Date-stamped : 05 Feb97 - 10:16 Pre-match - Electronic TelegraphW- Events putting England under severe scrutiny By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Wellington THE possible participation of an 18-year- old spin-bowler, who looks like the school swot and has been chosen after two first-class matches, and England's difficult situation make the second Test against New Zealand at Wellington a mouth-watering prospect. The match starts at 9.30pm GMT tonight. England have to cope with the the knock-on effect of New Zealand's last-wicket stand at Auckland - one of the great escapes from the cricketing dead - the need to end their sequence of draws this winter and the consequences of another near-miss, or, worse, a defeat. It is a point which hardly needs emphasis after Auckland that, if England cannot take 20 wickets, they probably will not win, so nothing is more important for them during the next five days than the performances of their probable new-ball bowling attack of Dominic Cork and Darren Gough. These two have scores to settle with New Zealand's gifted middle-order of Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle and, assuming his recovery from an ankle sprain, Chris Cairns. More than that, they have the incentive of serious rivalry from their opponents' new-ball pairing of Simon Doull and the strong, pacey, but unsophisticated Geoff Allott. Cork and Gough have both made a lot of money since they burst into Test cricket with eye-catching performances. To an extent both of them have since been deflected from the main target. They have played in the same Test team only four times in 19 games since Cork's dynamic debut at Lord's against the West Indies in 1995 and they will be sharing the new ball from the start of a match for the first time tomorrow, assuming Andrew Caddick is recalled as the third seamer after a tour spent mainly as a taciturn outsider. Chris Silverwood's injury during fielding practice at the Basin Reserve - split webbing between forefinger and thumb, requiring five stitches and ruling him out until Christchurch next week - will have made no difference to the final England XI. Alan Mullally's continuing inability to make the batsmen play against the new ball is likely to end his unbroken run of nine Tests, not least because Allott's selection will create the rough which England like to think their spinners need. Silverwood's apparent lack of stamina after bowling so well on the first day against New Zealand A at Wanganui, however, had already persuaded the tour selectors to turn instead to Caddick for the long spells into the wind, which Wellington often demands. A final choice will be made in the morning between Craig White and one of England's pair of spinners, but the best bet on a true pitch will surely be a balanced attack of three fast and two slow bowlers. White had his moments with the ball in the first Test at Auckland (two for 77 in the match), but his first-ball duck there and his inability to take his chance with the bat in Wanganui seem to have confirmed him as a cricketer who promises more than he delivers. Robert Croft, on the other hand, has looked a doughty little cricketer in his three Tests, and it was a mistake to leave him out at Auckland. None of New Zealand's team has had any first-class cricket since the first Test, except the two men who won instant promotion as a result of the New Zealand A XI's success in Wanganui, Allott and Chris Harris. The four England players who were able to relax after their exertions at Auckland - Cork, Gough, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe - should be in the right frame of mind to build on their success, and in the case of the two bowlers it is crucial to England's chances that they should do so. Caddick is an enigma who has himself been treated enigmatically on this tour. It seemed to dawn on the tour selectors only halfway through the Wanganui match that this was one potential asset, which they had not even tried to use properly. Caddick's virus at the start of the Zimbabwe visit and a couple of lacklustre performances gave Silverwood the inside track. Silverwood, who has had a good tour whatever might now follow, outperformed him both in Palmerston North and in the first innings against New Zealand A. With his mechanical action and detached air, Caddick still seems a person apart, hard as he is trying to be a team man. It is hard to be sure how much this is due to his New Zealand upbringing and his decision to become a naturalised Englishman in order to play professional cricket. England left him out at the Oval last August to accommodate Chris Lewis against Pakistan - after Caddick had taken six wickets at Headingely - and they have probably been wrong to overlook him on this tour until now. The next few days will tell. Never a man for hyperbole, Atherton said after England's net practice that this was a Test match "as important as the last one and no more important than the next". It is one of the England captain's strengths to be able to focus on the big occasion and, within the occasion itself, on the next ball. While it is true, therefore, that his own cricketing future will be at stake in this and the last match of the series at Christchurch, he will be keeping his eye on the ball both literally and metaphorically. This is good news for an England team who need his batting to be at its best on a pitch which is very hard and covered with a beautifully even mat of thickish grass. If sunshine returns, this should be a lovely pitch on which to bat during the middle stages of the game. England should play both spinners and bat first if they have the choice. New Zealand's strategy depends on Cairns's full recovery. The fact that they did not call for a replacement yesterday (Danny Morrison, Heath Davis or Jeff Vaughan would be the likely candidates) suggests that his ankle will allow him to bowl. If so, Steve Rixon, the coach, and Lee Germon, his captain, may find the courage to risk playing their tall, bespectacled meteor Daniel Vettori. He will be 18 years and 10 days old tomorrow. Son of an Italian father and New Zealand mother, he is a natural bowler with that loop and curl in his flight, which comes from sharply imparted finger-spin. He could become the youngest from his country to play Test cricket. It is an exciting prospect not just for Vettori but for all of us. