After England’s winter of discontent, under gloomy London skies, this was about as glorious a start to the Test match summer as Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes could have dreamt up. Their recall of Ollie Robinson paid off spectacularly. The decision to blood Emilio Gay brought a decisive half-century on a pitch where 50 runs were worth 100. Ultimately, an Ashes defeat can only be absolved by an Ashes victory. But this 115-run win over a capable New Zealand side went some way to soothing those sores.
The deed was done shortly before lunch on day four. Josh Tongue has tended to be their man for the job of mopping up the tail but Gus Atkinson took charge here, taking three wickets in four overs to complete his five-wicket haul. His name will be etched on the honours’ board for the fourth time here at Lord’s, where his 26 wickets have come at a miserly average of 9.5 runs. Don’t quote me on this, but “Gus Atkinson at Lord’s” is probably the best bowler in the world.
The final ball neatly summed up the match, as Atkinson sent a delivery spearing towards fourth stump only for it to jag off the pitch, stay low and clatter middle with a satisfying clunk. It was a brilliant bit of skill aided by a disastrous pitch which will inevitably be dissected as much as England’s performance over the coming days.
England will point out that the challenge was the same for both teams. They were more ruthless and relentless with the ball, and – perhaps surprisingly given their Ashes display – were intelligent in how they applied themselves with the bat, particularly in the second innings. It helped that New Zealand fielded with uncharacteristic generosity.
McCullum will savour a much-needed victory against his homeland. Robinson, Atkinson and Tongue were all excellent and complemented one another beautifully. Most of the batting unit made useful contributions. Perhaps the strangest part of this Test match for England was that their captain, Stokes, was barely involved.
Relegated beneath Jamie Smith to No 7, Stokes offered little resistance with the bat, and while some of his teammates could point to unplayable deliveries as an excuse for their dismissals, those which removed Stokes appeared eminently playable. He picked up one wicket with the ball, removing Devon Conway after an excellent low catch by Jacob Bethell here on day four, but he was barely required in such a short game, on a pitch which lacked any bounce for him to exploit.
The captain praised his fellow bowlers who did most of the heavy lifting. “It was a challenging wicket for batters but sometimes for bowling, because you’re massively in the game and we knew what we needed to do with our plans to the New Zealand batters this week,” he said. “We executed them probably as well as I’ve seen an England bowling group do that since I’ve been captain.”
Stokes may be more influential in the remaining two Tests at Trent Bridge and The Oval, and the task for England now is to close out the series. One criticism of this modern England side is that some series-winning platforms have been squandered for draws, and that cannot be allowed to happen this summer.
There was no great sense of a new post-Ashes era beginning here at Lord’s. Once everyone decided they should keep their jobs after the winter debacle, the decision was effectively made that this would be a moment for evolution, not revolution. England invested in a highly distinctive approach when they first appointed McCollum, and they will live by that approach so long as he is the head coach. The fact he has since expanded his role to the white-ball sides underlines England’s all-in commitment, and no one should expect him to abandon the principles that make him who he is and brought about some success, initially at least.
Yet there was widespread expectation of a tweaking of the dials from brainless bludgeoning during the Ashes to batting that fits the moment, that suits the conditions and scenario and sway of the game. There is a perceptiveness that comes with great batting that England have been guilty of abandoning, but over the past few days there have been signs of an adjustment of sorts.
The combination of gloomy conditions and a wretched pitch – which served several impossible grubbers per session – demanded a wariness and steely concentration which England generally applied, particularly on day two when their second innings tally of 226 effectively won the game. Ben Duckett’s measured 33 from 46 balls complemented Gay’s calm half-century. Robinson sensed the moment to change the tempo as wickets fell, and his late 29 sucked the remaining life out of New Zealand.
After rain scuppered most of day three’s play, and an absurdly timed lunch break meant the teams were eating rather than playing during the sunniest part of the day, England jogged out to a nearly full Lord’s on day four needing five more wickets to clinch the game, while New Zealand chased 199 runs, a lofty fourth-innings tally on any pitch but a near impossible target on this one. It has received much scrutiny and some stinging criticism from various former England captains on the airwaves. Michael Vaughan may be contracted to find three things per week “unacceptable” but he was right about a surface that has not been fit for Test cricket.
Sure enough, a low trajectory off the surface helped Tongue trap Tom Blundell LBW to get England on their way. Conway and Glenn Phillips fought gamely but when Bethell dived low at gully to grab a Stokes delivery that raced off the leading edge, the game was up.
“The beauty of Test cricket is that you have contrasting conditions and challenges and you have to find ways to adapt and be successful on them,” McCullum said. “The good thing from our point of view is that when you’re involved in a low scoring shootout, your execution has to be bang on. Our execution with the ball was outstanding, our plans were great. With the bat, I thought we were brave at times and calculated at other times.”
Atkinson finished off New Zealand to cap a healthy victory that will restore some confidence in what England are building. Two Tests to go. Now they must finish the job.
