Date-stamped : 13 Feb97 - 14:23 Pre- match From The Press NZ boosts pace attack- Davis could play key role by Geoff Longley New Zealand looks likely to plump for a four-pronged seam bowling line-up to attack England as it chases a series-squaring win in the third BNZ cricket test starting at Lancaster Park today. The call-up of Wellington speedster Heath Davis, summoned to Christchurch yesterday, gave a clear indication that team management feels bolstering the pace attack is New Zealand's best chance of dismissing England twice. Davis looks likely to win his second New Zealand cap, coming in alongside Simon Doull, Geoff Allott and Chris Cairns. Davis's previous test appearance was against England in 1994. Davis has been called from a Shell Trophy match at Masterton. Coach Steve Rixon said it was a long way to come if he was not to play. Last week Davis was on standby for the injured Cairns. The likely inclusion of Davis will alter the balance of the side and mean that one of the spin bowlers will be omitted, probably along with the luckless Chris Harris, the 12th man in Wellington. Off-spinner Dipak Patel is the slow bowler likely to be left out, so impressive was the debut of 18-year old Daniel Vettori at the Basin Reserve. Traditionally flat wicket New Zealand will probably gamble on sending England in. This is a risky business at Lancaster Park which may offer some seam early but, if the sun is shining, should settle down to be a traditionally flat wicket. Groundsman Russell Wylie was in no doubt about his personal preference for batting first but he said, if there was cloud about, it would help the swing bowlers. The wicket had a thick grass cover yesterday which Wylie said would have another shave. "It should be a typical belter. With Big Bertha (Wylie's heavyweight roller), I've never prepared a bad pitch." Wylie said the wicket would offer pace and bounce, which was good for both teams. "The batsmen should know the ball will go above stump height while there is some lift there for the bowlers." Davis, with his swift arm action and height, is capable of achieving such life as is left-armer Allott, while Doull's effective swing bowling offers variation. Chris Cairns will then have the fourth seamer's role, but will be entrusted with a greater batting responsibility at No. 6 as New Zealand's tail-end lengthens. England is expected to field an unchanged side with the three seamers and two spinners that took it to success in the Wellington test. If a change is contemplated it may look at bringing back all-rounder Craig White in place of a spinner, to offer another pace bowling option and lengthen the batting. If England retains the same side it will be the first time in almost three years the same combination has been kept together. Wylie said slow bowlers usually had little impact but could feature on latter days using the bowlers footmarks. England could well oblige New Zealand by batting first, feeling that is its best chance to dominate the game by building a big score. In the previous two tests it has batted second, the first time by choice. Its top order amassed two big innings from which it was able to place pressure on New Zealand. All New Zealand's bowling efforts though could come to nought if the top-order batsmen do not make a better showing than they have done in the side's past three innings. The players have undoubted ability. Each of the top six, apart from debutant Matt Horne, has had a substantial score in the series so far. But consistency, which the Englishmen have shown in abundance, has been notably lacking. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Pre-match - Electronic Telegraph England enjoy role reversal with pressure now on Kiwis IT IS astonishing what one Test victory will do to alter the mood of a cricket tour and every attitude towards it. The last thing, however, that England can afford to do, after their overdue defeat of New Zealand in Wellington on Monday, is to relax too much. A Test has been won, and that is an intense relief, but the series is still undecided, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. After a day of fishing and golfing according to their tastes, the players were due back in the nets at Lancaster Park this morning to prepare, I trust, with proper intensity for the third and last match of the short series starting here at 9.30 GMT tonight. The feeling of release which that single success has brought was sufficient for them to feel it reasonable to try to get the practice delayed until they had been able to watch their football counterparts taking on Italy on live satellite television, but their job now is to focus on nothing but their own cricket. New Zealand, after all, unearthed a couple of bright bowling talents at Wellington, and what is expected to be England's first unchanged 11 for 33 Tests, going back to the match in Antigua in April 1994, will not be able to rest on what as yet are fairly skimpy laurels. It was cool, showery and cloudy in Christchurch yesterday, causing the New Zealand team first to switch their practice to the Cricket Academy at Lincoln University, then to call up Heath Davis, the muscular and improved Wellington fast bowler, who was busy taking four for 80 against Central Districts in a Shell Trophy match. The convenor of selectors, Ross Dykes, said that the decision had been taken "to give the team an extra attacking option". Unless the weather changes quickly there is likely to be some help for the seam bowlers on the first morning, although there is no reason to think that this will not eventually dry out into the kind of true, quickish pitch on which England's all-round cricket proved superior at the Basin Reserve. The square here has been full of runs all season and the idea that New Zealand might leave the pitch green in order to gamble everything on winning the toss and levelling the series - the approach they took five years ago after losing the first game at Christchurch - may be fanciful. That policy backfired last time at Auckland, despite New Zealand winning the toss and bowling England out cheaply; and the confidence in their camp is too frail, one would have thought, for them to take a chance now on losing the toss and facing Andrew Caddick, Dominic Cork and Darren Gough on a hard and greenish surface. If all the pressure was on England before the second Test, the boot is now on the other foot. Certainly New Zealand are asking much of their new No 3, Matthew Horne, the 26-year-old brother of the left-handed opener, Philip, who played four Tests and four one-day internationals as well as badminton for his country. Horne minor played a good innings of 64 against England at Wanganui but has otherwise made no impact in his two games against the touring team. He looks a natural stroke-player and might have been a good selection at five or six in the order, but it is, as Bill Lawry would say, a "big ask" to put him in at first wicket down in his first Test, especially after making little impact for Auckland until last season. He then finished the season with two hundreds, including one of 190, before adding three more in six innings for Otago this season. It is not just the new cap, nor the new coach, Steve Rixon, who is feeling the weight of expectation normally heaped upon England, but the whole team. One of New Zealand's sponsors, Dominion