England's Summer of Cricket 2022 as Joe Root Steps Down

Must be assuming Southee can't be as ineffective again.

Given this apparently looks to be a good batting day and NZ bat all the way down , this could be a real test for an England attack without Anderson. And a good trial for Overton and his reputed pace.

Would be a good day for England to hold on to their chances unlike last week !

Perfect start for Broad and England !

Latham in the horrors at the moment.

alfie wrote:Perfect start for Broad and England !

Latham in the horrors at the moment.

Latham has come over on this tour purely with the intention of confirming JDizzle's priors against him. Have to admire it

Very interesting team selection by the Kiwis. I thought Henry and Patel were in the reckoning for the last spot, instead it's neither and they bat very deep. Would be catastrophic if they lost one of their seamers to injury...again. Could be a very tough workload on the three seamers if England bat long on what seems a good batting wicket.

Definitely don't see it as a dead rubber. England eager to keep the winning feeling going. NZ eager not to go home potless after controlling the first two tests for the most part and, somehow, losing both.

Batting solid enough since that first wicket...barring one risky single. Overton time now...

Out to Jack Leach in the first hour of a test match at Headingley, and to compound the error, reviewed one hitting middle of middle.

Will Young may need to be banished from tests forever

Leach doing the Graeme Swann first over wicket thing...first ball even.

Nice bowling change , Stokesy

Makes that England's hour. Needed some early success after losing the toss today , so they'll take 35/2 happily.

Over rate not so flash though.

Bats going after Leach - seems to be the standard approach by most teams . Won't be easy to contain them on this.

Only been two maidens in 19 so far. Might be one area they really miss Jimmy.

Overton was OK in that first spell ; though no sign yet of the 90 mph we were led to hope for.

Williamson seems to be settling in. 29 off 51 and he probably fancies this today...

Seems I jinxed the Kiwi skipper

Good bit of bowling from Broad ! 62/3 probably not what the tourists were hoping for at this stage...

Broad has bowled very well today.

Definitely England's morning now - sounds like Potts is also bowling really well but just isn't having much luck yet.

Nearly another for Broad ! Foakes made a great effort but that would have been a fantastic catch had he been able to hang on. Reckon he saved four...

dummy_half wrote:Definitely England's morning now - sounds like Potts is also bowling really well but just isn't having much luck yet.

He has certainly been very economical. Very useful , in the absence of Anderson today. Have to say he's done a pretty good job so far in his early Test career.

Not so much with his batting

Aside from that first innings at Trent Bridge, Potts has looked very good.

Tough chance for Foakes, an inside edge is always difficult but one he might think he should have taken, not entirely sure he got anything other than his fingertips on it however.

Excellent session for England after losing the toss. 65/3 off 27 not what NZ were planning.

Early days. Lot of batting to come.

Good morning from England. Good from the bowlers working in partnership. Good captaincy choices from Stokes. Good field placings. All round good.

But the afternoon will be tougher with the ball softening and NZ's main two yet to arrive at the crease.

Stokes 2019 Headingley highlights during the lunch break? Yes, yes I will watch. The day I don't will be the day I'm 6 feet under in a coffin

Not sure he hit that.

Aleem Dar needs new eyes

Hmm. Think Potts might have been unlucky there.

I guess with the onfield call being not out it was hard to overturn ; but I certainly wouldn't have been as sure as Mr Dar seemed to be that there was an edge.

Them's the breaks...

Dar is a fine onfield umpire but he's rotten with DRS.

Broad and Potts are making batting hard work in this session. Both batsmen have had a slice of luck already today and England might feel the next wicket could come any time..and possibly bring more.

Important for NZ these two survive this tough patch.

No doubt about that one ! Conway plays on and Overton has his first Test wicket ...

Unlike a couple of recent England debut bowlers , he didn't overstep either

Quite like the way Stokes has used his bowlers today ; but I think I'd still like to see him have a few overs himselfwhile the ball seems to be swinging a bit.

Leach on which is an interesting choice with the in form Mitchell at the crease now...

One more now and England would be delighted , even with this long line-up against them.

And since Craig is on now as a sub fielder the twins can (sort of ) claim to have played for England together

England tightening the screws on NZ these last few overs...runs at a standstill (especially Nicholls) He wants to score off Leach ; but at present unable to break the shackles.

Mitchell will surely start it ticking over though. In fact he's away with a boundary off Overton even as I type...

93/4 off 43. Hard work.

Watching Henry Nicholls bat is a great cure for insomnia

Well that is not going to improve Guildford's thoughts on Foakes's abilities in the review process...