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 1 - electronic Telegraph Heavy rain delays start of Test HEAVY overnight rain at the Basin Reserve ground prevented play on the first morning of the second Test, though the forecast for improving weather made the chance of some play later in the day more likely, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. THE combination of concern about how fit Chris Cairns would be to bowl and an uncertain weather forecast persuaded New Zealand to delay announcing a final XI until shortly before the toss for the second Test, due to start at the Basin Reserve ground last night. Coach Steve Rixon and captain Lee Germon had to weigh up the risk of including Cairns as one of only three specialist fast bowlers and then to balance what looked essentially like a hard, true surface for batting against the possibility of considerable early help for the bowlers if the pitch had sweated under the covers. It was evident from the way in which the groundsman uncovered his pitch to let the air get at it as soon as it stopped raining yesterday morning that its preparation was not fully complete. Cairns had a long bat and only a perfunctory bowl, suggesting he might play mainly as a batsman and making it less likely that Daniel Vettori would become, at 18 years and 10 days, New Zealand's youngest Test cricketer. He looked at ease in the nets, bowling tidily from a high action and rapidly acquiring the respect of team-mates to whom, a few days ago, he was either a total stranger or a promising schoolboy. England had abandoned ship only an hour before Vettori took to the nets with his elders yesterday, a decision taken by the coach, David Lloyd. He was convinced by rain and grey skies that there was no point in lingering on this green and pleasing cricket ground. England's decision not to practise yesterday was premature and will either be forgotten or held against them, depending on how the game goes. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 1 - The Press NZ in dire straits after loose shots by Geoff Longley New Zealand cricket captain Lee Germon defended his decision to bat first against England at the Basin Reserve yesterday, despite the inglorious display which left the side staggering at 56 for six at stumps on the shortened first day of the second test. Germon believed the test batting strip was a reasonable one, but a mixture of good bowling and poor shot selection had led to New Zealand's downfall. "It looked like a good batting track to me provided we could get through the first session. Obviously that didn't happen," he said. In a sickening collapse, chillingly familiar to that of the 1946 New Zealand side which is having a reunion at this game, five wickets fell in the space of nine runs until the side limped to stumps. Only one session of 30 overs play had been possible but that was enough to put New Zealand in a losing position. Germon said New Zealand wanted to bat first also because of the balance of the side, including the two spin bowlers, Daniel Vettori and Dipak Patel. He said the availability of Chris Cairns, who declared himself fit, was not a factor in the decision. "I felt if we could battle through, as we did in the first session of the first test, and with some wet patches in the outfield to affect the ball it would have been a good start," Germon said. NZ batsmen 'not patient' Coach Steve Rixon felt the batsmen had panicked. "The patience angle fell away and we flirted with balls outside off-stump we need not have played at. The wicket did not have a lot of demons, we just did not follow our match plan." The early exchanges gave no hint of the drama to follow with openers Bryan Young and Blair Pocock negotiating the initial stages and Andrew Caddick off-line and Dominic Cork struggling with his footing on the damp surface. However, Pocock speared at a wide ball in the eighth over from Andrew Caddick he need not have played directly to gully to start the dreadful slide. Young was caught gloving a ball going across his body in the next over, the first from Darren Gough. Adam Parore, struggling for runs, was undone by a fine delivery by Gough and became the second of wicketkeeper Alec Stewart's three victims. Stephen Fleming appeared a little unlucky when caught and bowled by Caddick having jammed the ball into his foot before it rebounded in the air to the bowler on his follow through. Cairns's stay was short as he needlessly nibbled outside off-stump to Gough straight to third slip Nasser Hussain. In the space of seven overs the New Zealand innings was a wreck and the long lower order exposed. Nathan Astle could easily have joined his colleagues, living dangerously outside off-stump, but it was Germon who fell that way driving at Caddick, giving him a third wicket to match Gough. Germon said the movement the England bowlers gained was not untoward and he would have hoped the batsmen would have combatted it better. New Zealand is in danger of being dismissed for less than 100 facing a fresh England attack today. The last time that happened was when New Zealand was routed for 93 against Pakistan in Hamilton in 1992-93. That was before the fast bowling fury of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. The English trio are not in that category and a better appreciation of the ability to leave the ball outside off-stump would have gone a long way to steering the side to a sound position. Only the final session's play was possible after some heavy overnight rain had left the ground saturated. The Basin Reserve does not have the benefit of the sand slit drainage system like Lancaster Park otherwise play could have been possible earlier given the fine and breezy overhead conditions which prevailed during the afternoon. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 1 - Electronic Telegraph Gough and Caddick make the right impression for England IT would be foolish to start counting chickens before the shell has even begun to tremble, but by making use of a firm pitch and the hardness and shine of the new ball, England have got it right at last at the start of a Test match, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. Four hours of mopping up after the rain were worth the wait as Darren Gough joined forces with Andrew Caddick to hustle out six New Zealanders in the 30 overs of play that were possible on the first day of the second Test at the Basin Reserve. It was a heady start for the large contingent of England supporters in a decent-sized crowd and a happy return for Caddick, whose potential had been ignored by the tour selection committee for too long. His virus at the start of the tour and the fact that he is not an easy mixer in a team group had counted against him, perhaps, when his ability to get a cricket ball to bounce high from a good length should have been weighed in the balance. There has never been a convincing explanation for his immediate exile after getting back into the England side last season at Headingley and performing well. He was lucky yesterday, at least, to have a hard pitch on which to go to work and an ideal two-hour session to let himself go. New Zealand had finally settled on an eleven with a longish tail and at 19 for four their lowest Test score of 26 at Auckland in 1955 began to hover like Banquo's ghost. Nathan Astle, however, the hero of the rearguard at Eden Park, led a charmed life outside his off stump and somehow survived for 83 minutes to take his side into the second day at 56 for six. The way he played was not untypical of New Zealand's batting generally. They were far too keen to play at balls which could safely have been left alone. Perhaps