Tag Archives: Cricket

Burn out

01 Monday Nov 2021

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We’ve all probaby felt this at some point. Most of the time for us, it’s burn-out from work (for me it’s too frequently from cricket admin). Too much time in the office, managers expecting too much and clients thinking that your life revolves around them.

That feeling of drowning or complete emptiness and mental exhaustion. The complete lack of motivation and the inability to care any more. We all experience these things differently and express them differently too but it seemed a very uniform expression of burn out from the India Cricket team against New Zealand on Sunday at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.

It was always going to be a difficult start to the tournament. The first two games being the biggest against Pakistan and New Zealand (two of my favourite oppositions actually), I was thrilled that we were in this group! I was so looking forward to some competitive international cricket to finish off what had been an unreasonably good summer of cricket.

I had gotten myself down to Lord’s Day 1 to see a magnificent 100 from KL Rahul, followed up by one of the best day’s of cricket I had ever witnessed in my life on Day 5 as India rolled England over for 120. I was then fortunate enough to bask in the glorious sun at day 4 and 5 at the Oval as India pulled off another incredible win, spearheaded (to my surprise) by Umesh Yadav.

This was then followed up by a superb 2nd half to IPL 2021. My all-time favourite franchise cricket tournament by a country mile. Full of spectacular knocks from Venkatesh Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad and incredible bowling performances from Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan. It was clear that India had too much talent in their ranks.

How could they possibly lose the T20 World Cup ?!

I was sitting there so confident in my thoughts that India were the strongest contenders for the WC title. This was our time. How could it not be?! We had just beaten England in England, MS Dhoni had just pulled off a fairytale comeback win with the Chennai Super Kings after a disappointing 2020 series. It was meant to be. It was carved long ago on ancient stone that India would win the 2021 T20 Cricket World Cup and I’m 100% sure that I wasn’t the only one thinking this.

How could anyone have expected two huge losses for India? being beaten by 10 wickets as Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan cruised through to India’s target of 151 with 13 balls remaining and then being beaten by 8 wickets as Trent Boult, Ish Sodi, Daryll Mitchell and Kane Williamson, in essence, took New Zealand through to the play-offs and all but knocked India out of the running..

But maybe we should have expected it.

It was clear on the field in both games that India were not themselves. They looked tired and weary. There was no magic. The fire that we had seen earlier in the Summer in England had burnt to ash. India’s bowling attack looked blunt and their batting looked fragile. From the expression on Virat Kohli’s face as he hit the ball straight down Martin Guptil’s throat, it was clear something was very wrong.

Team India had gone straight from the quickest Test series (even I couldn’t believe the amount of space between games), straight into the IPL and then a week later into a World Cup. Now I’m not trying to make excuses for them, there were definitely other contributing factors to the losses and a lot of other international players also competed in the IPL and remained for the World Cup. But were India ever given the option to step away? What support were they given to manage all of this? Even with all of that how can we expect 100% for a team that have been on the road for 6+ months.

Even with the right support it can be hard to really step away. To truly get the break you need when the world is always watching you. This is their ‘job’ 24/7. For most of us, we get to come home everyday from work and wind down, we step away from it all, return to family and do the things we choose to do. What choice do they have? It’s either this or don’t play for India.

We expect so much from the men in blue. We put them on a pedestal and treat them as our heroes. Of course they are and always will be but they’re only human. How can we expect so much from a team that have lived and travelled the world in a tiny bubble, constantly drained by protocols and procedures there were ironically put in place to protect them.

Can you imagine the amount of mental strain on someone like Mohammad Shami? A man who has served India for so long and given everything he has for the badge to receive the abuse he did. For him to then to not be able to go home to family or friends and then out onto the field and have to perform his absolute best in a must win match. Could any of us have done it?

I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the tournament. I’m expecting some fiercely competitive play-off games and I couldn’t be more excited. I am of course disappointed that India most likely will not be there.. but maybe this will finally give them the time and freedom they need to reignite their fire.

Fearless Cricket

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

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I hear this phrase “fearless cricket” thrown around a lot these days. It’s been associated quite frequently with England’s brand of one day cricket these past few years… but this series and in particular these past five days, the Indian Cricket Team have given the phrase a whole new meaning.

Winning a Test match at the Australian fortress of Brisbane (the first team to beat Australia at the Gabba since 1988) with what was basically a 2nd XI team showed something few thought India were capable of. WinViz had India’s chances of winning at 1% before the first over of Day 5 had even been bowled with 0 wickets down. So what was the deciding factor in the game?

