If there was any doubt that New Zealand would keep attacking, their captain’s first ball made the answer clear and the spirit of adventure was addictive
David Hopps at Headingley29-May-20151:01
‘I can’t complain, I got 88’ – Ronchi
There are critics back in New Zealand who suspect that Brendon McCullum’s commitment to enterprising cricket is as much driven by his desire to perpetuate his reputation as a “media darling” as a meaningful plan to lead New Zealand to a better Test future. It is the most mean-spirited of conclusions, but even the unadulterated happiness of the Lord’s Test, it seems, has not brought universal delight.As Headingley relished the Lord’s aftershocks – witnessing another enthralling and unstable day of Test cricket – such carping seemed entirely out of kilter with the prevailing mood. This ground might be Test cricket’s version of the now largely-departed northern Working Men’s Clubs where the pitches and the audience can be notoriously demanding and happy-go-lucky is not to be tolerated, but times are changing: they know value for money when they see it, even if some will have been left so disorientated by the experience of 297 for 8 at more than 4.5 an over that they might have caught the wrong bus home.As for McCullum, he had an immediate riposte to those who view his attacking approach as a sign of weakness. His first ball, from Stuart Broad, was full and inviting and so he planted it into the crowd at cover. One ball faced, six runs scored. In one hearty thwack, he had pronounced there would be no let-up in the attitude which in a single Lord’s Test has arguably made these New Zealand tourists the most popular ever to set foot in England. New Zealand cricketers with attitude: why ever not?Unfortunately for McCullum, there was not just one retort but two. The second did not go awfully well. His first ball after tea, from Ben Stokes, was also full and inviting and this time he deposited it into the grateful hands of Mark Wood at mid-off. Cue more talk no doubt of the baleful influence of Twenty20 on New Zealand’s captain, or of how a side that reached the World Cup final no longer has patience for the longer form of the game.”The next guy in can get a bit twitchy when they see Baz hit the first ball for six,” was the assessment of Luke Ronchi, a one-day slugger on Test debut at 34, and whose 88 from 70 balls could not have come under a captain whose philosophy suited him more than McCullum. It was the sort of debut that might have left him stricken by nerves. Instead he struck the fastest Test fifty Headingley has ever seen.”It is the way he is doing it and you can’t stop him. He plays some amazing shots and sometimes he plays some other sort of shots. He is telling people to play freely and enjoy what they are doing. He is certainly doing that. I can’t see it changing anytime soon.”When McCullum departed, with 41 from 28 balls to his name, and wearing a black armband to mark the death of his grandfather, his exasperation will have been solely over a legitimate shot, badly executed. First ball of a session? Traditionally, a time to reassess, reacquaint, settle in. But you could have said the same thing about the first ball of an innings. Both deliveries were there to be hit. It was just that he made a mess of the second one.’Happy little court jesters’ was one scathing assessment of New Zealand’s Lord’s display, their status as the No. 3 ranked side in Test cricket conveniently turned against them. But these are two sides naturally designed for attacking cricket: both Wood and Stokes, two members of England’s pace attack, bowl attacking lengths. As James Anderson, an old fox who must have looked on with wonder as he passed 400 Test wickets, said: “It all depends on the players you have in the team: there are guys on both sides who naturally play attacking cricket. You can’t help but admire the way they play.”Considering that they had lost a dangerous toss, New Zealand’s progress seemed unreal. They certainly came out rather well compared to their last appearance on this ground two years ago when they were dismissed for 174 and 220 and attracted only limited interest along the way. Then, it is fair to say, the Test did not dominate conversation in Leeds bars. But if things continue like this it might get a mention or two. Everybody likes a good scrap.McCullum spoke after that Test about the self-doubt that has characterised much of New Zealand’s thinking as a Test nation. They made 669 runs in four innings in England, routed for 68 at Lord’s, and were eighth in the Test rankings. In their last eight Tests in England, they had rescued a draw amid seven defeats. For most of their Test history, they have been in the doldrums.Since then, they are unbeaten in their last six series, during which time they have found unity and conviction. Enterprise has paid off. Interest has been stirred, wins have been logged. An underlying sense of their own inadequacy has been banished.Under McCullum, they dare to look the opposition in the eye as equals. At 264 for 5, with Ronchi and Tom Latham assembling a chaotic stand of 120 in 24 overs, and opportunities going begging by the minute, their ambition had come close to running England ragged. At 1-0 down in a two-Test series, with rain about, circumstances also justified their approach. Even now, England will be grateful for a good Saturday forecast and expectations of the best batting conditions of the match.Ambition can quicken the development of young New Zealand players, batsmen with the promise of Latham, who warmed up his cut shot against some early dross from Wood, England’s sprinter-bowler, and played pretty responsibly after that until his innings deteriorated quite spectacularly with five let-offs in the 70s, four of them against Moeen Ali, two lbw appeals refused on review and dropped catches in successive balls by Wood at square leg and Gary Ballance at leg slip. As he left, there was the sense that you wanted to watch him again.That has not always been the case with New Zealand openers. Peter Fulton once made two hundreds in the same Auckland Test against England, so he deserves respect, but other than a work through mid-on, no other shot lived in the memory. Trevor Franklin occasionally produced a straight drive, or so people claimed. Mark Richardson could spirit a ball through point in a manner to irritate the most equable temperament. But not one of them did much to change the impression of a New Zealand cricket side surviving on meagre resources.McCullum’s commitment to attack also recognises the hand he has been delivered and makes the best of it. Ronchi likes to hit the ball, and Test debut or not, he did just that. He tore into Moeen with gusto, taking 37 in all from 19 deliveries, including three fours and three sixes. Down in Bashley, in the Southern Premier League, memories stirred of a batsman who from the moment he flew in from Perth as a skinny teenager about 15 years ago made a habit of losing cricket balls and denting passing cars.”It was people just doing natural things,” Ronchi said. “My first ball I was pretty lucky to get it over the slips, but after that it was a matter of trying not to worry about what I was doing. Some of them I played OK, some of them I didn’t play well, but it is also the nature of the beast. If I see it and think I can hit it then I prefer to try and do that. I am 34 in my first Test and may never play another. I was just trying to enjoy the ride really.”There was nothing two-faced, nor patronising, in England’s praise for New Zealand’s display at Lord’s. They played a full part in one of the most engaging Tests in England for years and, by doing so, helped to shake English cricket out of a slough of despond. In Leeds, too, they have reminded everybody of the fun to be had. They have briefly put cricket at the centre of English life again. Such things matter.These were the New Zealand tourists who had arrived in dribs and drabs, with nobody outside those with tickets for Lord’s much caring whether they had or not. They have come out even from a remarkable first day at Headingley. A crowd is turning up with optimism about the entertainment ahead. They have suddenly become everybody’s darling buds of May.