England had also been lucky to lose one of those tosses which are often best left to the opposition. There was much to lose and little to gain in a two-hour day. On the other hand, there was no real evidence that the pitch had sweated under the tarpaulins which had protected it through a night of heavy rain. It played exactly as it looked as though it would, the new ball swinging and hitting the wicketkeeper's gloves with a firm smack, but not doing much laterally off the seam. On this, as on many Australian pitches, the key to a decent total is to put bat to ball as little as possible for the first 20 overs of the innings. Once the hardness goes from the ball, batting should become a pleasure, but if England are to capitalise on their wonderful start they will need greater restraint from the top order than New Zealand showed yesterday after Chris Cairns had reported himself fully fit and both sides had opted for two spinners. No doubt Craig White would also have got some awkward bounce had he been preferred to Robert Croft, a course which Mike Atherton apparently favoured until the clouds began to lift. He must momentarily have regretted the ultimate choice when Dominic Cork, after a couple of promising overs, began to lose his confidence on damp footfalls. Cork had been given the benefit of the wind from the Government House end and for his first two overs Caddick, preferred to Alan Mullally in the team and to Gough with the new ball, could not locate the stumps. Things changed rapidly from the moment that Blair Pocock, looking to force the fifth ball of Caddick's fourth over off the back foot, succeeded only in steering it to the finer of two gullies. Watched by his New Zealand-domiciled parents he did not look back, but it was Gough, taking over from Cork for the ninth over, who really seized the moment. Overseas at least, he needs to get the ball when it is hard if his pace is to be utilised and he made the point strongly enough by taking two wickets in his first 10 balls and a third two overs later. It was bounce that accounted for Bryan Young, who was only half playing at a rib-high ball which was on its way down the leg side. Late movement away from the bat caught Adam Parore's outside edge and the innings plunged into crisis when, at 19, Stephen Fleming, already struggling, was tangled up by Caddick's late inswing as he played his walking forward stroke and the ball lobbed back to the bowler off the inside edge. It became 23 for five when Cairns, pushing firmly forward outside his off stump, edged Gough to third slip, but for the next 12 overs Lee Germon did his best to steady the ship. He was certainly a good deal more secure than Astle, who played and missed at perhaps a third of the balls he received, first against Gough then, when Caddick was rested at the pavilion end, against Cork too. Caddick returned after his breather, however, to dismiss Germon, driving at an outswinger of full length. It was the cherry on the icing, a heartening start for all who care for English cricket, not least Lord MacLaurin and Tim Lamb, chairman and chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, who had arrived in Wellington on Wednesday. It is part of their winter of analysis which will culminate, Lord MacLaurin promised yesterday, in changes to the "amateurish" way in which the game has been administered and to the structure of first-class cricket. Daniel Vettori duly succeeded Doug Freeman as the youngest New Zealand Test player, at 18 years 10 days. Freeman was a left-arm slow bowler like himself, but a back-of-the-hand merchant, who was unfortunate enough to start (in 1932-33) against Wally Hammond at his most prolific. Outside India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, only Derek Sealy, Ian Craig and Gary Sobers have played Test cricket at a younger age. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 2 report - Electronic Telegraph Stewart leads way towards likely success ENGLAND have dominated the second Test in Wellington and, if they are sufficiently assertive, they will win it. When a sunny second day ended the batsmen had played their parts as faultlessly as Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick had in bowling out New Zealand for 124, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. Mike Atherton did his bit to see off the brightest of the new ball's shine before Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe each played a good innings at the tempo which suited them. Batting will, in theory, be as comfortable as it is ever going to be in Test cricket on an ideal pitch which has given everyone a fair chance. Only a collapse against the second new ball, or a scoring-rate inappropriate to a match reduced by four hours, could play New Zealand back into the game. The rain on Thursday has reduced the match to a probable maximum of 390 overs, which is 18 fewer than the full duration of a four-day County Championship game. Well as Hussain batted for his chanceless 60 not out, it took him three hours and apart from the gauntlet which he thrust at Dipak Patel's feet, when he struck him over long-on and midwicket for six and four in his first over, he was content to work the ball around, allowing young Daniel Vettori to bowl an admirably economical first spell of 15 overs. Last year's schoolboy was this year's mature Test left-arm spinner, a natural talent if ever there was one, yet one destined to learn very quickly that life for a finger spinner in the days of covered pitches is hard and generally unrewarding. He seldom threatened to take a wicket, but he did enough to suggest that he is the most talented cricketer with Italian associations since Ted Dexter. Vettori's experience as a batsman was rather briefer, but he had three overs at the crease, enough to show that he can time a cricket ball and stand up without trembling to the hostility which awaits all who enter Test cricket. It was all too predictable that Dominic Cork would greet him with a bouncer and follow it up with a glare. Already Mike Atherton had been warned by Steve Bucknor when Darren Gough 'sledged' Geoff Allott - retribution, apparently, for Allott's talkativeness at Wanganui. New Zealand have been left in no doubt that England are trying to play the game the Australian way under Lloyd. It was Caddick who wrapped up the innings 40 minutes before lunch when Patel, after a cool, pleasingly wristy innings, miscued a pull to mid-off soon after Allott had edged Cork to Nick Knight at second slip. Although New Zealand had managed to double their overnight score, this was clinical English bowling. There were some nicely timed strokes again by Nathan Astle, but a good deal of highly optimistic wafting, too, and it was no surprise when he drove Gough hard to mid-off in the ninth over of the day. Yorkshire's resurgent pride and joy followed this up by claiming Simon Doull second ball. Gough is starting to emerge as England's one consistent bowler of the winter campaign. David Lloyd and Ian Botham have both