How was it that after losing the first test, being 36 a/o, losing their captain, having been plagued with injury after injury, losing the toss and fielding a team with 2 debutants and a grand total of four Test matches worth of experience in their bowling attack (if you discount Rohit Sharma’s ball), India pulled off one of the greatest wins in Test match history to secure the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second time in a row?

As Sachin Tendulkar so eloquantly put it: “Every session we discovered a new hero. Everytime we got hit, we stayed put & stood taller. We pushed boundaries of belief to play fearless but not careless cricket.”

They weren’t overconfident but neither were they afraid. They played with clarity, grit, purpose and most importantly courage. At no point did India look resigned to whatever ‘fate’ was in store for them. They played a brand of cricket that was unbridled by expectation and uninhibited by fear and by doing so pulled off an incredible feat.

Each and every one of those those players who took to the field for the 4th Test gave their all.

Each and every bowler shouldered their responsibility including an injured Navdeep Saini (who was fielding very gingerly) came on to bowl in the 3rd innings to support his teammates. And through their combined four Test experience managed to extract 20 Australian wickets.

Each and every one of those batters showcased why they had made it into the international side. From Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar’s valiant assault in the second innings that rescued India from 6-186 to 7-309 to Cheteshwar Pujara’s impregnable defence and Shubman Gill’s elegant drives that set the platform up perfectly for Rishabh Pant & Co. to storm the castle in the fourth innings.

It was in the final hour of play we saw this new brand of cricket come to fruition, after a series of partnerships had taken India to within 63 runs of victory, they lost Mayank Agarwal. The burden of either pushing for a win or closing off fell on Pant and debutant Washington Sundar.

The two left-handers chose to be fearless and go for the win.. but in all honesty was it really a choice? Had they even considered it a dare to take on the challenge and risk the loss? Did it even cross their mind? Nothing we saw in that final hour was out of character for Pant and we had seen that same drive in Sundar during the second innings.

So how do you beat a man that just plays the way he plays?

How do you beat a team unburdened by consequence and fear?

It seemed Australia just couldn’t find an answer as India won by 3 wickets and recorded the highest ever run chase at the Gabba to take the series 2-1. A testament to this new brand of cricket. The beginning of a new era.

A game of chicken?

27 Sunday Sep 2020

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There’s a game theory called ‘the chicken game’ which describes two players heading towards each other on a path of collision. If the players continue on the same path, they crash into each other; if one swerves out of the way and other doesn’t, the swerver “loses” and is labeled the chicken, while the second, implicitly braver player, wins.

Rahul Tewatia had every reason to swerve after being 8 runs of 19 balls chasing a monstrous 226. Had he continued the way he was going, Rajasthan Royals would have crashed and burned well short of the King’s XI total. He could have retired hurt or run down the wicket blindly in hopes of a boundary or being stumped but he kept on going, head first into the King’s XI attack.

Most players would have tapped out at this point whether out of choice or from cracking under pressure. Either taking the hit and said “It’s not my day – let someone else try” or simply from reaching a breaking point. It takes a whole lot of self belief and confidence in your own game to come back from being turned down for a single by your partner at the other end to do what he did.

Tewatia had faced 11 dot balls. Almost 2 overs of dots. A 10th of the Royal’s innings. Completely missing sweeps and reverse sweeps and putting the set batsman, Sanju Samson, under serious pressure. Samson had every right at that point to turn him down for a single as he smoked Glenn Maxwell for a six over midwicket taking 21 off the over and not letting Tewatia face a single ball.

At the end of the 15th over it was still in the balance as long as Samson was at the crease but then the game changed. Samson toe edged the ball to KL Rahul behind the stumps and everything seemed lost. A couple of boundaries from Uthappa at the end of the 16th left the required rate at 17.

51 required off 18 balls.

Cotrell to Tewatia, SIX runs… The tide began to turn… and again, SIX over square… and again, SIX over mid off… it was like watching a phoenix being reborn from the ashes. Clean hitting. Tewatia smashed 5 sixes.. the biggest over of the IPL cricket since 2016 when Virat Kohli hit 30 off Shivil Kaushik (Gujarat Lions).

He single handedly brought the required rate down from 17 to 10.10. 21 required off 12. With some assistance from Jofra Archer and Tom Curran the Royals polished off the game with 3 balls and 4 wickets to spare.

