Shortly before tea on the first day of this second Test, Harry Brook found himself bowling his medium-pace dobbers to Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell, with a leg slip and a leg gully lying in wait.
The field had been set by Joe Root, previously regarded as a conservative captain, but now – who knows? – auditioning for another stint in charge after answering the ECB’s SOS. In these strange times for English cricket, it was merely the latest oddity.
On a day that may or may not go down as the start of English cricket’s latest new era, depending on whether Ben Stokes and the ECB can come to some kind of accommodation after his late-night indiscretion at the Rex Rooms in Chelsea, New Zealand closed on 291 for seven after being asked to bat against England’s least experienced pace attack since 2003.
There were two wickets for Sonny Baker, exuberant and wholehearted on debut, and one for Matthew Fisher, just the 1,553 days after his previous Test scalp. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue also contributed, with no New Zealand batsman passing 50 until Blundell pulled Jacob Bethell for four at around 6.15pm.
Two balls later, as if to confirm the ebb and flow in the balance of power, Blundell slog-swept Bethell’s left-arm spin to midwicket, where Root parried the ball above his head and caught it on the rebound with a boyish grin. If this pitch gets better for batting, as county surfaces here have tended to this summer, his side are in the game.
Above all, though, this felt like a day when England did their best to pretend it was business as usual, without really convincing anyone.
England restricted New Zealand to 291-7 on day one of the second Test at The Oval
England gave debuts to Jordan Cox, James Rew and Sonny Baker (pictured left to right)
Matt Fisher was also back in for his second Test cap, more than four years after his debut
Successive press conferences in the week before this Test from managing director Rob Key, head coach Brendon McCullum and Root himself had focused increasingly on Stokes’s mental health in the aftermath of his now infamous night out with Gus Atkinson.
But with no one able to provide any meaningful insight into his state of mind, or any assurance that he will resume the captaincy once the storm has passed, the door has been left open to speculation – principally whether Root might stay at the helm all the way through to next summer’s Ashes.
Perhaps in an effort to show he really has learned from the Bazball playbook in the four years since he stepped down, Root was at times too clever by half as he strove to justify his decision to bowl.
With the ball swinging, and on a pitch offering movement, he frequently limited his slip cordon to two, and posted a man round the corner on the leg side.
Distracted from the time-honoured tactics of aiming for the top of off, England’s raw attack were too straight, and many of the 42 leaked in byes, leg-byes and wides disappeared between debutant wicketkeeper James Rew – powerless, it should be said, to stem the flow – and leg slip.
Late in the day, Root went for a lone slip and an umbrella field, with men in front of the bat waiting for the miscued drive.
Up in the Sky commentary box, Nasser Hussain did his best to sound diplomatic: ‘If you looked at the field now, you’d be thinking England are playing on the subcontinent,’ he said. ‘Root’s gone funky on a surface you don’t need to.’
Only when Archer was threatening to knock the head off Glenn Phillips in the final hour did the cricket trade curiosity for combat, and Root will be wary of Phillips’s ability to counter-attack tomorrow/this morning.
Joe Root was captaining England for the first time since 2022 in the absence of Ben Stokes
Jofra Archer bowled several hostile spells throughout the day but could only take one wicket
Sonny Baker took 2-63 on his first day as a Test cricketer and bowled fast after running in hard
England will argue, no doubt, that the day’s many vignettes confirmed their pre-match excitement about unleashing a new pace attack.
Fisher had Devon Conway gloving down leg in his third over, though otherwise failed to make the most of the new ball on his home ground, before Archer had Tom Latham brilliantly caught by Bethell in the gully off a leading edge for 27. Lunch was taken at a stately 75 for two – a rare concession to convention.
Briefly, England threatened to take control. Henry Nicholls, New Zealand’s replacement for the now-retired Kane Williamson, chopped on against Tongue in the fourth over after the break.
And when Rachin Ravindra was well held by Bethell for 33 to give a jubilant Baker his first international wicket, it was 107 for four.
But Mitchell and Blundell, who combined so prolifically on New Zealand’s last visit here, in 2022, took advantage of Root’s over-elaborations and the rawness of the attack to add a restorative 81.
And it came as a surprise when Baker – fretting over the footholds after changing from the Vauxhall to the Pavilion End – had Mitchell spooning a pull to Emilio Gay at short midwicket on 44.
New Zealand wicket-keeper Tom Blundell passed 50 as day one ended well poised
Glenn Phillips battled hard for 49 not out and took the unusual step of wearing sunglasses while batting
Phillips, meanwhile, continued to bat with the freedom he had displayed during his side’s defeat at Lord’s, regularly timing the ball to the vast unguarded area between third man and deep point, and only slowing down when Archer tested his reflexes during a thundering spell in the early-evening sunshine.
With England’s over-rate even more dilatory than usual, Root turned to Bethell. After winkling out Blundell, he somehow persuaded Nathan Smith to top-edge a full-toss, which was well held by Jordan Cox as he ran back from leg slip.
It was a chaotic end to an eccentric day. If English cricket really is in a holding pattern as we await news of Stokes’s fate, it was not a holding pattern anyone immediately recognised.