Breweries, have indicated that they might follow Tetley and stop supporting the national team if there are any more stories like the reports of late night drinking in Wellington on the second evening of the Test. Their chief executive, Brian Blake, said yesterday: "News of off-the-field activities is really disappointing and it is extremely disappointing on the field as well." If the pitch is to have the pace expected, it will suit Geoff Allott, whose performance, alongside that of Daniel Vettori, provided the silver lining to the Wellington cloud; and Davis too. If so, it should also suit Gough and Caddick again. Gough, praise be, has rediscovered the zip which his bowling possessed in Australia two years ago but Caddick, who by his own admission is a stern self-critic, has the ability to do even better and a chance to make a more regular place for himself in the Test side if he can build on his six for 85 at Wellington. Christchurch was his home city until he pursued a cricket career in England, and he will be watched by his parents, brother and sister. He is expecting an especially warm reception from Christchurch folk generally, which would certainly not be the case if he were an Australian-bred cricketer returning to play against the land of his birth. Gough and Cork have Christchurch connections, too. Both played a winter season here in 1990-1991, ending up at the same club when Cork became envious that the young Yorkshireman had been allowed the use of a car when his own original club thought he could manage perfectly well with a bicycle. Cork is suddenly the poor relation again now. After his dramatic advent in 1995, he had a bad 1996, culminating, sadly, in domestic upheaval, and 1997 has started no better for him. He is bowling inconsistently and behaving at times like a prima donna. I suspect, however, that this is not the real Dominic Cork; the one who rose within a cricketing family through traditional league cricket and was known for never giving up. Perhaps, like Gough, he also has to settle down, stick to the basics and keep his feet on the ground. His outswinger, delivered with a slightly lower arm than it was when he took seven for 43 in his first Test against the West Indies at Lord's, is too seldom hitting the right length to find the edge and there is something frenetic about his whole action at the moment, but it could easily click again. There is true quality there and if David Lloyd, John Emburey and Ian Botham are worth their salt they will help Cork to re-discover it. ENGLAND (from): *M A Atherton, N V Knight, -A J Stewart, N Hussain, G P Thorpe, J P Crawley, R D B Croft, D G Cork, D Gough, A R Caddick, P C R Tufnell, C White. NEW ZEALAND (from): B A Pocock, B A Young, M J Horne, S P Fleming, N J Astle, C L Cairns, * -L K Germon, D N Patel, S B Doull, G I Allott, D L Vettori, H T Davis, C Z Harris. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 1 report - Electronic Telegraph Croft off-spin undermines New Zealand THERE were distinct echoes from Auckland, the first Test, in the opening day at Christchurch. England put New Zealand into bat; Stephen Fleming played the best innings; England took the same number of wickets, five; and New Zealand made only four fewer runs here, 229, than they had on the first day at Eden Park, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. The difference was that Robert Croft was playing this time and without question he was the outstanding bowler in a day of tough, interesting, nicely balanced cricket. England will need to bat better against the first new ball than they bowled with it, if they are work their way into a winning position, as at Auckland. They had the good sense to obey a cricketing adage, which they have ignored far too often in the recent past, that if three seamers cannot do it, four won't either. But they overlooked the wisdom of what all the local pundits were saying about the Lancaster Park pitch, namely that it often looks as though it will help the ball to move off the seam, but that it practically never does so. That is not to say that the thinking was flawed. Mike Atherton felt that if the pitch was going to give any bowler much help at any stage of the five days it would be on the first morning, and he has clearly backed his batsmen to match whatever New Zealand score. There was some steep bounce from the pitch while the ball was hard, however, sufficient to cause Matthew Horne a broken top hand during his spunky first innings in Test cricket, and that will give plenty of encouragement to the muscular young pair of opening bowlers whom New Zealand have chosen, selections displaying a decisiveness and aggression for which their cricket was not once renowned. A temporary change of captaincy was forced by Lee Germon's decision to withdraw because of the strained groin muscle sustained during practice on Thursday. The palm fell to Fleming, much as it once did in similar circumstances to David Gower, whose batting his own superficially resembles. At 23, Fleming is young for such heavy responsibility, but a 'net' here in a game, in which both he and New Zealand have little to lose, will stand him in good stead for a future, in which he is destined to captain his country for some time. Hitherto he has led a team only in junior cricket. Fleming may regret having four fast-bowlers and only a single spinner, the gifted tyro, Daniel Vettori, having been preferred to Dipak Patel, who is 20 years older. It has left New Zealand with a vulnerable tail, which was stoutly protected yesterday evening by Adam Parore and Chris Cairns; but Germon's absence makes New Zealand a stronger side. Parore looked out of his depth at three in the previous Test, but his tenacious innings yesterday proved that as a wicketkeeper-batsman at six or seven he was a different proposition. He already had a hundred against the West Indies at Lancaster Park to his credit, not to mention six fifties in his previous 31 Tests. Heath Davis's inclusion in the final XI alongside Geoff Allott was part of the major reshuffle for this match, which contrasted sharply with England's decision to stick with their winning XI at Wellington. It is the first time that they had made no changes since the Antigua draw against the West Indies three years ago. With the wind from the bare, brown hills of Lyttelton behind him Dominic Cork was distinctly brisk, but he bowled too short and there were six no-balls in a six-over stint. His consolation was the wicket of Bryan Young, who played round a ball of full length in the third over of a bright, clear morning. Andrew Caddick kept the ball further up than Cork, but he seldom hit that ideal length which has the batsman in two minds. Darren Gough, in keeping with recent trends, bowled much better after lunch than before, so Pocock, with his well-organised defence, was able to give the innings a base. He found a plucky partner in the 26-year-old Horne, who scored with equal facility on either side of the wicket at first and looked after himself well for a man who had played only six First-Class matches this time last year. The ball from Gough, which struck his left glove, was bowled early in his 21/2-hour innings, but it was 19 overs before England took a second wicket and, when they did, it came from Croft's off-breaks, not the quicker bowlers on whose shoulders Atherton's initial