encouraged him to run to the wicket a little straighter after a facsimile message from his old county coach, Steve Oldham, suggesting that this would help his balance in the delivery stride. Five Tests this winter have brought him 18 wickets: not world-beating stuff, perhaps, but good, honest fast bowling, with the potential for better to come. England's catching was as sharp as their bowling but, though Knight may have infallible hands, he is looking too loose and too anxious to be on his way as a Test opening batsman. Only in the run-chase at Bulawayo has he excelled this winter, and it begins to look as though the batting order, when he made his hundred at Headingley last season, is a better one - Stewart to open, Thorpe to go four, Crawley five and Knight six. Yesterday Knight was looking to force Doull off the back foot when the ball bounced higher than he had anticipated and he sliced a catch to gully. Stewart is in superlative form, however, and he filled the breach with confident but never reckless batting, driving sweetly through the mid-off and mid-on gaps, which Lee Germon, like Atherton before him, had temptingly left. Doull's second wicket, Atherton leg before when well forward to one which nipped back, was just reward for various moral successes. Stewart was starting to look even better than his current rating of sixth best batsman in the world when, having made 52 off 86 balls, he drove hard at a ball from Allott which left him off the seam and was brilliantly caught, left-handed, by Stephen Fleming at first slip. That Hussain and Thorpe should have batted with such comfort through the last 37 overs of the day, 35 of them after tea, was highly satis- factory for England, albeit against some friendly medium pace from Astle and Blair Pocock after Chris Cairns had gone off with a bruised finger. Thorpe, with 47 off 105 balls, was generally more enterprising than his partner, whose 60 came from 152. Vettori strayed towards Thorpe's leg stump a couple of times, but it was really Thorpe's greater willingness to use his feet which explained his 15 off 34 balls against Vettori, compared with Hussain's 11 off 50. The vice-captain is nothing if not a calculating cricketer, however, and he should know what is required if England are to give themselves the necessary time to exploit a pitch which will give Croft and Tufnell some turn and bounce in the later stages. Day 2 - more Electronic Telegraph England are making luck run to their advantage By Mark Nicholas THEY say you make your own luck and cricket frequently proves as much. England lost the toss on Thursday and good thing too, because it took the pressure of a tricky decision away from Michael Atherton and the pressure of performing after a decision away from his team. Lee Germon won the toss, went boldly forward with the bat and his team were all but out of a five-day game just two hours into it. All afternoon on the delayed first day it was whispered that New Zealand were keen to abandon ship and come back tomorrow, while England, via motor-mouthpiece David Lloyd, appeared keen to play. There is a lesson here, one learnt by English county teams who are often stymied by poor weather, which is play when you can because you never know when you can't. So at 4.30pm when play began, England were ready, fired by a two-hour opportunity, while New Zealand were all over the place and in panic. If Atherton had won the toss, he too, after a succession of agonised inspections of the pitch, would have batted, and who knows whether his batsmen would have made something of that first evening session. Probably they would, because they were up for it. Probably this was the making of their luck. It took the England bowlers longer than they hoped to remove Dipak Patel, who delighted in the conditions, and briefly they lost their patience and their focus when they greeted the new kids on the New Zealand block, Geoff Allott and Daniel Vettori, with un- worthy short-pitchers. Vettori must have wondered what the blazes had happened to his life. A month ago, when still a 17-year-old, he completed his school exams; now he was weaving and bobbing from bouncers in a Test match. Vettori is a slim, shambolic figure, the sort whose shirt hangs out and whose trousers sag. He is part school swot and part school rebel, the sort who chews liquorice in the fifth form and gets caught with a fag behind the bike sheds in the sixth form. Allott had played two Test matches against Zimbabwe a year ago. The big 25-year-old was a useful rugby player until he twice broke a leg, which convinced mum and dad to suggest cricket. Allott spent the off-season in the gym working to improve his upper body strength and he is a formid- able sight, quite military with his short haircut and his year of square-bashing. IT was just the wretched luck of these two left-armers that they had to bowl so much yesterday when the dice were loaded with England. Allott began well enough, working up a head of steam, which ensured that Atherton, in particular, sweated for his runs. He bowled a little short at Alec Stewart, but may have been forced to do so in part because of the odd field placing gave him neither a mid-off, nor for too long, a mid-on and in part because he does not yet swing the ball in to the right-hander so was wary of over-pitching and leaking runs in defence of New Zealand's small score. Eventually, with a more practical field set, he caught Stewart flat-footed in the crease with a ball of full length which followed two deliveries that spat at his gloves and forced him back. His most incisive bowling, though, came at the England captain, who later acknowledged that his new opponent had "a yard of pace on him". Atherton was forced to play away from his body more than he liked and to avoid some of the heavy stuff that he was more used to receive from Akram or Ambrose. If Allott discovers in-swing to go with his away cut and raw but game aggression, he will become some handful. He could do with the New Zealand selectors choosing more seam-bowling support so that he can bowl in shorter spells and not toil as he did towards the end of a full day, which will have taught him a great deal about Test match cricket. Whether Vettori will have learnt much or will have remembered a moment even, heaven only knows. Applause, though, for the selectors this time for they were spot on with their man. The 18-year-old was unfazed by the whole palaver; by Cork, glaring in that rude fashion that is betraying his talent and style for the game, or by Thorpe dancing down the pitch and driving wide of mid-on. No, the new boy just did his stuff, did not lose his wicket, barely bowled a bad ball, spun it just a little and varied his flight and length. He was lucky that England chose not to take him on, not yet anyway, but then one of he or Allott deserved a little luck. Or did they? Perhaps England earned all the luck for themselves. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 3 Report Electronic Telegraph Tension takes its toll on England By Scyld Berry ENGLAND and New Zealand have long been the most amiable pair of Test-playing countries, and indeed a campaign called 'The Link' was launched here this week to emphasise that almost 80 per cent of New Zealanders have British ancestry. However, this has not been a friendly or fraternal Test match. New Zealand, short of cricket talent as they may be, have not been prepared to bend the knee as they might have been in pre-Hadlee days when faced with a first-innings deficit of 259. England, for their part, talented enough except in wrist-spin, have been living with the spectre of letting Tests slip through their fingers, and the result has been friction. Verbal abuse which Steve Bucknor has stepped in to quieten; squabbles about picking the seam and running down the pitch; and Lee Germon and John Crawley are not the best of friends. All very normal, of course, except in Test matches between New Zealand and England. As soon as he came in yesterday morning, with the ball starting to turn, Crawley survived a loud appeal for a close-in catch off Dipak Patel. Needless to say, the batsman did not walk, just as the New Zealanders would not have walked if they had been in Crawley's position. But that did not stop Germon staying unsympathetically aloof when Crawley was hit by one of Geoff Allott's hostile bouncers, and cut above his left ear. Discord was to be found within New Zealand's ranks as well. A taxi driver rang a local radio station yesterday to allege that he had driven three home players back to their hotel at an hour and in a condition that was not acceptable. In a statement New Zealand Cricket did not say the allegation was actually false. Chris Cairns, for certain, did not bowl or even field as England took their first innings from 204 for three to a total of 383, as he was nursing a right index finger which is said to be only bruised. He was even late in taking out the afternoon drinks, making his colleagues hang around while the England batsmen enjoyed theirs brought by the 12th man. The moment illustrated the continuing poor-relation status of New Zealand cricket, in comparison to Australian cricket and in comparison to New Zealand rugby. After taking England's last seven wickets for 179 runs, albeit from a starting position of minus square one, New Zealand's coach Steve Rixon claimed: "I thought we couldn't have done much more than we did." The latter half of England's innings ground on much as it had done in Bulawayo and Auckland; but crease occupation had a greater value this time, for the pitch has been deteriorating ever since it dried out and England should win this bottom-of-the-table clash if the rain holds off. Still, the familiar lack of urgency was in evidence as England batted and again when they bowled at New Zealand's opening pair, who saw the third day to its close. Never on this tour has there been any evidence of England setting a target of runs for a session, which is one way of instilling a greater intensity of purpose. The truth is that if or when England win this Wellington Test, they will do so in spite of their continuing bad habits rather than because they have cured them. England added 78 in the first session, which might have been fewer if Germon had kept his spinners, Patel and Daniel Vettori, going together with the old ball; and 68 in the afternoon, when the wind sprang up and disturbed everyone, even the bails. Vettori, the college kid, settled in as quickly as if he had been at a student party. Hussain was his first Test victim, caught via the keeper's glove at slip from a back-foot force, just as he had been his first first-class wicket, all of one month ago. The place for England's seamers to bowl at in New Zealand's second innings was pointed out to them by Simon Doull. From the pavilion end Doull hit the right length often enough to finish with five wickets, three to outside edges. The pitch, having dried out since New Zealand's capitulation to good seam bowling, has acquired a thin crust which can only deteriorate and help the finger-spinners. And it is not alone: as England entered the fourth day, determined to avoid another draw, they had the comfort of knowing that the home side's batting has a thin crust as well. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 4: Electronic Telegraph Croft turns the tide with late haul of three wickets THERE can barely have been any nails left on the fingers of the England cricketers as a long and frustrating day drew towards its close on a cool and dingy evening at the Basin Reserve yesterday, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. After almost five hours of waiting for the rain to stop, and two-and-three quarters more in which they had managed to take only a single wicket, the awful spectre of a fourth successive draw was looming above the heads of Michael Atherton and his bowlers. To the rescue came a stocky little Welshman, a former stand-off with the temperament of a scrapping scrum-half. In successive overs of curling off-breaks, Robert Croft took three wickets at no cost to himself but possibly irreparable damage to New Zealand's worthy attempt to save the second Test. The third of Croft's three wickets, during an unbroken spell of 11-7-6-3 from the Government House end, was the first of two nightwatchmen, Dipak Patel, so England's job was far from complete when play ended after an extra hour with New Zealand still 134 runs away from making England bat again. Blair Pocock, with marvellous patience and concentration, had already batted for more than four-and-a-half hours and proved himself a better player of spin than England believed him to be. After Zimbabwe and Auckland, moreover, nothing could be taken for granted but there was sufficient spin for Croft and Tufnell - thank goodness the four-seamer option was discarded this time - for there to be a genuine expection of victory, given fine weather this morning. Reduced to a single three-and-a-quarter hour session and a minimum of 49 overs on the fourth day, England did not get the sort of help for their three faster bowlers that they must have longed for after a morning of blustery showers had defied the weather forecasters. Wellington weather is like that. Brian Young had played his shots freely enough on the previous evening whenever England's quicker bowlers strayed in line and length, as they did too often. He was allowed the same liberties yesterday, not least by Dominic Cork, whose action has, for the moment, quite lost its natural flow. Nor could Andy Caddick get it right, too often aiming either a foot wide of the off-stump, or at the batsman's legs. Fourteen overs into the session, Young got too ambitious against Phil Tufnell and, trying to force a ball off the back foot fuller in length than he had judged, he was caught behind. Pocock, however, was prey to no such temptations and in Adam Parore he found a determined partner, albeit one who is not quite convincing in his present form against Darren Gough in particular. An eight-over spell from Gough came