Had Tewatia taken the easy way out and given up it’s quite likely the Royal’s would have lost. Everyone had written him off including the commentators but he kept his faith in his ability to win the game. He battled through what was most likely the toughest period he’d faced in a game. He didn’t back away, he knew he had the capacity to win the game. He fought through and did just that.

Lesson? Maybe sometimes you feel it isn’t your day. Maybe sometimes a certain bowler is getting the better of you. Don’t give up. Don’t write yourself off. Don’t let yourself get away with tapping out..

Don’t swerve.

Back yourself. You know what you’re capable of.

Book Report #1: Wounded Tiger

03 Sunday Dec 2017

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I had been looking for a new book for a while before I came across Wounded Tiger. My usual go-to reads are Dan Browns and Phillip Pullman novels. I love delving into an adventure with Robert Langdon and being absorbed by tales of mystery and secrets. For some reason however this time I felt the need for a change and followed my vacant clicks through Amazon in search for my next read.

Somehow I stumbled upon this book without realising it had been selected as Wisden’s Book of the Year 2015. The history of Pakistani cricket had always been of interest to me and somewhere along the way through these endless India v Sri Lanka matches I had dozed off. I had stopped watching games or following scores and it seemed like fate that I should come across this extraordinary tale to reignite my fire.

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I was born to bleed blue. There was no question about it and regardless of ones knowledge of partition or history, being Indian instantly means that you firstly love cricket and secondly support anyone BUT Pakistan. It had been drilled into me until that fabled (because I’m sure I’ve referred to it in over 5 of my previous blog posts) 2015 World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan where I somehow found myself unwittingly supporting Wahab Riaz and the men in green. I had gotten so emotionally invested that when Rahat Ali dropped Shane Watson on 6, I felt my heart sink. Apart from India, no other sports team had ever made me feel like their loss was my loss and this stuck with me for a while. It stayed with me and on July 17th 2016 I found myself once again in unwavering support of Pakistan on day 4 at Lords at the re-birth of Mohammed Amir. As Pakistan did their push-ups and salutes I once again found myself in awe of this incredibly dogged team.

It seems to me that somehow Pakistani cricket is destined to continue even if the world were to end. From a country younger than my parents, the team have survived a journey through terrorist attacks, match-fixing scandals, the mysterious death of coach Bob Woolmer, becoming nomads and countless accusations of ball-tampering and yet somehow have also produced some of the greatest players to grace the game. I needed to know how and why.

I have managed to ramble on for 400 words without once discussing the mastery of Peter Oborne’s book. I won’t give away the story, in fact this post can hardly be called a book report. My sole purpose for writing this is to try and make you read it. (You’re more than welcome to borrow my copy, but i’ll definitely be wanting it back).

I admit it was a challenging read for me. To digest the horrors of partition, it’s impact on both countries and the game and to try and comprehend the complexities of Pakistani cricket in it’s cultural and political context. I found it difficult to try and wrap my head around the extent to which external factors and deep-rooted prejudice and condescension has continually tried to keep cricket in Pakistan down, from the Rana-Gatting incident to the kidnapping of umpire Idris Baig by the touring MCC team.

However, Peter Oborne allowed me to travel with him on a journey not just through the history of cricket but a history of Pakistan through the lens of cricket. He narrated the stories of AH Kardar and Fazal Mahmood who helped shape not only the cricket team but the nation. He charted Pakistan’s first win in England and how it was orchestrated by a man who refused to let the political and social chaos of partition stop him from playing cricket. A man who could have been killed on a train were it not for the legendary Indian CK Nayudu who protected Fazal Mahmood from Hindu fanatics with his cricket bat.

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AH Kardar and Fazal Mahmood

 

It tells the story of how young boys were picked out of street games and thrown into an international team, of how Wasim Akram asked his captain how much money he would need to bring on tour not realising international cricketers were paid. It helps us comprehend an almost magical realism where a 12 year old plays first class cricket and a ball can be released at 100+ mph. The book wanders a bit in the middle but Wounded Tiger takes the story far beyond Imran Khan’s ‘cornered tigers’ and the heroics of the 1992 World Cup. It doesn’t just paint over the cracks or chisel out new ones, Wounded Tiger gives a full account of both glory and grievance of the team from their astounding victories to their bewildering defeats.

Wounded Tiger feels very unburdened given the extent to which Oborne covers an entire country’s past in under 600 pages. It intertwines fact with anecdotes to create a dynamic picture and continues to surprise and entice you to read just one more page. Oborne states that writing on Pakistan cricket “has sometimes fallen into the wrong hands . . . carried out by people who do not like Pakistan” and this book gives us a chance to revise how we see Pakistan through stories including that of the legendary Lala Amarnath who was born into a poor Hindu family in pre-partition Punjab and adopted by the Rana family who sponsored his cricket education in Lahore.

