Magic underwear and a non-keeping keeper
The plays of the first day between England and New Zealand at Trent Bridge
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Jaffa of the day
There were plenty of unplayable outswingers to choose from in the
first hour of the day, none more so than Kyle Mills' first delivery to
Michael Vaughan in the sixth over. Angling into middle-and-off stump,
it bent and cut away - bouncing a touch, too - to beat Vaughan's meek
forward push. Most of the assembled press half-leapt out of their
seats, as did some of the crowd. Sixteen glitzy runs later, Vaughan was
bowled through the gate by one of the few deliveries which didn't
swing.
Second slip of the day
England can only dream of having a wicketkeeper of Brendon McCullum's
stature. For all Tim Ambrose's great promise - digging England out of
a hole today, much like he did in Wellington a few months ago - he has
yet to reach the bar that McCullum has set for himself and others. So
dangerous is his batting that there was no thought from the New
Zealand camp his stiff back would keep him out of the game. The
solution? Let him bat, plonk him at second slip and put Gareth Hopkins
behind the stumps.
Trousers and underwear of the day
Performance-enhancing underwear is the type of false hope promised by
a foreign spammer, under the alias BigMan69, but some of New Zealand's
cricketers have donned pairs of high-tech Baselayer IonX underpants in
bid to give them the edge. Apparently, they deliver "ionic energy to
the body through a negatively charged electromagnetic field," which
sounds rather more painful than our friendly spammers' promises. In
addition, some select players (presumably by the team's designated
shiners) are trialling trousers which help buff the ball to aid the
swing bowlers. Spit-and-polish probably breaches EU health and safety
regulations these days.
Stand of the day
Trent Bridge has long been a firm favourite of the fan. Amiable
groundstaff, excellent transport links, some covered seating and -
more often than not - a ground which produces a result. It creates a
buzzing atmosphere while retaining all the traditional features that
make it so attractive. Like Lord's, Nottinghamshire haven't been
afraid to introduce contemporary architecture to sit alongside
ageing red brickwork, and roofs that would look at home in one of
Nottingham's plusher suburbs. Their latest incarnation is the £8.2m
stand on the Bridgford Road side, replacing the old West wing; an
imposing structure whose semi roof arcs upwards, sheltering the last
quarter of seats at the top. Huw Evans, the architect, also designed
the striking new floodlights which resemble giant luminous tennis
racquets. To steal a cliché, the ground looks a picture.
Shot of the day
England were limping on 93 for 5, with Tim Ambrose joining Kevin
Pietersen, who had lacked fluency in his 17. Until, that is, he
unleashed the flamingo-flick off Iain O'Brien - a shot of his that has
been in enforced hibernation for too long. The mini-collapse from
which England were suffering (3 for 2 in 13 balls) poked Pietersen
into life - almost, but not quite, into playing with the natural,
aggressive freedom that characterised his game two years ago.
Chant of the day
Jerusalem greeted both teams as they strode out this morning, but the
crowd took until 4.20pm to rise, as one, into a football chant to mock
the green stewards. "Stand up, if you're a green steward" rang out
from the Radcliffe Road Stand as the stewards, who had confiscated
some of the fans' toys, sheepishly but stubbornly remained seated.
Will Luke is a staff writer at Cricinfo
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