and went without the breakthrough and a chance to run Pocock out was missed when Tufnell was not behind his stumps to receive Croft's throw from backward point. This was lazy, ignorant and unprofessional, but all the England bowlers have been guilty of similarly ignoring an elementary convention. It took time, too, for Atherton to give Gough the out-and-out attacking field which his pace, the wholly defensive approach of New Zealand, and the bounce still available from the pitch all warranted. And it can only have helped Pocock not to have had a short-leg hovering out of the corner of his left eye for much of his innings. But the captain finally worked his way to what was always going to be the most likely combination: the two spinners, aiming at the rough, with four fielders around the bat. Five minutes after six, with frustration mounting and the clouds getting lower over the Pohutukawa trees, Parore padded up to Croft, the ball bit back out of the rough and umpire Bucknor raised his finger in that slow, dolorous manner which has become so familiar. WHAT Pocock must have thought two overs later when Stephen Fleming swung irresponsibly and skied a catch to the bowler can only be guessed at, but some batsmen cannot resist when they are being hemmed in by close catchers. The extreme alternative is to play no shot at all and this was how Patel went, second ball. By pushing the ball a little wider and perhaps through some slight alteration in the pitch as it began to dry, Croft had turned the England mood from near despair to sudden hope. It remained to be seen whether Chris Cairns would have any final say in a game which he nearly missed because of an ankle injury. He was reported to a radio station by a taxi-driver for being out at a night-club until 4 am on Saturday morning and it may therefore be presumed that he was the unnamed player who was "dealt with internally" according to Christopher Doig, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive. Three other New Zealand players apparently got back to their hotel shortly after midnight, which was deemed to be reasonable and it seemed to have done them no harm because New Zealand had a much better day than could have been expected on Saturday. Their four main bowlers, Simon Doull, Geoff Allott, Daniel Vettori and Patel, served them admirably in taking England's last seven wickets and in keeping their scoring rate to only a fraction more than two-and-a-half runs an over. Allott took only one wicket, perhaps, but he is genuinely hostile and he may have almost as long a future as Vettori, who already looks almost the complete article as a left-arm spinner, lacking at this tender stage only an arm-ball. Allott was over-bowled in the continued absence of Cairns, whose sore finger, sustained when he tried to stop a straight drive by Alec Stewart, kept him off the field all day. He is as strong as a bull, however, and by getting Stewart out when he did on Friday, he crucially slowed down England's scoring rate. GRAHAM Thorpe made an admirable second successive Test hundred, after 19 matches without one before Auckland, his 12 fours covering almost a 360-degree arc, but neither he nor anyone else could match Stewart's ability to punish, with minimum fuss, the slightest error in length or width. John Crawley played an innings of great composure, marked by some elegant strokes and one effortless on-drive for six off Patel, after Nasser Hussain had been caught at slip in the third over. On the debit side, Crawley might have been lucky not to have been given out off a bat-pad appeal from Patel before he had scored, and he played a disappointing stroke to get out, forcing off the back foot against Doull only an over after Thorpe's fine innings had been ended by a neat stumping. Doull again moved it both ways and deserved his fourth five-wicket Test analysis as England's last six wickets managed only 52 runs. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 4 report From The Press NZ in another test tailspin by Geoff Longley After condemnation off the field, the New Zealand cricketers face further embarrassment on it entering the final day of the second test against England at the Basin Reserve today. In the space of 14 balls from off-spinner Robert Croft last night, New Zealand lost three wickets for no runs to again be staring at defeat for a second successive test match. The demise of Adam Parore, Stephen Fleming, and nightwatchman Dipak Patel in rapid succession did them little credit, leaving New Zealand's second innings at 125 for four, still 134 runs short of making England bat again. Parore and Patel unwisely offered no shots to the ball spinning back, although Parore was hit quite high, while Fleming played a dreadful cross-bat shot against the spin. He got a top edge, which Croft gratefully grabbed. So all the promising work from the previous day when England's first innings was wrapped up more quickly than expected and by the openers Blair Pocock and Bryan Young was undone. "We did so much hard work for so little result, losing our way again," said coach Steve Rixon last night. Rixon felt the New Zealand batsmen got into the trap of not playing shots at Croft and left-arm counterpart Phil Tufnell, who together captured four for 35 from 30 overs. This pair should continue to pose major problems on the turning track today. "We were just trying to occupy the crease but we still need to be positive and score runs as we did in Auckland." Rain, which wiped out almost half the required overs yesterday, gave New Zealand a chance to bat through and save the match. While some showers are forecast today, New Zealand does not deserve any further divine intervention. On Saturday, New Zealand had recovered some ground by snaring the last six wickets for 52 runs after England reached 331 for four. Medium-fast bowler Simon Doull triggered the visitors' slide with an inspired spell of five for two from six overs. Doull captured his fourth test bag of five wickets and lifted his test haul to 50 victims. His performance contrasted with his mediocre effort with the second new ball when, after three overs in the morning, captain Lee Germon removed him from the attack, saying later he was not bowling well enough. New Zealand was already a seam bowler down because of another injury to Chris Cairns, leaving test novices Daniel Vettori and Geoff Allott to carry the attack which they did admirably. England's innings was built around Graham Thorpe's century, his second in succession. The steady left-hander reached 108 from 249 balls with 12 fours. