'No hole is big enough for them to hide in' (4 July 1999)

4 July 1999

'No hole is big enough for them to hide in'

Sir Richard Hadlee

Sir Richard Hadlee blames the New Zealand bowlers for their performance against England

New Zealand's bowling on the decisive third morning of this first Test defied all cricketing logic. Just when they were in the box seats after two days of a quite extraordinary Test match they seemed to forget the basic principles of length and line on a pitch which has been difficult for batting throughout. Frankly, it was embarrassing to watch.

To have a lead of 100 in a low scoring match on that surface should have been decisive but suddenly the New Zealanders began to deliver all sorts of long hops and full tosses and fed the strengths of the nightwatchman Alex Tudor, outside his off-stump.

You can usually cope with one bowler having an off day but for all five members of your attack to bowl badly at the same crucial time was very disappointing from our point of view. There is no hole big enough for them to hide in at the moment.

New Zealand appeared tense yesterday morning. Maybe there was a lack of belief within the ranks. Surely the motivation was there and there should have been no excuse for complacency. But it was England who made things happen from the off, it was England who were happy to take knocks on the body and hit back against all the odds.

They were gone at 126 all out and this will be a huge psychological blow for New Zealand to recover from. They should have been celebrating only the third New Zealand Test victory in England but instead it will take a huge comeback if they are to claw their way back into the series.

It was ironic that Andrew Caddick should have played such a large role in England's performance against the country of his birth. I remember Andrew well from his days as a young bowler in New Zealand and I could understand when he became disillusioned with his lack of opportunities in our set-up.

People like Chris Cairns and Dion Nash were consistently picked ahead of him at age-group level and in the end he knew he had to move away if he was to make any impact in the game. He had an anger in him in those days that perhaps was still just under the surface when he first came to England but he has matured now.

County cricket may have its critics but it has been good for Andrew's game and, with ball and also bat, he has looked like a class act in this comeback Test. He might not ever have made it if he had stayed in Christchurch but he has now and he will have taken great delight from playing so well against the men who stood in his way back home.

Does he remind me of a certain New Zealand all-rounder in his bowling style? Well, I know Andrew has denied that he modelled his action on mine but there are similarities, in run-up if not in his delivery. He wears sweatbands like I did and he even had a moustache in his early days - but our ears are certainly different!

England should not get carried away by this victory. There have been a lot of positive aspects, but they still have their problems. Alec Stewart's form is a worry and they had their share of bad shots in their first innings but, all in all, it has been a pretty good start for new captain Nasser Hussain - thanks to New Zealand.

Edgbaston is certainly different to when I made my last Test appearance at the ground in 1990. Then the strip was pretty good but this has not been a good cricket wicket. Everybody will be hoping for a better surface at Lord's.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)