I Told You So...

In between the looks of excitement following England's astonishing victory this afternoon, and those of guilt that I am currently writing this instead of revising for my exam tomorrow, I feel I can afford myself a slightly self-satisfied smirk. My venture into writing about cricket is still in its infancy, yet most of my thoughts and predictions about the nature of the First Test have been vindicated. I am not preparing for a phone call from TMS, Sky or one of the broadsheets quite yet, but I am nevertheless rather pleased with myself at this decent start.
Any slim journalistic ambitions of mine however, pale into insignificance next to the cricket itself. What an extraordinary end to an absorbing match! I think the only people who can feel aggrieved are those who planned to come to Lord's tomorrow, and perhaps the whole of New Zealand. Although inevitably shorted, low-scoring games are, in my opinion, much better for the spectator. The course of the match can change within the blink of an eye, momentum swings from one side to another like a demented grandfather clock and for the players themselves, there a plenty of golden opportunities to be a hero. If New Zealand hadn't imploded quite so

rapidly, and the margin of victory had been correspondingly slimmer, we would have been saying that Joe Root was the crucial difference between the sides. The Yorkshireman not only compiled the highest individual innings score of the match yesterday, but was the only player on either side to finish with a match aggregate of over 100 (the next best was the unflappable Jonathan Trott, with 95). As he has done for his international career so far, he batted in both innings of this match with a maturity and confidence beyond his years. The only thing I would say is that he and Trott need to seriously work on their running between the wickets together! In all seriousness, when Root makes his debut international hundred, it will be a special moment indeed.
Although he won't have minded in the slightest, Root at the limelight taken from him by a rampant Stuart Broad. I backed Broad before the Test, not so much to score runs, but certainly to take wickets. I felt, although others thought otherwise, that he bowled reasonably well in the first innings.

Indeed, his first spell I believe matched that of James Anderson's. Broad is becoming slightly mercurial, which is not such a bad thing. Any team is made stronger by having a bowler who can runs through teams like Broad did today, even if they don't do it every match. It wouldn't be an attribute quite so desirable if it wasn't perfectly complimented by Anderson's reliability though. I sung his praises vigorously in my last post, and he yet again reaffirmed his credentials today, although perhaps lived up to the 'Unlucky' moniker I gave him by having playing second fiddle to Broad in the deciding innings of the match.
With regards to the batting, I feel I scored a massive hit with Alastair Cook. The England captain was dismissed twice in the match by left-armer Trent Boult and, although you could argue his second innings dismissal was uncharacteristically lazy, he never really looked comfortable against the wiry paceman. On the other hand, I backed his opening partner Nick Compton and Ian Bell, and neither made a real contribution (Compton a match aggregate of 31, Bell 37). We can forgive Bell I think, as he was suffering from flu for most of the match and as for Compton, whatever you say about a gate between bat and pad, the ball he got in the second innings was a gem and would have got better players than himself out. The way he got out in the first innings was odd though. It is perhaps the first time in his career to date he has got himself out in a lackadaisical fashion. Also, whilst I said he would be more relaxed at the crease playing in England, it appears he isn't. If I was the England management, I would give him some reassurance with regards to his place in the team, as he still looks tense. Some aspersions have also been cast on the performance of Jonny Bairstow, somewhat unjustly in my opinion. He top-scored in the first innings after all, and was unfortunate in both his dismissal and in the fact that by the time he was 'in' he was batting with the tail. Both he and Root certainly looked relaxed at the crease anyway.
Moving to the New Zealand camp and, although my assertion that Peter Fulton would struggle in England was perhaps on the verge of stating the obvious, it was nevertheless vindicated. He never looked particularly comfortable for any of the 31 balls he faced in the match and, if he doesn't improve on his match aggregate of three at Headingley, he will be looking apprehensively over his shoulder for Martin Guptill. Test cricket can be a cruel game when you're thirty four. Another who appeared way out of his depth was Dean Brownlie, who may be getting in the team on account of his excellent slip catching at the moment. I confess I was woefully wrong about Hamish Rutherford and Kane Williamson however. Rutherford comes from the Tillakaratne Dilshan/Virender Sehwag/Tamim Iqbal school of opening batters, so is a bit all or nothing. It

could well be that he blazes a magnificent hundred on Friday morning. Williamson, on the other hand, I must alter my opinion of. The technical difficulties I spoke of previously seemed to be absent for most of his innings and he was got out first time around in an unfortunate way, caught down the leg side. Whilst Headingley will, in all likelihood, test his technique more than Lord's, I now would back him to succeed and score more runs. His ball to get rid of Trott yesterday was Graeme Swann-esque too, and he has come out of the match with his stock enhanced. Not so Bruce Martin. New Zealand's specialist spinner only took one wicket in the match, which was essentially gifted to him by Compton, and bowled some really filthy long hops with alarming regularity. With his injury, it may be that this is now an easier decision to make for the New Zealand selectors, but I expect Doug Bracewell to play in his place at Headingley, something I was an advocate of for this Test.
Well, I have calmed down now following a thrilling half day of Test cricket, once again proving that this is without a doubt the best format of the game for spectators and players alike and must return to revision. It has certainly ended up being an explosive start to the international summer, and I'm already looking forward to it continuing on Friday.