NICK HOWSON AT LORD'S: Mark Wood channels Newcastle United cult heroes, Stuart Broad takes his first Test wicket since January and Ross Taylor entertains on an otherwise slow fifth day at the home of cricket
I wrote yesterday about what value this match has as New Zealand prepare for the World Test Championship final against India.
The Kiwis would be forgiven for using this clash to play themselves into form.
Some have endured arduous travel and all had a period of quarantine before travelling to London.
And while both have become normalised in the current climate, that doesn't mean we have to accept them.
So putting overs in the bowlers' legs and giving the batters a glorified net would have been more than acceptable.
After four days, one torpedoed by the weather, Kane Williamson will have been quietly content. Perhaps his own form would have been the only question mark, but he's largely in control of that.
And with another Test to come at Edgbaston next week, there is ample time to iron out any other matters before the team rock up at Southampton.
Despite what some might say, Williamson was under no moral obligation to make something out of day five. Granted, there was an enthusiastic crowd in place, who responded to the contest being given some relevance, but he owes them nothing.
He could have given his middle-order time to find some form, had a dart at England and got an early night.
This does not count towards the next cycle of the WTC, nor does it really matter in regard to the ICC rankings (a 2-0 series win would have sent New Zealand back to No.1). But the final sorts that out.
Instead, Williamson saw this as an opportunity. Not necessarily to give England a bloody nose and go 1-0 up, but to sharpen the instincts of his team.
Challenging his side to take 10 wickets to take in 75 overs with just 273 runs to play with is the kind of scenario they could face against Virat Kohli's men. It was a generous declaration, but it was a priceless opportunity that you don't often get in the professional game.
That it came to nothing misses the point. It is said that replicating pressure that comes with elite competition is the hardest aspect of practice. But this was exactly that.
This scenario contained the right amount of jeopardy at an opportune time. If New Zealand are victorious on the south coast in a fortnight, experiences like this may prove to have made that little bit of a difference.
Dom Sibley summed up England's approach in the chase
England have better cricketers. They have more exciting cricketers. But few are more likeable than Mark Wood.
Day five was a procession, despite New Zealand's best efforts.
Therefore it was nice to hear the Durham quick make light of the situation.
After a quick single between Henry Nicholls and Ross Taylor, Wood saw an opportunity, running towards the loose ball and kicking it onto the stumps.
Taylor safely got home but he had to get a move on.
Thank goodness for the stump microphone, which caught Wood screaming "Asprilla" as he attempted - a reference to the former Newcastle United forward Faustino, who played for the club between 1996 and 1998.
He continued the homage to former cult icons from the Magpies by later shouting "Ketabaia", the surname of Georgia international Temur, another gem from the late 90s.
Though from Ashington in Northumberland, Wood isn't himself a Newcastle fan.
Many family members follow the Toon and rivals Sunderland but the right-arm fast bowler is an AFC Wimbledon follower after trips home and away to watch Wimbledon FC as a kid.
"Asprilla!"
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) June 6, 2021
"Ketsbaia!"
Sign him up, @NUFC! #ENGvNZ #NUFCpic.twitter.com/qs62m74lOM
Stuart Broad broke a run of more than 81 overs since his last Test wicket with the dismissal of Tom Latham on the fifth morning.
Not since he dismissed Angelo Mathews at Galle in mid-January had he registered in the wickets column.
He'd gone without success in heavy defeats to India in Chennai and Ahmedabad since his 3 for 20 in the first innings of that first Test.
It hasn't been a completely barren run for Broad of course; he has taken 19 in four LV=Insurance County Championship matches for Nottinghamshire.
And he is now just one behind Courtney Walsh in the all-time standings, on 518 Test wickets, and could get there at Edgbaston next week.
Indeed, that isn't the only landmark that could be surpassed in Birmingham.
James Anderson is both three behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets) and six adrift of 1,000 in first-class cricket.
Twenty-three overs were lost to slow over-rates across the first three days during which play was possible in this Test match.
It is a laughable situation. Sessions of play can often be prosaic, dominated by dozens of preventable delays and lack of urgency.
I'm of the view that not sticking to over-rates, which according to the ICC regulations should average at 15 per hour, is tantamount to cheating.
Slow play allows captains to manage their fast bowlers, disrupt the rhythm of batters and manipulate play, illegally.
Umpires appear to walk between the non-striker's end and square leg without challenging the pace, either.
Article 2.22 of the ICC code of conduct states players are fined 20 per cent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time. In the World Test Championship points can also be deducted.
Only twice did the authorities enforce points penalties to teams during the inaugural cycle, though one of them arguably meant that Australia did not qualify for the final. South Africa were the other side reprimanded.
The idea that only two breaches could be punishable is laughable. The match referee takes into account mitigating circumstances such as DRS reviews, injuries and wickets falling but it is slightly unbelievable.
But who actually cares?
There seems to be plenty of evidence that over-rates are not being kept to and that punishments are not effective.
Outside of press and media suites is there a movement to see a change? Twenty-three overs is close to what should be a whole session of play; if you told a fan they had to leave 40 minutes early having paid their money they would rightly be disgruntled, but I'm not sure that quite cuts through.
Only when very real punishments which fit the crime are introduced will over-rates come firmly under the microscope, you feel. At the moment, complaining about it only conjures thoughts of that Simpsons meme.
Ross Taylor's 33 was among the highlights of day five
On a day that lacked genuine periods of excitement, Ross Taylor's innings was easily the highlight.
Coaches may have looked away, unable to watch as Taylor slashed wildly at virtually anything short.
At times he connected, lifting first Ollie Robinson and then Wood into the stands for six.
There was 'a stopped clock is right twice a day' feel to the blows, however.
It begs the question of whether the Wellington native was trying to hit himself into form - he's score one half-century in his last 15 Test innings - or if a planned declaration was in his mind.
Williamson curtailed the innings at lunch, which would certainly explain the approach.
But it is also impossible to ignore that Taylor does lack form and this was an opportunity to find some before the second Test at Edgbaston and the final at The Ageas Bowl.
"I don't know what he has got from it," said Jeremy Coney on TMS after Taylor edged Wood through to James Bracey for 33.
He had a point.
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