hopes were pinned. Tripping in and imparting vigorous spin from his full body-pivot, Croft demanded respect, his spells before and after lunch producing figures of two for 30 from 14 nicely varied overs. Blair Pocock dragged a drive to short midwicket and, soon after Horne had steered a break-back from Gough to first slip, Nathan Astle, eager to dominate, fell to a bottom-edged catch to slip. Lesser fielders than Nasser Hussain would probably have taken the ball on the shin. Hussain's fielding everywhere has been a constant inspiration to his colleagues on this tour. The best batting of the day followed from Fleming and Parore. Concentrating mainly on keeping England at bay before lunch, Fleming played two glorious off-drives off Gough early in the afternoon and kept a resolutely straight bat, except when he was occasionally discomforted by a ball lifting to his hips. Gough attacked him with two short-legs, but it was with a confident hook that he reached his fifty. Phil Tufnell bowled two skilful accurate spells, but it was Croft who took Fleming's wicket, drawing him down to drive with a ball of tempting flight. He had come close to having him stumped an hour before when Fleming, despite slipping, got his bat back just in time, but Stewart was too quick the second time, Darrell Hair tempting fate by judging him out without recourse to a replay. He was right, but only just. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 2 report Electronic Telegraph England are off the pace Scyld Berry admires the home side's spirit as Fleming leads effort to save the series ENGLISH cricket has become a fat cat, never driven to make the most of itself. Only occasionally will it show its claws, as it did in the second Test when blessed with a lively pitch to bowl on and a flat one when they themselves had to bat. New Zealand cricket is a scrawny mouse by comparison, starved of talent because the population is small and rugby takes the cream, forced to make do with the odd nibble of cheese. But their coach, Steve Rixon, has knitted them together with a moral fibre which helps them - like the enthusiasts of Zimbabwe - to make the most of the little they possess. It was a plucky effort by New Zealand to score 347 after being routed in the second Test, and after losing their captain and the toss. To dismiss England's top half for 104, before Mike Atherton and Dominic Cork settled into a stand, was a tribute to fine and vigorous bowling of the same fibre, as well as a result of England's inadequacy. Nick Knight set the self-destructive tone of England's top order by going for the big shot when the ball was too close and too full. After making 27 runs in this series, he is rapidly losing his place to Mark Butcher in spite of being a superlative fielder and all-round good egg. Between them Knight, Alec Stewart, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe hit nine fours and 12 singles. While Atherton squirrelled away his ones and twos, against the rainstorm that was to come, Stewart hit 15 runs from his 10 balls at the crease and should not have batted in white but imperial purple, so commanding were his strokes, so far as they went. These first two dismissals formed no reason for the Barmy Army to cease the mindless optimism of their chanting on a fresh, if always cloudy, afternoon. Or even when Hussain became the third batsman in a row to fall to a forcing back-foot shot. As Bobby Simpson observes, why is the horizontal square-cut now so seldom used? The cheering and singalong on the rugby terraces of Lancaster Park continued until the end, but soon they were drowned out by the alarm bells ringing. Thorpe played on - he had already been lucky with an inside-edged four off Heath Davis - and John Crawley firm- footedly drove at a ball slanted across him. We can never know in what proportion England's haste was born of a lack of steel, or of a sense of superiority after the innings victory, or of the adrenalin caused by Geoff Allott's pace. Allott is as fast as left-armers come, except for the wizard Wasim Akram. But he only plays cricket because he broke a leg three times in one season as a rugby outside-half, one who used to keep the All Black Andrew Mehrtens out of his school team. Davis came after Allott and kept up the pressure by hitting the bat equally hard (it was no less an achievement to field without a hat when the sunburn time here is usually less than half-an-hour, even on cool days). Stephen Fleming is in his first first-class match as a captain, epitomising the inexperience of the whole New Zealand side with barely 100 caps between them, but on his own initiative he introduced Nathan Astle, who conjured for him the wicket of Thorpe. "He's handling it admirably," said Allott of Fleming. Whereas Allott and Chris Cairns found the right length on their home ground, England bowled far too short on the second morning and lost control of the game during the sixth-wicket stand between Cairns and Adam Parore. England had seen Cairns flinch on the first evening to protect his right hand, and they stuck to their prearranged plan to bounce him, even though Andrew Caddick early on could angle the ball in and seam it away. Robert Croft was left as the only bowler not to pitch short, as he floated the ball into the wind which in New Zealand never abates. Phil Tufnell was played for his fielding yesterday, and brought off a direct hit from mid-on to round off an admirable winter's work, spoilt only when, after yet another sprint and throw, he looked a complete wreck. Two of Croft's five wickets - the first such haul by an England off-spinner since Peter Such in 1993 - came from the pressure he exerted, and from New Zealand immaturity. His other three wickets were well caught at slip, where Hussain was Indian rubber, off one variation or another to his off-break. This summer Croft can hardly expect such giveaways, but he will be there, gnawing away, chuntering and appealing, but above all offering control. Adam Parore looked far more at home at No 6, as most of New Zealand's batsmen would. At a press conference after his innings - without it England might have been chasing only 250 - he said of his reprieve when Lee Germon was injured: "There's not so much pressure on you when you're dead. I love keeping wicket too. After only two or three chances in the last couple of years, I was like a child with a toy." Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 3: Electronic Telegraph Third Test: Spinners turn England's slim hopes around as NZ stumble By Christopher Martin-Jenkins in Christchurch WHATEVER the result of the third Test, a constantly interesting and all too brief series is ending with a classic game of Test cricket at Lancaster Park. It is a tough and ruthless match too, one which reached unusual levels of passion and courage yesterday evening, first when Bryan Young refused to walk after being given out by Darrell Hair - a breach of one of cricket's basic codes, for which he should have been punished but inexplicably was not - and then when Matthew Horne, in his first Test, came out to bat with a broken left hand and suffered agony in surviving 17 balls. Young's understandable but misplaced incandescence and Horne's courage were typical of New Zealand's commitment to a game in which they have put in an altogether improved display. They earned themselves a first-innings lead of 118, despite Mike Atherton's dedicated but never dominant 94 not out, the eighth occasion on which an England opener has carried his bat through an innings. Until England bowled a second time yesterday their cricket had veered between the ordinary and the dreadful. It was chiefly the two spinners, Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell, who rescued them from the position of peril, in which they had placed themselves by poorly directed new-ball bowling in the first innings and batting which, with the exception of Atherton's steely innings, lacked elementary concentration. Whatever the result now, and a shade of odds favoured England last night, the penny seems finally to have dropped for England's seamer-obsessed strategists that a pair of good spinners can be a pearl beyond price in Test cricket. Young, the 32-year old Northern Districts opener, may consider himself very lucky not to have been punished by the match referee Peter Burge, who decided to take no action against him after a hearing last night. Burge is renowned as one of the sterner disciplinarians, largely as a result of the dirt in the pocket affair and subsequent events in England in 1994. The fact is that he fined Mike Atherton £1,250 for looking at his bat after being given out lbw at the Oval in 1994 and that Young is not a cent poorer, despite failing to go until he had been given out a second time. Young's 'unblemished record' was taken into account. He had scored a solid 49 out of New Zealand's 80 for four when he got an inside edge on to his pads against Tufnell and was given out by Hair almost immediately after Nick Knight had dived forward and right at silly-point to scoop the ball up with his finger-tips. Burge accepted Young's explanation that he was unaware that he had been given out, but that is certainly not how it appeared as he stood his ground and said: "He didn't catch that; no way." He registered his outrage by facial expression too before turning towards the square-leg umpire Steve Dunne. Hair then consulted Dunne, something he should have done before lifting his finger, if he was in any doubt, before signalling him out again. The television replays suggested that Knight had probably got his fingers underneath the leather in time, but it was so close that no one would have blamed Hair for giving Young the benefit of the doubt. This was not the only evidence of weak umpiring in this match, a private war of words between Adam Parore and Dominic Cork having been allowed to fester without intervention. New Zealand, having bowled England out five overs after lunch, slipped to 95 for six under pressure initially from some much improved fast-bowling by Dominic Cork and later from finger-spin bowling out of the top draw. Croft and Tufnell were like a couple of dentists working in tandem to remove a stubborn tooth. They came together for the first time at 57 for two in the 22nd over at a time when Stephen Fleming and Young, who was batting attractively, despite a heel injury, were rallying an innings which had lacked conviction from the moment that Blair Pocock played the fourth ball of the innings on to his stumps via his pads. Cork bowled much his best spell of the series so far, some penance for a gross stroke in the first over of the day, but Parore had batted 84 minutes to see off the new ball until just before tea the pressure told on him too. He edged an attempt to drive a ball of full length with his weight on the wrong foot. England controlled the final session, with close fielders hovering, Croft and Tufnell probing and harrying in a southerly bluster and Knight and Hussain again excelling close to the bat. Knight, in fact, had missed Young off Andrew Caddick's sixth ball, a very hard slip chance low to his right, but he made no mistake with any of his three chances at silly-point, none of them easy. If the batting was timorous, it was understandably so against bowlers who did not let them off the hook, and only Nathan Astle, out trying to cut Croft's little away-seamer, just as he had been in the first innings, should reproach himself. Atherton excepted - and even he was tactically in error in the morning - England's cricket throughout Saturday had lacked purpose and concentration. David Lloyd called the batting sloppy, but slovenly might have been a better word and, in any case, they would have been batting earlier against a lower total if only they had pitched the new ball up properly on a cloudy morning. As it was, the sixth-wicket stand between Parore and Cairns, marked by positive strokeplay, added 82 and gave the long New Zealand tail the confidence to keep England in the field until after lunch. Croft's five for 95 was a thoroughly deserved analysis. He had bowled beautifully, with the subtlest of variations, on a pitch giving him the assistance only of some occasional extra bounce and a bit of turn from the rough. While Atherton simply played his natural, careful, correct game, scoring almost exclusively square of the wicket on either side, his partners one by one destroyed themselves. Knight again tried to force off the back foot before he had got used to the pace and bounce; Stewart cut to gully - a rare failure in his winter of brilliant cricket - Hussain, Thorpe and Crawley all fell to loose strokes to wide offside balls. Yesterday the theme was renewed when Cork tried to pull the fifth ball of the morning from well outside his off stump and was caught behind. Enter the little Welshman to provide some ballast and character. Croft had helped his captain add 53, with some sturdy on-driving before he spooned Astle's slower ball, a leg-break, which reached him on the full at waist height, to mid-on. It might have been a lucky wicket for Astle, but he is that sort of bowler, and his usefulness shows how the very similar Adam Hollioake might benefit the England cause next season. Young Daniel Vettori made quick work of Gough, bowling him through the gate with his arm ball. Caddick carved the new ball to gully and, when Tufnell's breezy little bash ended, the captain was left high and dry. It was Atherton's fourth ninety in Test cricket, and he became the seventh man to carry his bat through a Test innings for England, Len Hutton having done it twice. His pulling and hooking against Geoff Allott and Heath Davis, who, with Vettori, have transormed New Zealand's attack, was bold and effective, but he never took control and managed only 28 runs yesterday. List of honour England players who have carried their bat in a Test innings: R Abel 132* (out of 307) v Australia (Sydney) 1891-92 P F Warner 132* (237) v S Africa (Johannesburg) 1898-99 L Hutton 202* (344) v W Indies at (Oval) 1950 L Hutton 156* (272) v Australia at Adelaide 1950-51 G Boycott 99* (215) v Australia at Perth 1979-80 G A Gooch 154* (252) v West Indies at Leeds 1991 A J Stewart 69* (175) v Pakistan at Lord's 1992 M A Atherton 94* (228) v NZ at Christchurch 1996-97 Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 3: The Press England spin dents batting by Geoff Longley New Zealand, after finally gaining some ascendancy over England in the last test of the BNZ series at Lancaster Park, squandered its advantage in the final session yesterday, its second innings batting coming unstuck before England spinners Robert Croft and Phil Tufnell. The two bowlers reduced