Oh dear ! Ben Foakes has kept beautifully ; but he has given Stokes bad advice there ! That looked stone dead - and was.

England should have had their bogeyman Mitchell. Might come back to bite them...

That looked dead in real-time. England didn't go for it because...they were down to 2? Would have perhaps gone for it if they had all three?

Nicholls is showing us proper test cricket after last week's boundary extravaganza.

Couple of big moments in this session. And all the action around drs has gone against England...though that one was partially self-inflicted.

Few boundaries starting to flow now. Tide of the day might be turning...

Just started to catch up with this. New Zealand, like all throughout the series, with some utterly bizarre team selections yet again! Thankfully, Wagner is back. But as part of a 3 man attack with Boult and Southee already with a lot of overs in their legs! Will we see Mitchell a bit more with the ball in this test? Is Williamson going to risk that elbow of his with a few too many overs? Bracewell did alright with the ball in his debut test, but he's nothing like a frontline spinner.

England giving an early letoff to Mitchell. He made them pay big time in the last 2 games for such lapses.
But poor from New Zealand batters. Williamson, Conway and even Wil Young, all got starts and then didn't build on it, on a rather batter oriented track, that's criminal. And they even made people compare Jack Leach with Graham Swann! Can it get any worse?

Duty281 wrote:That looked dead in real-time. England didn't go for it because...they were down to 2? Would have perhaps gone for it if they had all three?

Nicholls is showing us proper test cricket after last week's boundary extravaganza.

Not sure the amount of reviews was the consideration - Stokes/Potts went to Foakes, who seemed to talk them out of it/not be keen. Can only presume he thought Mitchell got outside the line of offstump?

Daryl Mitchell's test average currently at 61.46 in his 16th test innings. This gives him the fourth highest average in test history (min. 16 innings) - only Voges, Sid Barnes and the Don ahead of him.

Henry Nicholls while not not the soundest with technique, is a man of determination, and though not looking great, is up for a fight... But his innings so far strengthens my feeling that he just isn't a number 4... When Jamieson and CDG will be back fit, it will be interesting, how the make up of this New Zealand lineup is going to be.

Leach bowling 14 out of 52 overs on a day one pitch in English conditions. Interesting indeed! The overrate has at least been decent by recent England standards...

Think Stokes should bring himself on for a couple of overs before tea. Is he still carrying the aftereffects of that illness or is it just one of those things? Overbowled himself a touch in the last game, not an over yet today...

Not Stokes himself, but the skipper has called upon England's better spinner for a spell before Tea.

Astonishing. I've really seen it all now.

Still can't get my head around that non review. It was Mitchell , for heaven's sake ! And surely it was going to be umpire's call at worst so why not go for it ?

England have been generally poor at reviews over the last year or two - or at least that has been my impression. With NZ approaching tea still tour down they can probably claim to have edged the session despite England pressing them throughout...

But no ! What a bizarre way to get out ! Nicholls had ridden his luck...but that was a cruel freak !

Can't we claim Mitchell out, as the ball came off is bat?

dummy_half wrote:Can't we claim Mitchell out, as the ball came off is bat?

Certainly think England would rather have that wicket than Nicholls!

Bizarre! This has to be Jack Leach's test match! England will have to now deal with the old firm of Mitchell and Blundell after tea. They haven't been too good at it so far in the series. But just keep Leach on from one end, you never know...!

Surely as it came of both bats without hitting the ground, they should both be out.....

Stokes clearly must not be fit to bowl if Root is bowling ahead of him?

123/5. Could be all out tonight and England take an iron grip on the test. But it is Mitchell and Blundell, so could easily be 250/5 at stumps!

Seems to be some complaint around the nature of the dismissal from the Sky commentators. I think it's fine, though definitely unusual, wouldn't want it outlawed.

Double spin attack after tea ? Not sure about that. I would prefer Broad at one end ; even if only for a short spell. Don't want to let this partnership develop again ! And I can't help but think Blundell would prefer to face Root as he settles in.

Stokes still hasn't bowled. Will he ?

Duty281 wrote:123/5. Could be all out tonight and England take an iron grip on the test. But it is Mitchell and Blundell, so could easily be 250/5 at stumps!

Seems to be some complaint around the nature of the dismissal from the Sky commentators. I think it's fine, though definitely unusual, wouldn't want it outlawed.

If I was making a change, I'd say that ball off the umpire maybe should be 'dead', but don't see a problem with being out off the non-striker.

Don't agree with double spin, maybe it's a light issue? Does look very gloomy in Leeds at the moment.