Unable to (with good reason) continue a straight narrative to cover such a vast history, Oborne adapts to a thematic approach to cover topics such as reverse swing, the emergence of women’s cricket, Shoaib Akhtar (aka the ‘rawalpindi express’), Misbah-ul-Haq and lastly Pakistan’s Age of Isolation. The post 9/11 era that has left Pakistan using homes from home.

This book covers it all, it delves into the introduction of the doosra, it covers the history, politics, war and geography of Pakistan, it exposes the opportunity costs of continued social ostracism from India and the terrorist attacks that have forced Pakistani cricket away from their rich and vibrant history and through a cast of heroes and villains allows us to try and better understand this nation under siege.

 

 

IPL 2017: Imperfectly Perfect.

15 Saturday Apr 2017

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IPL and I have had an on and off relationship for a number of years now. I was in love with the new and exciting model of T20 cricket for the first few years and then it went downhill from there and finally hit rock bottom for me with the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals spot fixing scandals. Why watch cricket when you know the game is being manufactured?

A lot of people were angry and lost interest. Myself included. All the players were just redrafted or put up for auction into other teams and new franchises came up as if it was any other year. To me it seemed like they were trying to fix something that was already broken. I doubt I would’ve gotten back into it had I not been living and working in a tiny village in the south of Nepal with intermittent electricity and a few random Indian channels that came and went as they pleased. It may have been the lack of Netflix in my life or TV in general but I really got into it (fully getting behind the Gujarat Lions – when we had electricity) and this year I was counting down days!!

T20 cricket has grown over the years and sometimes I hate to say it but not least because of the IPL. It has played a huge part in the development and success of other leagues like the Big Bash and though I may prefer the Australian counterpart for their introduction of a women’s tournament, nothing comes close in success or class to the IPL.

Even in it’s 10th year it continues to grow and develop. This year, an 18 year old from Afghanistan, Rashid Khan, held the purple cap and currently sits third in leading wicket takers and up until today’s double header and hat-trick fest, was third in best bowling figures. Where else (except for the T20 WC every two years) would players from associate nations get the chance to play with and face the top players in the world?

Where else would you find such a huge platform (with the first three matches of IPL 2017 reached 185.7 million viewers) for one day players like Andrew Tye and Lockie Ferguson to develop their bowling prowess and most importantly, where else would you find the likes of Sunil Narine opening the batting alongside Gautam Gambhir?

Apparently KKR’s winning opening partnership of 2014 needed a re-vamp. An understandable selection of Chris Lynn kicked off KKR’s campaign with a 10 wicket win over the Gujarat Lions but even once Lynn got injured, it was too late to go back. Gambhir had already tasted the power of a hard-hitting accomplice. He wanted to continue with a more dynamic partner. It seemed the BBL had some impact as Narine walked out alongside his captain not for the first time this year. He smashed boundaries of Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron before being dismissed for 37 off 18 balls. He played his role perfectly getting KKR off to a flyer chasing 170.

Is there still room for as many specialist T20 batsmen when your bowlers can do this? Will players need talents in both the bowling and batting department in coming years? (I’m sure Chris Gayle will have something to say about that remark over the next few games as he approaches his 10,000 T20 runs).

Of course the game has its flaws. Do players take it less seriously when they’re not playing for their country? The number of loose balls and dropped catches over the past 13 games has been unreasonable from the standard of players in this tournament. There have been double overthrows and no-balls followed by wides. Andrew Tye might’ve finished on debut with 6/15 had Ravi Jadeja not dropped a catch today and more than one of the overall results would have come out different over the last week.

However it is early days. The teams are still finding their balance and gelling together and it may not be perfect I still strongly believe that this brand of international cohesion will bring the best and brightest out of each and every country and I can’t wait to see what else this tournament has in store…

 

Can Cricket Save The World?

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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It’s been a while since I uploaded a blog, I’ve been having a bit of writers block. I wanted to write something about India and Australia but whilst I gather my thoughts on that, I wanted to upload this. A slightly late video of our coaching day in South Africa and talk a bit about – as the MCC like to call it – ‘the spirit of cricket’

I was lucky enough to be given the chance to go on tour and play cricket in South Africa and on top of that I was even MORE lucky to be given the opportunity to coach some really talented young kids cricket in a Township in Cape Town. Created during apartheid as a dormitory area for migratory workers, today it is the biggest and youngest black township on the Cape Flats.