New Zealand to 95 for six by stumps, taking four wickets between them and stifling the run rate. Their 32 overs together yielded just 42 runs in the post-tea session. Croft, who had test-best figures of five for 95 in the New Zealand first innings, continued to challenge the Kiwi batsmen with his changing line and variations, while Tufnell taunted them bowling into the footmarks. The close catching vultures hovered and the New Zealand batsmen obliged, all four being caught in the cordon close to the bat. However, because of New Zealand's 118-run first innings lead, the over-all advantage had risen to 213 by stumps leaving the match intriguingly poised. New Zealand coach Steve Rixon believes another 50 or 60 runs will make a challenging target for England. "Our pace bowling has a bit more venom than theirs and there will be some pressure on them. They haven't coped well with pressure in the past and I can't see why it would start now." Rixon said all-rounder Chris Cairns was the key to New Zealand's lead getting to 300 and beyond. He is paired at present with a brave Matt Horne, batting in obvious pain with the fractured bone in his left hand. Rixon said he hoped Daniel Vettori would exact some spin-bowling revenge in the latter sessions by working on the footmarks. England skipper Mike Atherton is unfazed by the prospect of a tally around 300 for victory. He believes the pitch is still playing well. "Because it was so well grassed it does not have the cracks some older pitches get. Day four and five on this may be more the equivalent of day two and three on others," Atherton said. He said the ball rose steeply on occasions and commanded full concentration. That was something he showed in abundance, but his team-mates lacked. Atherton batted through the England innings. He was left stranded, unbeaten on 94 from 345 minutes at the crease when No. 11 Phil Tufnell succumbed. Atherton became the seventh English batsman to carry his bat in an innings, the 34th time it has been done in test history. "Our batting was a bit undisciplined," Atherton said, which was an understatement. While some of the England players were due for a low score after big tallies in the first two tests, some were guilty of playing too confidently. The hard-working Geoff Allott profited most from the mistakes with a test-best four wickets, while the previously erratic speedster Heath Davis, in his return to the test arena, showed vastly improved control. Part-time bowler Nathan Astle nabbed the wicket of Graham Thorpe, the century-maker in both previous tests, and then broke England's highest stand, worth 53, between Atherton and Robert Croft, surprising Croft with a waist-high full toss which he miscued into the hands of Davis. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 4 - Electronic Telegraph Atherton vigil opens the way for England to outstay New Zealand READING this, you will no doubt be aware of the result of the third Test in Christchurch; whether it was won by England or New Zealand, drawn or, perhaps just as likely, tied. Writing on the fourth evening, with the sun beginning to set opposite the pale hills which separate Christchurch from the port of Lyttelton, I am sure only that the players and supporters of both sides will be weak with the tension of it all by the time the issue is resolved writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins Probably, too, no-one will be more prepared to accept what fate has in store than the England captain, Michael Atherton, who had carried his bat throughout England's first innings and been on the field for every ball bowled by the end of the fourth day. He had by then batted 147 overs for his 159 runs in the match without being out and it was more certain than ever that his side's chance of scoring 305 to win would rest on his own skilled hands and level head. When the fifth day started England needed another 187 to win with eight wickets in hand and a new ball due in 17 overs. Atherton had scored 65 and England still had four of their six specialist batsmen left, having sent in Andrew Caddick as nightwatchman. This was the acid test, perhaps, of whether the six around whom England have laid their plans for the last seven Tests are as good as their coach and captain believe them to be. Specifically it was a test of their technique against a good spin bowler pitching the ball into the rough with three or four fielders round the bat. Atherton himself had given an object lesson in the difficult art. Generally he padded the ball away when it pitched outside the leg stump. Occasionally he judged the length to be short enough to steer the ball past slip, turn it off his legs or play it off the back foot forward of point. Once only did he hit Daniel Vettori for four, with a late cut to reach his fifty. Vettori turned it sufficiently out of the footmarks to hit Alec Stewart on the grille of his helmet with a ball which took off vertically, but of the 23 overs which this marvellous young left-arm spinner had bowled off the reel from the 19th over of the innings (41 for one) to the close yesterday, only five were maidens, compared with 10 out of 20 by Robert Croft and eight out of 18 by Phil Tufnell the previous evening. In other words Atherton found a way of making sure that he was not tied to his crease by chains. Not so, however, Stewart, who scored three in his first 73 balls, having been constrained by Nathan Astle. This stocky little medium-pacer, pointing the way, with his changes of pace and variations on a seam, to what Adam Hollioake might do for England if he were given the chance, bowled his first 10 overs for nine runs. He was shrewdly used by Stephen Fleming after tea to prevent England's fastest-scoring batsman from building up any momentum and it always looked likely that Vettori would produce the ball to get Stewart out. When he did it was the result of another good piece of captaincy by Fleming. Having bowled over the wicket from the outset, Vettori went round it, at his captain's behest, in the middle of his 21st over and within two balls Stewart had turned a catch to square short leg off bat and pad. It had taken Stewart 108 balls to score 17. Sometimes it takes him about five. Setting out to become only the 13th team to score more than 300 in the fourth innings to win a Test, England had started almost like hares but they were tortoises from the moment that Vettori, just 18, not yet at university and playing his fourth first-class match, had come on to bowl from the Hadlee Stand end. He wheeled away tirelessly and with wondrous accuracy into the copious rough just outside the right-handers' leg stump. Slim and untidy, shy but not overawed, this son of an Italian father and Dutch mother has proved himself in two Tests to be not just a natural cricketer but also a fearless one. Long hair flowing and spectacles glinting, he had already hit Atherton in the ribs and beaten him twice before he struck New Zealand's first blow when Nick Knight, trying to loft him with the spin, drove straight to mid-on in his fourth over. The opening stand of 64 was their first of any substance in five winter Tests, Atherton being out of form in Zimbabwe and Knight in New Zealand. The captain quickly established his presence with a fierce pull and square-cut for boundaries in Heath Davis's second over and two more fours off Simon Doull