy going for him. I empathise with him. Even yesterday, the shot selection for him at the fag end of the day for a man who's played a lot of first class cricket. Yes, international cricket is new. But the situation is something that you'd have seen before. The choice of shot at that stage. So, this is a learning curve for him. I'm sure he's good for the run. He'll be better than what he was. But so far, it's been tough going with the gloves in the second innings.

5:36Can I ask a technical question on that? He's a young keeper, obviously. But the drop-off Ravindra to Josh Tongue was sort of a simple nick, really. But I noticed, I don't know nothing about Wichita, but his position went from low and before the nick came, he goes back up. Yeah. Is that unusual? Because then you've got to go low again to catch the ball. You wouldn't expect the sort of head movement to go up and down that way, would you? When you say it like that, principally, it's quite right what you're saying up and down. But the fact is that keeping has also evolved like batting and bowling, where keepers don't tend to now crouch as much as they used to.

6:10They stand almost upright right from the start. Even as we see, you can see James Roo doesn't allow his gloves to touch the ground. It's almost between his shin. I mean, rather his knee and his toes. So, he's almost there. But the key is, even if you get up, two things. You need to have a little bit of a flex in your knee to be able to move laterally. And as much as possible, have your gloves facing the ground. So then you have a chance to go sideways and also you keep your hands nice and firm. It shouldn't be too soft or too hard. That's when the ball pops out. And these are small things and I'm sure Sarah Taylor would be working on it.

6:40But yes, he can get into a slightly more flexed position. It's been a tough game for James Ruh on debut. Tough game a little bit, I guess, for Jordan Cox, who had to wait two and a half years to eventually make his debut. And he clipped one into mid-wicket, brilliantly caught by Latham. New Zealand are very much ahead in the game and will be looking to bat England out of it I wonder whether or not that they have just done the simple things better than England over the course of the test match as I said it's not been a it's not been a test match where there's been a lot of sparkling moments but they have just out basic England at every turn throughout the course from start to the end of day three here?

7:24I think that comes with, dare I say, experience. England have a very inexperienced bowling group and then Matt Henry can create a bit of magic yesterday afternoon by nipping the ball back, getting rid of England's two best batters and he just controlled length really well. I wouldn't suggest he was fantastic all the time but his five-foot was well-deserved. And they figured out what length to bowl on the surface when the ball was doing something. I think the morning session yesterday was just awful for England, wasn't it? England went for 100 with the ball, bowling with sort of very unusual plans.

8:04Joffre Arch waited an hour and a half to bowl, missed the second new ball, and almost came on when the game was already too far ahead of them. So it was a really unusual morning for England and turned into a poor day. And actually the bowling figures have just popped up on our screen. and what's that, seven bowlers used? It's almost been Joe Root's worst nightmare as interim captain because he's got an inexperienced bowling group, a flat pitch, sun's out, behind the game and tactically he's got no one to turn to, particularly to lean on. And the bowlers, how many times would Matt Fisher have bowled with the keeper up in a ringed field?

8:44Not many in county cricket, wouldn't need to. So they've looked starved of tactical ideas and it's not up just to the captain to decide what to do. And ultimately, I think the lack of experience in the England side has been overshadowed by a bit of game now, actually, from New Zealand. Let's talk about the Kiwis. Henry Nicholls came into the game on the back of Kane Williamson's unexpected retirement in there at number three. He's got a terrific record as a Test player anyway. He's very experienced. But he comes in having to fill those boots. He's got a second innings 100 here and has played quite beautifully.

9:24He has. He's been in some great form in his domestic tournament back home in New Zealand. Average is mid-90s, which tells you how strong he's been. And he's waited for his opportunity. He was a backup batter. And now that he's got the opportunity, I think he's made the most of it. Looked quite decent in the first innings in terms of positions. But I think in this second innings, he's made it count. It's fair to say that he's met with a very inexperienced attack and a lot of the times so much of the boundaries have come square of the wicket on the offside. And predominantly through this game for some strange reason they've not had a point.

9:57We've got a leg slit more often than we've had a point. And it's very interesting, both teams had a bit of a brain fade when they went for the short ball ploy. England did that predominantly in the first innings. New Zealand, when the ninth wicket fell, decided to go with that as a strategy and they leaked some runs as well. So it's something that both teams will look at and probably ponder about. But for the moment, sticking to Henry Nicholls, I think he's played a really good innings, brought his experience to the fore. Not his first rodeo either. He's been around for some time. And never the Test 100 now.