 

It was so inspiring to see these young kids running around (playing better cricket than myself to be honest) and bursting with energy. Working alongside Sporting Chance who work tirelessly with the kids and do amazing work we were able to deliver some bowling, batting and fielding coaching sessions and donate some kit and £700 to the charity. It’s nothing in the grand scheme of things but every little helps and the day had such a profound impact on everyone who participated, we established a crowdfunding page to help raise money and develop a sustainable relationship with the charity and the kids.

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/khayelitsha <if you have a few pounds to spare!

It got me thinking about the impact cricket has in the world and in particular on women and young girls. From Cricket Without Boundaries who work in sub-Saharan African countries to deliver cricket development alongside health and social education messages from HIV to FGM two of the most prevalent health issues faced by some of these countries…

(http://www.cricketwithoutboundaries.com/volunteer < you can read more about volunteering if you’re interested!)

… to Opening Boundaries who  just recently teamed up with the White Ribbon campaign to promote the role of men in the prevention of male violence against women and girls through sport and have done incredible work to promote gender equality and empower women and young girls through cricket.

Even at the elite level, cricket is making progress. the MCC have in recent years started running development and legacy tours to coach and train up coaches in countries such as Nepal, Suriname, Bermuda and Uganda. Countries that don’t enjoy the benefits of larger Test playing nations or even associate nations but giving the chance to these other nations to play against an elite team is invaluable experience and will help grow the game in more ways than one.

 

 

To be honest, I have no idea where this blog was going and I could go on forever about the number of charities doing amazing work from Chance to Shine to Street Child United and don’t get me wrong there’s still a long way to go but I just wanted to show everyone the incredible projects that are running all around us and most importantly, that my obsession with the sport is well founded…

The sun finally set for Pakistan.

18 Sunday Oct 2015

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Imagine a Test match where the first two innings racked up a grand total of 1121 runs and the third innings has not even begun by the morning of the fifth and final day. Now imagine that test falling just 25 runs short of a result due to poor lighting. Only such a Test could involve possibly one of the most interesting teams in cricket, Pakistan.

It was the first of three Tests between England and Pakistan and Abu Dhabi had produced possibly one of the most limp and lifeless pitches in recent times. Pakistan had not only failed the game, they had failed themselves. They had failed to back their bowlers. Failed to back the likes of Wahab Riaz who put on one of the most incredible pace bowling performances in recent history. The first four days of the Test came and went with two batsmen scoring 200+ runs each (with Cook scoring 250+) but nothing else happened. Once again Test cricket was clearly doing everything in its power to drive away the few fans it has left. Each wicket came at almost 70 runs apiece in the first four days and a result looked about as likely as dogs playing poker.

The fifth day had finally come and with a lead of 74 England finally declared. It was easy to assume Pakistan would play out the day and give their bowlers an hour max to have a whack at England when they had 150 on the board. However, this was not how the day played out.

The Gods had finally taken it into their own hands to produce a wicket for some exciting cricket. The almighty had come to reward England for their hard work and in particular, a debutante leg-spinner who had bowled his heart out in the first innings to no effect. Adil Rashid became the hero of the hour as he picked up five wickets in Pakistan’s second innings. Within 14 runs, Pakistan’s tail had fizzled out. Rashid had opened up the gates to the possibility of a victory as England only needed 99 runs to win the game.

The Test had finally come to life. The visitors had more than enough overs to make the total. It was the sun they were chasing. In a full-blown T20 style attack from the batsmen, England came within inches of the finishing line. Moeen Ali was joined by Jos Buttler to open the batting. They were going full steam ahead with boundaries right from the word ‘go’. Runs came and wickets fell. Joe Root, with some assistance from Ali and a smashing six from Jonny Bairstow off Wahab Riaz, took England as far as they could. England ended on 74-4 as the day came to close. A score which would look extremely poor from the outside, but not from inside the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. The score showed hope and belief. Something Pakistan will need for the coming Tests.

Cricket’s ‘extremists’.

07 Wednesday Oct 2015

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Every religion has a huge spectrum of followers. From those who associate themselves with a religion, to those who follow their teachings to a T. However it is only ever the extremists that get the attention. From the gang rapists in India, to the terrorists in Iraq and Syria. It may be far stretch to compare certain fans to terrorists, but to me, these people are the terrorists of my religion.