prompted Fleming to turn to his single spinner. It had taken England all morning to take New Zealand's last four wickets thanks to a brilliant attacking innings by Chris Cairns and a remarkably composed one by Vettori, who batted for just on three hours at No 9 in his two innings and increased his average to 59. By bold and determined batting, Cairns scattered the close fields of Croft and Tufnell and put on 71 with Vettori at a run a minute in 20 overs of destructive batting before driving Tufnell to deep extra cover. He ought, however, to have been stumped by Stewart, when only 31, off Croft at a time when the New Zealand lead was 258. Having eventually added 97 by batting more positively for their last four wickets, New Zealand left England - and their own bowlers - five sessions, or a minimum of 148 overs. Only once since Tests began in 1877 had England passed a target of more than 300 to win in these circumstances, the famous occasion at Melbourne in 1928-29 when Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe started with a century stand on a rain-affected pitch. At Lancaster Park three years ago, however, New Zealand scored 324 to beat Pakistan by five wickets. This was the ground on which England were humiliatingly beaten on a friable surface in 1983-84, but it has had a reputation for lasting for ever since Russ Wylie, the groundsman, started using a retired steam roller weighing eight tons. On the other hand, as Vettori proved, rough is rough on any wicket. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Day 4: The Press Vettori spins into spotlight - Test hangs in balance by Geoff Longley Fresh-faced 18-year-old New Zealand spin bowler Daniel Vettori, squaring up to the hardened professionals of England, holds the key to the third BNZ cricket test at Lancaster Park today. Vettori, in only his second test, became New Zealand's chief wicket-taking threat yesterday as England, in pursuit of 305 runs to beat New Zealand, reached 118 for two at stumps, still 187 away from its target, with a minimum of 90 overs available. It could be nerve-wracking stuff as England seeks to score beyond 300 for the first time since 1928-29. A 2-0 series win would serve as a springboard to its home Ashes series against Australia, while New Zealand is desperate for a morale-boosting, series-squaring success. The key to New Zealand's victory chance is the lanky Hamilton teenager, Vettori, playing in only his fourth first-class game. He claimed both England wickets and consistently posed problems bowling into the southern end rough. Just ask Alec Stewart. He received a delivery from Vettori that exploded from the rough and into his forehead between the visor and grill, drawing blood. "I've never hit a batsman above the eye before. I look forward to doing it more often," Vettori quipped. The slow left-arm bowler with a strong action got through 23 overs and yielded just 33 runs as the final session became a waiting game -- the batsmen waiting for the loose ball and the bowler, especially Vettori, for something from the footmarks or the patience to break. Vettori admitted becoming frustrated at having a number of balls touch the bat or gloves, but drop just out of reach. "But I had a talk to Dipak Patel and he said 'just be patient' and it finally paid off." Vettori has bowled longer spells, 52 overs once at St Pauls College, but not in this company. "I'm enjoying it. It probably seemed a bit daunting a few days ago, but hopefully I can help us win the test." Vettori said the team plan had been to bowl effectively in pairs, which he and Nathan Astle achieved admirably, England only managing 23 runs in 20 overs in the hour after tea. Vettori struck first, getting Nick Knight, who has had an unhappy test series, mistiming an aerial shot to cover, then in the closing stages shifted the stubborn Stewart, caught close in, with his first ball going around the wicket. "We just thought we'd try a different line and it paid off. The wicket is still playing pretty well, it's just those footmarks that are creating some movement." Vettori was also prominent with the bat, contributing an unbeaten 29 while sharing a 71-run stand in 78 minutes with Chris Cairns in New Zealand's second dig. Seemingly unfazed by the trying situation, Vettori batted with some freedom, providing support for Cairns, who struck 52 from 106 balls with four fours and a six, enabling the lead to be extended beyond the psychological 300-run barrier. Cairns, after striking Phil Tufnell for a six and a four in successive balls and hoisting his eighth test half-century, became a little too ambitious, first being dropped by Dominic Cork on 51, then holing out on the extra-cover boundary. England's match-winning hopes initially rest with captain Mike Atherton, who has already scored his second half-century in the game. He was untroubled by the quicker bowlers, dispatching powerful pull shots to the boundary, and is the rock upon which England will try to build its victory foundation. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 5 : The Press Atherton answers critics by Geoff Longley England cricket captain Mike Atherton emerged from his batting slump in triumphant fashion, steering his side to a 2-0 BNZ test series win over New Zealand at Lancaster Park yesterday. Atherton answered his critics in the middle with a match-winning innings of 118 which carried his team to the brink of what was eventually a four-wicket win in the final hour of a gripping last day. Atherton arrived in New Zealand out of form and his leadership under increasing pressure after England was unable to beat Zimbabwe. His unwavering concentration and fighting qualities enabled the 28-year-old Lancastrian to battle his way back and he followed his unbeaten first innings 94 with 118 yesterday. England's winning effort was capped by an unbroken 76-run seventh wicket stand between John Crawley and Dominic Cork, who righted the visitors innings when it began to wobble. With England 226 for three and Atherton in the midst of a productive partnership with Nasser Hussain England was cruising to victory. Sixteen balls later both were out along with Graham Thorpe, the century-maker in the first two tests. Crawley and, in particular Cork, nullified the threat of teenage spin bowler Daniel Vettori who had captured the wickets of Hussain and Thorpe to raise New Zealand spirits. New Zealand coach Steve Rixon paid tribute to Atherton's memorable performance, the English captain having been on the field for about 27 1/2 hours of the scheduled 30-hour game. "He was simply outstanding. People can lead in differing ways and Mike provided personal inspiration," Rixon said. Atherton said he wanted to try and score half the team's runs and get a big 100. Despite his monumental effort he castigated himself when getting out to Nathan Astle having batted 399 minutes, facing 311 balls. He said his game plan to handle the demanding spin and leg stump attacking line of Vettori was to pad the ball if it landed in the rough and look to score if it was short. The lasting qualities of the Lancaster Park pitch won through as New Zealand's pace attack made minimal impression during the day with Vettori again the most potent weapon. But even he, after bowling himself to the point where his left arm went limp after 57 overs, could do no more. Despite New Zealand's