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 5 report From The Press No heroics this time from NZ batsmen by Geoff Longley The New Zealand cricket team wore black armbands yesterday at the Basin Reserve as a mark of respect for those who died in the Raurimu massacre -- they served a dual purpose after New Zealand was buried by England by an innings and 68 runs. The loss put New Zealand one down with only one match in the three-test BNZ series left and firmly entrenched at the foot of the world ladder of test-cricket playing nations after its woeful effort. Although the game finished on the fifth day it only took England inside four playing days to amass 383 and twice dismiss New Zealand for inadequate tallies of 124 and 191. Where the New Zealand batsmen had succumbed to spin on Sunday night, yesterday they plunged to the pace bowlers, Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick, who performed impressively with the second new ball. After their first innings path, several batsmen again self-destructed flirting with balls outside off-stump. New Zealand coach Steve Rixon said he was not specifically working with the batsmen on their technique, that area belong to batting adviser Martin Crowe. "When you get out sparing at balls it's a concentration factor I suppose, combined with some hesitancy and anxiety," said Rixon. "However, we have some good stroke-makers and I don't want to take that flair away from them." Rixon said Crowe did a lot of work with the players' mental approach. Although that is a vital component, the discipline of what balls to play and what to leave contrasted markedly with the top-order batsmen in the English side. "Our batters have done a lot of work and I felt their preparation before this test was spot on," said New Zealand captain Lee Germon. Germon said he knew he could be crucified for choosing to bat first in difficult circumstances late on the first day, with New Zealand stumbling to 56 for six. "It did turn out to be a difficult time and obviously with hindsight you wouldn't have batted. But I thought it was a pretty good strip and England was going to bat as well." Rixon, ever one to find something positive, was heartened by the bowling efforts, particularly of debutant Daniel Vettori and Simon Doull while he praised the New Zealand openers Bryan Young and Blair Pocock. Pocock was a beacon to his batting colleagues with his temperament and determination to occupy the crease. He recorded one of the slowest half centuries in New Zealand history having reached the milestone from almost six hours at the crease, and faced 239 balls. He and Germon defied the England attack for almost an hour but once they were dislodged, Gough, who had a match haul of nine wickets, and Caddick, who bowled equally effectively, were rampant and there were no last gasp heroics this time. For England it was its first win overseas in two years since beating Australia at Adelaide. For New Zealand it was the third successive loss by an innings at the Basin Reserve having been previously trounced there by Pakistan and West Indies. Atherton said having been one ball away from victory against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo and one ball from success at Auckland, it was satisfying to clinch victory. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 5: Electronic Telegraph Second Test: England finding right formula to challenge the Australians FAITH and sacrifice had their reward when the winter of near-misses (and of humiliations in limited-over matches too, but they are limited) was ended by England's emphatic victory at the Basin Reserve yesterday, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. The players, coach David Lloyd and captain Mike Atherton have remained confident all along that the superiority they have shown against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in the four Tests so far would eventually have its reward. They may well feel, too, that the ordinance which has kept them away from their wives, girlfriends and families since last November has at least now served some useful purpose. It is England's first win by an innings since they beat New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 1993. It is their first win overseas since the upset of Australia on the last day in Adelaide two years ago. Two defeats, by Australia and South Africa, and seven draws against South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, have intervened, and eight more games have separated yesterday's almost unqualified triumph from the exciting but delusory win against India which launched the frenetic, but never dull Lloyd era at Edgbaston last June. This innings and 68-run victory was 'only' against New Zealand, whom England were expected to beat and whose batting in particular is relatively weak. It was the same New Zealand, however, who had made 390 in the first innings in Auckland and saved that match, outrageously, on a very much more docile pitch than this one. Although they batted recklessly in the first innings here, they did not roll over and die, and it needed some genuinely hostile fast bowling from Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick to make sure that the opportunity was not lost. It is a swallow, not a summer but those who have assumed that next season's Ashes series will be a mismatch ought to consider what another win in Christchurch in the third Test starting on Friday and the possibility of an Australian defeat in South Africa over the next two months might do to alter the balance. Win or lose, the Australians will be a very tired team; England could be one growing in confidence and competence. There is still, of course, a long way to go before anyone can start dreaming of little urns. A balanced attack proved its value here on as ideal a Test pitch as can be found anywhere but although there must be a good chance of the first unchanged England team for 33 Tests on Friday, they are still feeling their way towards a combination who might be expected to threaten the Australians. On the other hand, a batting pattern has emerged. The combination of six batsmen, which England found almost by accident when they finally abandoned their experiment with mediocre all-rounders (by Test standards) against Pakistan last season, is starting to have the look of solidity which Atherton has been claiming for it. Since they came together at Headingley in the second Test against Pakistan last July, their first-innings scores have been 501, 326, 406, 156, 521 and 383. Nick Knight has been the weakest link, and Graham Thorpe should be promoted again to No 4, certainly when Australia come and perhaps also in Christchurch so that England keep the momentum going if Alec Stewart, the champion of the side in his present form, is out. Lloyd indicated, however, that the same long run which was given to Alan Mullally before it became apparent that he was unlikely to be anything other than an economical opening bowler will be given to Knight in his role as opening partner for Atherton. The hope is that he is a batsman out of form rather than one who is too loose to open against the new ball. He has much to do to prove that right, but it will be greatly to England's advantage if he does because he has hands as safe as a surgeon's. He has taken 16 catches in his 10 Tests at second slip where already he looks to be even more consistent than Graeme Hick or Tony Greig before him; the best, perhaps, since Graham