On Tuesday the 6th of October at the Cuttack stadium, the good name of Indian cricket was sullied by a group of Individuals. Individuals who had decided to take it into their own hands to try and alter the course of the game after India struck out for 92 in 18 overs. They had decided to throw bottles onto the field in protest of India’s poor performance. The first instance of bottle throwing occurred between innings. Luckily it had no impact on the game. That however is where it should have stopped. The fact that two more episodes occurred, one of which forced the players off the field just showed how poor security was at the stadium and how poor the crowd were. There was no love for cricket as a sport that day.

Were a football fan to throw anything onto the pitch they would be kicked out immediately. You wouldn’t even notice. However it took 50+ minutes and an entire stand evacuation before play could continue. Even those fans who had come just to appreciate the game were kicked out.

How can a team feel encouraged to go and play abroad when this is the response they get? South Africa were clinical. Albie Morkel bowled fantastically well but there was no appreciation for him. Instead he was greeted with a mob of angry Indians who were not happy their team had performed so poorly.

It was also a poor response from MS Dhoni in the press conferenceto downplay such behaviour. It may well have been that the crowd were just doing it for fun and it had nothing to do with the fact that India were losing (however unlikely), but it was completely not in the spirit of the game and extremely dangerous for the players

Hopefully the rest of the series will not carry the bitter taste of such behaviour, regardless of India’s performance. (I will however pray India find some form soon).

England’s buildup to the Ashes

04 Thursday Jun 2015

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The last 18 months have been an extremely tough ride for England. Ever since the pummeling they received from Australia in the last Ashes it has been a series of problems for England. From a loss to the Netherlands in the 2014 T20 World Cup to their early and unseemly departure from the 2015 World Cup.

However it was time for a fresh start. Time to put their one day woes behind them and look ahead to the 2015 Ashes series at home. England began their journey with a 3 Test series against the West Indies. A series that was supposed to be a breeze for England according to ECB Chairman Colin Graves who labelled the West Indies as ‘mediocre’. It was far from that as the series ended 1-1. England had pursued with an older and more experienced side and it had backfired. It was time for change, time for new blood as England’s next adversary was possibly the most aggressive cricketer and his ten men.

It was only a two test series but it was expected to be thrilling. Regardless of the format being played, Brendon McCullum had only one gear, attack. A gear that generally eluded Alastair Cook.

The first test began poorly for England, their top four batsmen fell for just 30 runs. Was this just a taster for what was to come in the Ashes? If England could not face up to New Zealand, how did they expect to deal with Australia and their Mitchell’s? England were saved from an embarrassing collapse as their younger players came through.  Joe Root and Ben Stokes scored 98 and 92 respectively with Stokes going at almost a run a ball. Half centuries from Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali saw England to a respectable first innings score of 389.

New Zealand however, made scoring look all too easy. Unlike England, their top four batsmen all scored half centuries with Kane Williamson scoring a fantastic 132. New Zealand scored 523 and left England trailing by 134 runs.

What came from there though was not expected. Cook found form and scored 162, Stokes scored a century at a strike rate of 110 and England set New Zealand a target of 344 to score in less than a day. England still had their work cut out for them but their bowlers shone through. New Zealand were 0-2 in two overs and 12-3 in six. Whilst Williamson was at the crease there was always a chance, but that soon changed. Ben Stokes came on to bowl the 24th over and within two balls the game had swung drastically in England’s favour. Stokes removed Williamson and McCullum in consecutive balls. Corey Anderson and BJ Watling put on a stand but New Zealand fell 124 runs short.

It was a fantastic test for England. Not only did they perform well but they looked to play aggressively. Even their field settings were uncharacteristically threatening. The series was shaping up to be an interesting one.

Alastair Cook shows real aggression against New Zealand

The second game of the two test series was just as intriguing. At the end of the second innings, scores were equal. Both teams had scored 350 runs. It was as though the test was starting again from scratch as a very long ODI. Or so it seemed from the way New Zealand batted. Eight of their batsmen smashed sixes. They all played as though they were channeling their captain Brendon McCullum. Oddly, the only man who played a real test innings was Brendon McCullum himself. New Zealand went on to score 454 runs at almost five runs an over.

The rain cut down England’s time to make the runs by almost two sessions, their day five target was near impossible. Had the roles been reversed there might have been some hope that New Zealand could pull off a stunner but this was England. They played the only way they knew how and fell 199 runs short.

The series ended 1-1 with fans wanting more. It was a fantastic series and a real challenge for England. Alastair Cook and his men will need to learn to be much more aggressive against Michael Clarke.