loss he can be proud of his performance, which ranked alongside Atherton's. Ironically the last time England won successive test matches was against New Zealand on its tour here in 1991-92 with Christchurch also being one of its victory venues. England's effort in scoring 307 for six was only the second time in its lengthy test history it has scored more than 300 in the fourth innings to win a test match. New Zealand last achieved the feat, again on the true Lancaster Park surface, in 1993-94 when making 324 for five to beat Pakistan. Visitors did not capitulate Rixon said he thought New Zealand had the upper hand with England wanting 300, but the visitors did not capitulate. He said while Dipak Patel would have been an extra spin bowling option it would have been at the expense of Heath Davis, who Rixon said was New Zealand's best first innings bowler. New Zealand's hopes ebbed and flowed in the morning session yesterday. Davis beat Atherton several times in one over and Andrew Caddick on 0 was "caught" by a diving Stephen Fleming from a ball which lodged between bat and pad before it hit the ground. Australian umpire Darrell Hair indicated to Fleming he believed the ball to be dead having lodged in just the pad from his view. Umpire Hair was at the centre of a disputed decision earlier in the match with New Zealand batsman Bryan Young. New Zealand captain Fleming said he was a little surprised umpire Hair had not consulted the square leg umpire at the time. Fleming said Nathan Astle was used extensively to tie up an end with little use made of Chris Cairns, because he was unable to bowl at full pace after his ankle injury. Rixon said the batting lapses which occured during all tests had been the major problem. "If the series had ended at 1-all I think we would have felt flattered by that." Atherton said the side came very close to a 3-0 series sweep and had been frustrated primarily by the weather in Zimbabwe. It could now approach with growing confidence the home Ashes series against Australia. Source :: The Canterbury Press (http://www.press.co.nz/) Day 5: Electronic Telegraph Iron will of Atherton forges series victory ENGLAND have duly commanded a Test series overseas for the first time in five years. In Wellington, they won by playing outstandingly well; here, they beat New Zealand by four wickets in the third over of the final hour of an extraordinarily exciting match, despite having batted and bowled poorly in the first innings, writes Christopher Martin-Jenkins. To have won from behind was a real step forward and it was pri- marily the work of Mike Atherton, whose 118 was but the latest example of his iron will. This was his 11th Test hundred and eighth since becoming England captain in 1993, but only his second in a winning cause. A series England had controlled until getting into deep trouble halfway through the third match has been won by two matches to none. Atherton's batting, and a pitch which continued to play almost perfectly except from the bowlers' footmarks, were the principal ingredients of a long, tense denouement. It was typical that the captain himself should have led the fight, because he is one of nature's scrappers, but it certainly was not part of the trend of recent history that the rest of the team should show equal tenacity when things were going against them. At 226 for three, 40 minutes after lunch yesterday, England were winning; not at a gallop, because that is very seldom Atherton's way, but at a dignified trot. Then he was out, to a thin little outside edge, and in the space of 10 minutes and 16 balls, they were reduced to 231 for six. John Crawley and Dominic Cork, who played the tiring New Zealand hero Daniel Vettori as well as anyone, saw the side to their goal with a seventh-wicket partnership of 76 which was admirable. Only when Crawley was hit on the pad by a ball from Nathan Astle in front of middle and off, not very far forward, when he had scored three, was there a serious, heart-stopping moment as the stand stylishly developed, but even after tea, Cork was beaten three times by Chris Cairns and it was not until the third of the final 15 overs that Cork hit the winning runs forward of square leg. Throughout the last day New Zealand were given plenty of reason to regret the decision to leave out their second spinner, Dipak Patel. Their coach, Steve Rixon, pointed out that Patel would probably have played at Heath Davis's expense and that Davis had put England on the back foot in their first innings with a 10-over spell as good as any in the match. Davis was unlucky again yesterday, beating Atherton's outside edge three times in his first spell. Vettori, meanwhile, began his marathon from the Hadlee Stand end, a performance worthy of a veteran, let alone an 18-year-old. He bowled three full tosses, five long hops, around 10 balls which could be driven with safety and perhaps 50 more which could be placed into gaps off the back foot. That still left 274 of his 357 balls which pitched into the rough on a good length, every one with the potential to spin past, or up, the pads as Atherton and the others kicked him away outside the leg stump. WHEN he went round the wicket yesterday, he was relatively expensive but Atherton was rightly incensed by those who suggested that Vettori should have been played more aggressively. "When the ball is spitting at you from two feet outside the leg stump, there aren't many scoring options," he said. It is an extraordinary statistic that this was only the second time since their first official Test in 1877 that an England side had scored more than 300 to win in a fourth innings. Equally remarkable is the fact that two teams have now managed it in three years at Lancaster Park, New Zealand having beaten Pakistan here by making 324 for five in 1994. The eight-ton monster which the groundsman, Russell Wylie, converted from crushing tarmac to rolling out turf has transformed the square. The bowlers will no doubt be reminded of it when New Zealand play Australia in a women's international here today and again when the Bank of New Zealand's one-day series gets under way with the day-night match tomorrow. Yesterday, other than from the rough, only one ball misbehaved, one from Astle which lifted to hit Nasser Hussain's gloves shortly before lunch in the first of the two major England partnerships. It started when Andrew Caddick was brilliantly caught by Stephen Fleming at short midwicket after New Zealand's fledgling captain had posted himself there the ball before. Fleming had actually caught Caddick off his boot nine overs earlier after the ball had been trapped for two or three seconds between his bat and pad and dropped down, but umpire Darrell Hair ruled, according to Fleming, that the ball had become dead when it lodged in the batsman's clothing. The delay was sufficient for Caddick to sweep a six off Vettori and for England to get a reasonable start. Hussain's positive approach helped to dispel the pressure and when Fleming called for the new ball after 89 overs, Atherton raced to his third hundred against New Zealand with similar cover drives off Geoff Allott and Simon Doull. It was always possible that the mood would change and suddenly it did. After adding 80 with Hussain, Atherton tried to fiddle Astle to third man and was caught behind, whereupon Vettori got a ball to run up