Roope. Mark Butcher stands by as a reserve rather than an immediate rival. Catching alone, of course, cannot justify Knight's position, nor his potential as a future captain if Atherton proves to have risen above the second crisis of his four-year career in charge and decides, as he has already indicated in The Daily Telegraph that he might, to go on after next summer. The circumstances which will decide him are the state of his back, his own batting form and, naturally, England's performances. It was Atherton's good fortune to lose the toss, perhaps, in what turned out to be the two-hour session which lost the match for New Zealand. But it was good bowling and close catching as much as any extra liveliness in the pitch or what New Zealand captain Lee Germon called "a little panic and a tendency to go sparring" which caused it. Yesterday, the overnight injunction from their coach, Steve Rixon, to be more positive seemed to be counter-productive, especially in the case of Blair Pocock, who had played such a noble defensive innings on Sunday but who now came out looking to score runs. He was almost bowled off his pads by Robert Croft, before he became the second of the four wickets in four overs with which Gough propelled England to their thoroughly deserved success. Both Lloyd and Atherton spoke afterwards of their efforts to introduce a new "intensity" into their cricket. It is a matter, said Lloyd, of "poking the opposition in the chest". Both coach and captain said that their overwhelming feeling was one of relief and after the last-day disappointments in Bulawayo (one run from winning), Harare (rain) and Auckland (one wicket from winning) that was understandable. New Zealand reacted by keeping Chris Cairns in the side after he had batted for an hour with a sore finger but by dropping Adam Parore, whom the convenor of selectors, Ross Dykes, described as a talented player out of form. Unfortunately for Parore, he is also a player without a provincial side to play for, Auckland having suspended him for the rest of the season for his alleged lack of professionalism. Parore's place at No 3 goes to Matthew Horne, 26, a right-hander who has been in prolific form since moving from Auckland to Otago and is an attractive, natural stroke-player. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 5 - more from the Electronic Telegraph Gough and co proving their special value By Mark Nicholas THE winning wicket did the talking for England's performance in the field during this thoroughly satisfactory Test match. Andrew Caddick, bowling to his vast potential, made a wicked ball rear from just short of a good length and crash into the fingers of Chris Cairns before looping to Nick Knight at slip. At once the England players jumped, hugged and shook hands (the captain mainly shook hands, having more of the traditional English reserve in him). They had won on merit against a disorganised New Zealand team, who are ripe for beating, were all but beaten in Auckland and now were annihilated by an innings at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. A winter of despair and distrust for England had suddenly turned to spring. Some respected observers, among them Bobby Simpson, who arrived especially for this match but missed the delayed first evening, which England so dominated, thought that the cricket lacked intensity until the final two sessions, during which all the New Zealand second-innings wickets fell. Heaven knows what they would have made of what had gone before, because the play during these last few days was quite the best for a long time. The key to England's success came in two areas. First, the right team was chosen, the one which included the best five bowlers. This was only the sixth time in 26 Test matches that England had taken all 20 of the opposition's wickets, so the argument for putting five specialist bowlers down on the team sheet and letting the rest take care of themselves can have no dissenter. Second was the focus of the team, who were clearly shaken out of their self-satisfaction by that numbing last afternoon in Auckland when they could not get rid of Danny Morrison. All winter they have kidded themselves that their cricket was OK. Morrison proved to them that it was not. Intensity has been the byword around the Basin Reserve during the match. Call it what you will - and concentration, commitment, purpose and urgency will all do in explanation of the improvement - the fact is that England appeared utterly focused on their job and quite determined, for once, to play each session as if it were their last. Simpson's main grumble was about the third evening when England, having been bowled out with a lead of 259, failed to take a wicket in an hour and a half of insipid attack. He would not say it, but he must have imagined his recent Australian team responding to such a lead by swarming all over a vulner- able opponent and crushing him there and then. But Simpson is wise enough to remember the days of the mid-Eighties when he took charge of Australian cricket and England swarmed all over him. DURING that time Simpson's own team had no confidence and, because of it, did not know how to make the best of their opportunities. Only when they discovered how to focus more consistently, how to eradicate mental sloppiness, how not to let the fish off the hook, did they start to win. On the fourth afternoon, and then again yesterday morning, Simpson saw this happen with England. He, we, saw England take wickets with their personality and with the force of their will, which dissolved New Zealand's uncertain defence. Robert Croft started it, throwing his off-breaks high and pitching into the danger areas outside off stump. It is something to watch Croft's face before delivery as it screws up in the aggressive way of a fast bowler and almost bursts with delight at the taking of a wicket. Croft truly spun the ball, wrapping his fingers around it and fizzing it into the air, before watching it hiss and bounce at the nervous batsman. It was the Welshman's spell of three for nought in 14 balls on that fourth evening which got England on their way. It was Croft's room-mate, the incorrigible Yorkshireman Darren Gough, who finished the job, and it was Andrew Caddick, Gough's sidekick, who set his partner up. The confused selection in Harare, and then again in Auckland, had Alan Mullally and Craig White selected ahead of Caddick and misunderstood the value of a genuine seam-hitting type bowler, who complements the work of the 'swingers', Gough and Dominic Cork. For a time not so long ago Angus Fraser played this role of the straight man to the eccentricities of Devon Malcolm. Now Caddick was responding to Gough, and it made for good watching. The brilliance of England's close catching was far too much for a lamentable New Zealand team, who are afflicted by too much internal strife to stand in the way of a properly committed England in the final Test of the series at Christchurch. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)