Ramprakash is the man to give England Lord's prayer (18 July 1999)

18 July 1999

Ramprakash is the man to give England Lord's prayer

Scyld Berry

Mark Ramprakash, standing on the outfield at Sydney at the conclusion of the winter Test series, was nothing less than shocked by an outstretched hand. He had spent the Ashes series batting doggedly and being sledged by Glenn McGrath - no racial abuse but one long stream of Aussie invective. Now his tormentor was looking Ramprakash in the eye and offering his hand, if not in friendship then in fraternity.

This handshake was as good as a certificate, one proclaiming M R Ramprakash to be a fully fledged Test batsman. He had come through the fire of the hardest of all Test series, scoring 379 runs in his own sweet time, and not found wanting in any respect except perhaps his front-foot off-drive, when his bat came down too straight, almost from fine-leg, and across the path of the ball.

The second Test against New Zealand, starting on Thursday, is the time for Ramprakash to crack on and stamp his mark on proceedings. He is secure at last in his place, without any external threat as England's No 5. He will be the fount of local knowledge in England's unchanged team (with Darren Gough as recuperating 12th man or playing for Yorkshire at Scarborough), knowing Lord's the most. He is the man to set an example in rectifying England's deplorable record on the ground of one win in their last nine Tests, against five defeats and four draws, mostly inglorious.

This is the time for him and for England to dominate for a change, with generous prize money of L160,000 for a series win on offer. A position of 1-0 up against New Zealand or India at home has often been the cue for England to play their worst cricket as they have fearfully protected their lead with bore-draws. Now England can win and keep on winning from the front for once: their last five Test wins have all come from behind on first innings, and even before their Edgbaston 1997 victory over Australia it was England's frequent pattern.

At Edgbaston, Ramprakash did not bat like a senior batsman. He just existed, batting through 27 balls for a single run, which was no sort of lead for Aftab Habib. Ramprakash came in at 28 for three and departed at 38 for five, which was no sin, but it was nine overs later, which was. An inert batsman does nothing for his side unless the pitch is improving by the minute.

He was not helped by the blight cast over England's innings by Nasser Hussain's refusal to respond to Mark Butcher's call, which it is good to hear the captain has admitted in these pages to have been an error. Hussain wants cricketers whose eyes give out the right signals at 30 for five in Johannesburg, and the least difficult way out of trouble is always by taking quick singles to rotate the strike, free up the game, bring the fielders in then hit it past them.

Only if England have one of their worst Lord's hang-ups will they be 30 for five again in this series. Edgbaston saw the optimal conditions for New Zealand's forte, their seamers, and they missed the boat. As a young team - the nearest they have to a veteran is the still-boyish Adam Parore - they have too little experience of catching the tide, or the next sailing.

To stop Lord's getting up England's noses again, Hussain (a previously vocal critic) has to change his and his team's perceptions of the ground. They have to accept its traditions and frustrations, pros and cons. If an England batsman inside-edges a four half-an-hour before lunch he will be cheered to the echo, and if he reaches the best Test century of all time half-an-hour afterwards the deserted stands will tell him that spectators are more interested in their asparagus tips.

A ground which can remain neutral and reserved for a World Cup final will assuredly maintain its savoir faire for a Test against New Zealand. For who can summon animosity, passion or fear about the cricketers of New Zealand? There is no tradition of doing so, no expectation. Their own expectations are so few that in the new Lord's press box their accompanying print media will consist of one journalist.

In most Test countries cricket is the primary sport. In England it is, if nothing else, the primary summer sport. So it is in New Zealand, but it comes far, far, behind rugby, further than our cricket behind football. In a population of three million, it is not a wonder that their cricketers are uncharismatic, because the All Blacks express the sporting genius of their nation, but that they compete as well as they do.

Man for man, New Zealand's cricketers are not a match for England's, yet they might be without rugby. It is worth remembering that since Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe, their cricketer who has come closest to world-class potential has been Jeff Wilson, who played against England in 1991-92 as a floppy-haired 18-year-old, a fast-medium bowler who could be erratic but hit the pitch hard, and who took 71 wickets at below 20 before he started cutting through defences in real earnest as an All Black. At 19 he hit 44 not out off 28 balls to win a one-day match against Australia.

Given Wilson and one or two others of his like, to put pressure on Chris Cairns to perform, New Zealand could stage a dramatic Test against England, the summer best of each nation pitted against nation, and even distract spectators from their asparagus.

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