Hussain's pad and glance his glove on the way to silly point and, in the same over, caught and bowled Graham Thorpe as he checked a drive. Much credit was due to Crawley and Cork for the coolness with which they steadied the listing vessel. Forty-eight runs were needed at tea but not long afterwards it became clear that Vettori had lost his zest and that New Zealand were going to lose. Atherton was oustandingly the man of the match. He batted in all in this game for 12 hours and 24 minutes and he is four short now of his 5,000 runs for England. He was on thin ice as England captain only a month ago, though not to thin as those who underestimate him imagined. That issue is now settled. He will lead England against Australia this summer, whoever becomes chairman of selectors. Having recovered his batting form since getting his feet and head in unison through assiduous practice against a bowling machine, he will be more inclined to bat first in future when faced with pitches as good as the one at Lancaster Park. He has put his opposition in on four of the six occasions he has won the toss since the Johannesburg Test last winter, but this was the first time it has worked, albeit hardly in the way he had expected. He might well say that the two games in which he batted were lost by England, and that it was a reasonable gamble this time. So it was, but, because of the rough, it was a harder pitch to bat on in the fourth innings than it was in the first. All the more credit to England then for winning after being 118 behind on the first innings. Post-match, from the Electronic Telegraph Atherton and Cork silence whispering doubters By Mark Nicholas THE winning hit was made by Dominic Cork, the winning contribution by Michael Atherton. A year ago, these were the two most important cricketers in England - Atherton for his resilience and Cork for his flair. Had a World XI been picked to play against Mars they would have been the only Englishmen on the short-list. Their team, it seemed, could not do without them. A fortnight ago, the mean idea that both were immediately dispensable drifted through the travelling circus which follows the England cricket team around the world. Atherton, it was said, was not upbeat enough to lead an inadequate team; Cork it was said, was too upbeat for his own good. Such ideas do not emerge out of the blue, they come from hours of living in each others pockets which leads to intense examination, from so much air time and print space to fill and from the ever increasing importance of sport in the world. Because Atherton is not theatrical his leadership appears to lack inspiration, because he would not choose the probe of the public eye or compromise himself to win its favour his image is cheerless and sometimes charmless. Because Cork is a show-off his antics are made to look foolish when his play is not on form, because he so loves the public eye his image is upfront for all to see and equally upfront for all to knock down. During the last fortnight I have begun to wonder myself if Atherton needed a break from the excessive demands of his job. His obstinance appeared to be getting the better of him, his insistence that his team's cricket was fine in the five-day game seemed ill-judged and his batting had lost its way. A fresh face, unblemished by the strain of recent disappointment, seemed to be required to lift us all from the doldrum of unsatisfactory performance. Not so, not for the moment at least, because Atherton is back to his very best as a batsman and smiling, just a little at least, for the media and the masses. He is pretty good at these after-match inquisitions (and pretty awful at the pre-match stuff being no good with cocktail chat) giving rational cricket explanations and ensuring that he does not bow to hype. He knows that beating New Zealand is the minimum requirement and that the Australian, West Indian and South African series which follow soon will test his team to the core but he has stuck by his view that the team are on the right road and is now justified in having done so. The key to Atherton's batting is his footwork, the alignment of his shoulders and the position of his hands. Out of form, he gets stuck in the crease, square on in defence and lets his hands play at the ball a foot or so from his body. In form, as he truly was in this match, he pulls and hooks with thunderous results because he springs back so quickly into the ideal position to control the stroke. He defends from close to his body by making the bowler come to him rather than allowing himself to be dragged outside his off stump. Most revealing of all perhaps is the purity of his cover driving which is based on a strong lead towards the line of the ball with a bent left leg and which gives him the curled shape, eyes over the ball, that is his trademark. ALL of this, and more, was on show during the 758 minutes that he was at the crease while scoring the 212 runs for once out which brought England the match. He is some stubborn fellow for it seems barely a day since we watched him bat for 645 minutes in Johannesburg making an unbeaten 185 and saving the game for England. He did not bat so well technically in Johannesburg as he did here in Christchurch, has not in fact done so for a couple of years, and the satisfaction that his performance brought England victory was hard-earned and well-deserved. Cork's contribution to the success of the series has been altogether more modest but not as inconsequential as some suggest. His bowling is sloppy at present with its laboured run-up and its low, slinging arm. His action is tending to spin out of itself on a horizontal plane rather than following through vertically and down the pitch towards the batsman. He knows this and in straining to correct it has lost rhythm and is guilty of no balls - a sure sign of uncertainty in a bowler. Having said that, in both innings of this match he has given England a dramatic start by hitting Bryan Young's stumps on the first morning and then persuading Blair Pocock to play on to his stumps second time out. Such early strikes bring energy and confidence to a fielding team and eased the pressure on Andrew Caddick who has been bowling for his future. Then, with England stuttering after the loss of three wickets for five runs in 16 balls, he led an unbroken partnership of 76 with John Crawley which won the match. First he padded up to Daniel Vettori's attack into the rough outside the leg stump with more conviction than anyone except Atherton and then, having settled the panicking ship, played typical offside strokes which spread the New Zealand field. He batted for two hours and 25 minutes, facing 123 balls for his 39 which was uncharacteristic stuff indeed but a match-winning effort all the same. And it is matchwinners that England require for there are a truck-load of useful cricketers back home but only a handful of special ones. Like Atherton who has not learnt to con people into believing he is having a good time, Cork has not learnt to temper those manic expressions and unworthy indiscretions which do not do him justice and which aggravate those who judge him. Like Atherton he is a thoroughly good bloke who does not always show as much and he is a special cricketer with a spark that England still cannot do without. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)