10:27He tells you why they rate him and why they backed him and he's giving them back plenty in this Test match. A man who's had a bit of a checkered time throughout the series so far, Ratchin Ravindra, scores of 0 and 8 at Lords, dropped three catches, two catches in that game, dropped another one in this test match, has looked sort of head and shoulders above all of the batters on show during this test match as far as his batting is concerned. He's a class act isn't he? Particularly a couple of shots through mid-wicket were just stunning. Timed beautifully, in control. Yeah he was really disappointed when he got given out actually.

11:02It was umpires' call, the tiniest fleck of ball really was in line with the stumps to give the umpire's call and then hitting middle and middle. So he was frustrated to get out to the part-time spin of Jacob Beth after doing so much hard work. And, you know, we've all played the game a long time. Sometimes you get to days where you realise, OK, the opposition aren't at the best. These conditions suit me. I'm going to make hay here. And he'll be really frustrated because he could easily have been walking off the way he was striking. The boy could easily be walking off with 130 not out and coming tomorrow with plenty more runs out there to get, which Henry Nicholls is eyeing up right now.

11:40Yeah, he sure is. England, both teams decided not to play a specialist spinner in here. And I'll stick my hand up from the start. I thought that England should have played Rehan Ahmed at number seven instead of Jordan Cox. Just didn't feel they needed the extra batting. But bowling-wise, you might need a spinner. New Zealand don't have one either. Is that going to play into what they decide to do in terms of a declaration here, presuming they go on and bat through the first session tomorrow? It would play a small part because they probably need to keep giving their fast bowlers a break. But what we would definitely see is plenty of Glenn Phillips and Ratchindra Vindra bowling because that is the breathing space that the pacers would need.

12:19Yes, there are four pacers and they come quite hard. But you've got to understand they bowled 84 overs in the first innings and this is just the 56th over as we speak. So they'll need some time. So New Zealand will bat a bit longer than what is required and also use a bit of their part-time spinners. Yeah, I mean, spin for you. Were you surprised to see how much Bethel has made it jump out of almost non-existent footmarks? And does it not prove that sort of five-day tests, as long as you've got weather set fair, can be wildly different between first innings and sort of third and fourth innings in tests?

12:50Wildly different, and that's the beauty of Test Match cricket, how conditions can change and how watching the game is so different. I always think that when you see highlights of day one when you're in day three and four, and you think, did the pitch really look like that? But the spin of things are an interesting one at the moment. It's very hard to explain why you'd play Shoaib Bashir at Lord's on a pitch that seemed more than you've ever seen in your life before and then drop him when you come to the Oval when the sun's set so fair and the pitch is going to dry out. I suppose it's an admittance that he's just not good enough.

13:23They're viewing him not good enough. They're thinking that Root and Bethel are as good as the job that Shoaib Bashir could do. Was it as much to do perhaps with, because of all the changes that England had to make, the batting line-up would have looked very, very short had Bashir down there at number 11 as well? Which is why I mentioned Rahehan Ahmed, at least he could bat at seven as well as being a spin option. I wonder if it's not a reflection totally on his bowling, but a little bit on England's shortcomings in terms of the tail. Yeah, there's absolutely, absolutely that. Already England's tail looks light, doesn't it, from Joffre Archer.

14:00Everyone's just one position a bit too high. They got lucky today with Matthew Fisher doing something that's very unusual for him and scoring a 50. But Jacob has taken four wickets in the test and we've just finished day three. Spinners generally come into their own day four and five. I'm not saying this pitch is going to really spin, but if you hit footholds when they're dry, Mark Wood and I went out there at tea and it's very dry in certain spots and that's only going to keep getting drier. So balls will start to spit out of those. In hindsight, probably Rayan Ahmed would have been a decent option, particularly at the tail enders.

14:40The tail enders don't play leg spin particularly well and he's someone who does hit the stumps a lot. Certainly does. Right. We have reached the end of day three. It's been a little bit low-key, it has to be said, apart from yourself and Mark Wood playing petonk somewhere out in the leafy suburbs of South London. But New Zealand lead by 352. They've got seven second-innings wickets in hand. Tomorrow morning, I think we're going to get some sort of keeping masterclass from DK. He's promised us he's not going to wear his super-tight gear, but the linen suit will be back a bit later on. Yeah, yeah.

15:17And so England are right up against it at the end of day three. Day four, they're going to have to show a lot of fight. But you have to say that the New Zealanders are looking almost dead set to make this series one apiece. Join us tomorrow. There will be more in terms of a review and hopefully a little bit more in the way of good news as far as England fans are concerned. See you then.